Some teams do this better than others, and a few are just horrible at it. From charging a small amount to get into a game to great giveaways, most teams make it a fun day for a dad and his kids.

Others, led by the Oakland A’s, gouge families at every chance they get on Father’s Day. Read my post from last year to see how the A’s rip families off. It continues this year in Oakland, where it costs $74 to play catch with your kid on the field after the game, and that doesn’t include the price of tickets if you want to watch the game. I’ll detail all of it later.

Best teams on Father’s Day

Here’s a roundup of what all MLB teams hosting games on Father’s Day on June 19 are doing to attract dads and kids, with an idea of how much tickets will cost: All game times are local at home ballpark. Not all ticket prices may be available, so buy tickets soon.

The teams are listed from best to worst for how they treat dads on Father’s Day, though much of this is open to argument:

LA Dodgers

1:10 p.m. vs. Milwaukee. Tickets: $35 to $1,050.

Unlike many teams that have promotions aimed at kid, the Dodgers have one for dads: Free Father’s Day boxers with the Dodgers logo all over them.

The Dodgers also have a free postgame catch on the field, allowing dads to play catch with their kids. There’s also a pre-game event called Viva Los Dodgers with live music and other activities.

Miami Marlins

1:10 p.m. vs. Colorado. Tickets: $16-$114.

The Marlins have a lot of promotions on this day, including a free Don Mattingly T-shirt to the first 5,000 dads, and a chance to play catch with dad after the game on the field for free. Yes, free.

The Marlins also have a deal for four tickets for $74, which includes four hotdogs and sodas.

San Diego Padres

1:40 p.m. vs. Washington. Tickets: $17.50-$100.

The Padres don’t have any specific events for Father’s Day, though dads can play catch for free on the field after the game. Like all Sunday games, San Diego hosts a bunch of events for kids.

Members of its Compadre Kids program can play catch on the field after the game with their dads, get player autographs, run the bases and attend a batting clinic.

There’s also Domingos Padres at Sunday games, a celebration of Hispanic culture with many family activities.

KC Royals

1:15 p.m. vs. Detroit. Tickets: $23-$103.

This is another great giveaway for dad: A BBQ spatula for the first 10,000 males. The Royals also have a Family FunDay Sunday event with many activities for kids, including the chance to run around the bases for free after the game. A pass for unlimited activities in the Outfield Experience is $10.

NY Mets

1:10 p.m. vs. Atlanta. Tickets: $25-$450.

The Mets are especially kind to dads on this Sunday, giving out a Father’s Day cap to all fathers and kids 12 and under. Yes, both child and dad get a free Mets cap, instead of one having to do without.

As they do on all Sundays, the Mets have a Mr. Met Dash for kids to run around the bases for free after the game.

Philadelphia Phillies

1:35 p.m. vs. Arizona. Tickets: $10-$100

The Phillies honor dad with a free Hawaiian shirt to men 15 and older. If there are any 15-year-old dads in Philadelphia, this is their chance to get a free Hawaiian shirt in the team’s colors. The team doesn’t say how many shirts it’s giving away.

Baltimore Orioles

1:35 p.m. vs. Toronto. Tickets: $15-$100.

The Orioles are giving a Father’s Day newsboy cap to the first 10,000 men 18 and older. Kids can run around the bases for free after the game.

Minnesota Twins

1:10 p.m. vs. NY Yankees. Tickets: $21-$102.

The Twins are giving away Twins Socks to the first 10,000 men 18 and older.  The team also has a promotional package for families.

An event called Knothole Kids Day gives up to two kids $5 off specific tickets with a paying adult. Kids get an autograph from a Twins player before the game, and after the game they can run the bases for free.

Houston Astros

1:10 p.m. vs. Cincinnati. Tickets: $8-$100.

Some nifty looking Astros Socks are being given to the first 10,000 fans. The Astros also have a post-game picnic in the park for fans to eat on the field. It’s unclear if it costs anything to attend the picnic.

St. Louis Cardinals

1:15 p.m. vs. Texas. Tickets: $16-$306.

More socks, though these Cardinals dress socks are going out to a lot more fans than the Houston ones are. The first 30,000 fans 16 and older will receive the free Cardinals socks.

The Cardinals also give out free ice cream before Sunday games.

Cleveland Indians

1:10 p.m. vs. Chicago White Sox. Tickets: $10-$100.

The Indians let kids run the bases after the game as part of Kids Fun Day activities on Sunday games.  But the best part is that all fans will get a Corey Kluber jumbo baseball card.

Tampa Bay Rays

1:10 p.m. vs. San Francisco. Tickets: $25-$300.

The Rays are giving a foam bat and ball set to kids 14 and under while supplies last. The team’s website doesn’t say how many kids that is.

The team also has Family Fun Days on every Sunday. Parking is free with four or more people in a car, and there’s a variety of activities and giveaways for kids. Kids can run the bases after the game for free.

Chicago Cubs

Time TBD vs. PIttsburgh. Tickets: $37-$149.

The Cubs really don’t do much on Father’s Day. Up to 5,000 children 13 and younger will get a hooded towel.

Worst teams on Father’s Day

When it comes to not doing much for dad on his special day, two teams stand out:

Boston Red Sox

1:10 p.m. vs. Seattle. Tickets: $30-$625

The Red Sox don’t care about dad at all on Father’s Day. No promotions, other than the normal Sunday promo where kids get to run around the bases after the game.

Oakland A’s

1:05 p.m. vs. Anaheim. Tickets: $15-$75.

The A’s must really hate fathers. Not only is the team not having any promotional giveaways on Father’s Day, but in its promotion for dads to play catch with their kids on the field after the game, the team is charging $74 to play catch — for only 15 minutes. That doesn’t include the cost of attending the game.

That’s $16 more than what the A’s charged in 2015 for the same dumb event — which sold out.

This season the cost is $30 per ticket, but you have to buy at least two tickets to this special event. There are also convenience and handling fees, bringing it up to $74. Add in another $60 or so for two tickets to the game, and you’re out $134 to go to a game and then play catch on the field for 15 minutes. Yes, 15 minutes for $74.

Having nothing would be better than this ripoff of a promotion. The A’s don’t even allow kids to run around the bases after this Sunday game, as most other teams are doing. A free run around the bases with your kids would be better than paying to play catch.

If you want to plat catch with your kid for free on Father’s Day, the only places to go is to a Dodgers, Padres or Marlins game. Don’t go to Oakland.

Best (and Worst) Father’s Day Deals at MLB Ballparks is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

Major League Baseball likes to play up the father-son storyline on Father’s Day, telling warm, fuzzy stories of how MLB players learned the game from their dads, and how they want to pass it on to their sons.

At MLB games on Father’s Day, the league promotes awareness of prostate cancer, and teams try to make dads and their children feel more welcome with events such as allowing kids to run around the bases or play catch on the field after the game. I’m happy that A’s closer Sean Doolittle fondly remembers going to A’s games with his dad.

But MLB is ripping dads off on Father’s Day, charging them $50 to play catch with their child. For 15 minutes. That works out to $200 an hour, or what plumbers and prostitutes make (I assume).

Yes, you read that right. MLB is offering dads a chance to play catch with their child on a baseball field for $50. Plus, you have to pay to get into the game. Click on the video below to see how much MLB promotes Father’s Day:

While the bond between father and child is played up pretty well on MLB’s website, it’s more of a scam in Oakland, home of the A’s baseball team.

In a promotion called “A’s Father’s Day Catch” on June 21, 2015, the team offers fans “the opportunity to play catch on the outfield grass” after the afternoon game against the Angels for 15 minutes. (Emphasis is mine.)

Game tickets are sold separately from the Father’s Day Catch on the Field tickets. A minimum of two Father’s Day Catch tickets must be bought if you want to play catch with your child on the field, and anyone participating must have a ticket, regardless of age. Check out the A’s photo gallery to see how fun it was last year.

If the rest of your family wants to watch you play catch, but doesn’t want to buy catch session tickets, they get to wait in one area of the stands near the field.

The costs

As with any online purchase through MLB, there are fees attached. Two Father’s Day Catch tickets add up to $58.25. That includes a $2 per ticket convenience fee and a $4.25 handling fee.

Then you have to buy tickets. The A’s have dynamic ticket prices, meaning prices change as market conditions change. If rain is forecast, for example, the price will drop, and you’ll likely find a lower cost if you buy tickets earlier in the season.

The cheapest ticket the A’s offer for the June 21 Father’s Day game is $18. You and your son or daughter will need to bring binoculars, because for that price you’ll either be sitting above the outfield bleachers or in the third deck behind home plate.

A second-deck ticket ranges from $22 to $40, a first-deck ticket ranges from $40 to $66, and if you’re a real big spender, you can go with $110 or $250 seats at field level.

For sake of argument, let’s say you’re frugal and willing to pay $18 for the cheapest ticket. The $36 you’d expect to pay for two tickets quickly rises to $47.75 when a $7.50 convenience fee and $4.25 handling fee is added.

Add $47.75 for two seats and $58.25 for both of you to play catch on the field after the game, and it adds up to $106.

In an irony on top of another irony, it costs more to play catch for 15 minutes than it does to watch the game.

$200 per hour on Father’s Day

For 15 minutes on the field, the $50 Father’s Day Catch tickets equate to $200 an hour.

That’s about double what anesthesiologists, data architects, auto mechanics and successful entrepreneurs earn.

It’s not worth discussing what MLB players earn, though I’m sure they could afford $106 to take their kid to a game and play catch with them on the field.

And the costs of food, drink, souvenirs, parking and anything else you want at the game? Probably a lot more.

No thanks, MLB. My daughter and I won’t be playing catch on the A’s field after the Father’s Day game. Not for an extra $58.

Creating fans is important to MLB, but this isn’t the way to do it.

This article by Aaron Crowe first appeared on CashSmarter.com and was distributed by the Personal Finance Syndication Network.

Source

How MLB is Ripping Dads Off on Father’s Day is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.