Page 12 - ATD 31OCT2015

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WORLD NEWSSaturday 31 October 2015
Baseball blues in Venezuela as economic chaos hits stadiums
HANNAH DREIER
Associated Press
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP)
— Venezuela’s raucous,
boozy and affordable
baseball games have long
provided respite from the
growing gloom in the eco-
nomically struggling coun-
try. ing hit. Team managers
Now, a more than qua-
drupling of ticket prices
is putting a damper on
the national pastime, with
the season kicking off this
month to sometimes half-
empty stadiums and fea-
turing players who say their
per diems don’t go far
enough to buy lunch.
On a recent game night,
hardcore baseball lovers
celebrating what fans call
Venezuela’s national reli-
gion filled about a third of
the sooty stadium in central
Caracas. The plaza of ven-
dors outside had the ghost-
town feel that has come
to mark so much of Ven-
ezuelan life as the socialist
country grapples with the
world’s highest inflation
and a severe shortage of
imported goods. Average
In this Oct. 27, 2015 photo, a vendor counts his money as he sells
“tequenos,” a breaded cheese snack, during a baseball game
between the Leones de Caracas and the Navegantes del Ma-
gallanes in Caracas, Venezuela.
attendance at the 25,000-
seat arena is down 25 per-
cent for the first month of
the season.
“It’s not just the ticket price; dium’s new ticket prices of
it’s the cost of everything
you have to buy your family
during the game,” said Luis
Rojas, director of Caracas’
Estadio Universitario.
While most South Ameri-
cans prefer soccer, Ven-
ezuela is crazy for baseball.
It’s exported more players
to Major League Baseball
than any country aside
In this Oct. 27, 2015 photo, Jesus Lezama, a 96-year-old fan of the Leones de Caracas baseball
team, blows a horn during a game against the Navegantes del Magallanes in Caracas, Venezu-
from the Dominican Re- the most popular brands
public, including several had gone missing altogeth-
who are playing for the er.
Kansas City Royals in the “Last year my shoes cost
World Series this week. Dur- 2,000 bolivars and this year
ing the offseason, major they cost 18,000,” he shout-
and minor league players ed back at outraged cus-
often come to play in the tomers.
Even beer fans with money
are cutting back.
Radio DJ Daniel La Cruz has
been limiting himself to two
bottles of light beers per in-
ning, instead of ordering a
case of 36 for himself and
his wife to share like usual.
“I couldn’t afford to buy a
new jersey this year either,”
he said. “Still, you can’t just
watch the game on TV.
Baseball is life for Venezu-
elans.”
Below him, a couple sat
together in an empty row,
having decided to save
money by leaving their kids
at home for what used to
Associated Press be a family activity.
Outside, T-shirt vendor Al-
oil-producing nation. exander Morales eyed the
The fact that thousands of empty walkways. He skirts
Venezuelans so far have Venezuela’s rigid currency
been willing to pay the sta- controls by buying dollars
on the black market to im-
up to 2,000 bolivars — a fifth port his merchandise. Like
of the monthly minimum the beer vendor, Morales
wage — is a testament to took his share of abuse
their love for the game. from fans objecting to his
A beer vendor drew jeers price, which are up 500 per-
as he worked the stands af- cent from last year. That’s
ter giving fans the unhappy about the inflation seen for
news that the price of a other imported goods like
300-milliliter (10-ounce) bot- specialty foods and elec-
tle had jumped from 30 to tronics, but far ahead of
120 bolivars since the sea- the rates seen in taxis and
son ended last year, and
ela. Associated Press posed this year amid a tiff
street food stands.
“I put my faith in God, but
these are apocalyptic
times,” he said.
Oscar Prieto Parraga,
president of the Venezu-
elan Professional Baseball
League, believes people
are overestimating the
drop in attendance, and
says he and other officials
are doing all they can to
In this Oct. 27, 2015 photo, baseball fans watch a game be-
tween the Leones de Caracas and the Navegantes del Ma-
gallanes in Caracas. Average attendance at this 25,000-seat
stadium is down by 25 percent for the first month of the season.
maintain a sense of nor-
malcy for fans in the face
of raging inflation.
“We’re working as hard as
we can to put on the show
Venezuelans demand,” he
said. “Baseball is a serious
thing here. It’s so serious we
even manage to start the
games on time.”
For many years, the coun-
try’s runaway inflation
seemed to hardly touch
baseball. Last year, atten-
dance was up 5 percent for
major stadiums around the
country, and ticket sales for
the Caracas team jumped
about 3 percent.
Now, it’s not just the fans
and vendors who are be-
say they are struggling to
rent buses, pay for hotel
rooms and provide basics
like cups and toilet paper,
which can sometimes only
be found on the black mar-
ket.
The sport as a whole has
begun to struggle under
the weight of the country’s
mounting problems. Some
recruiters from the U.S. say
they have been scared
away by a visa require-
ment the administration im-
with the U.S. This spring, the
Seattle Mariners became
just the latest major league
team to shut down its base-
ball academy here.
Still, a carnival atmosphere
reigns among the reduced
number of fans at the Cara-
cas stadium. A man flashed
a cap from an opposing
team, drawing a round of
jolly taunts, though not the
beer throwing that used to

Associated Press
be customary when brews
were cheaper. And a sam-
ba band provided a brain-
rattling drum score to every
play.
As the game got going,
the fans began to chant,
as they have for years, “This
government’s going to fall!
It’s going to fall and fall and
fall!”q