Western Montana

Take me out to the ball game; take me out to the crowd! Located immediately to the west of the Orange Street Bridge in Missoula is the town’s spectacular baseball diamond, Ogren Park at Allegiance Field. This home baseof the Missoula Osprey—our very own minor league baseball team—not only offers crowd pleasing fun and excitement for friends and family, but going to a ball game is the perfect excuse to get out with your special someone and share a date night under the big sky.

That’s exactly what my fiancé and I did for the opening night of the Missoula Osprey. Though we enjoy the regular dinner and movie nights, going to the game was a wonderful opportunity to do something a little different. Ticket prices can cost anywhere from $5-$10 per person depending on where you’d prefer to sit: the bleachers, stadium seating, or a grassy knoll of to the side.

We went the least expensive route and spread out a blanket behind center field. Here the tickets cost—well nothing; this isn’t officially part of the ballpark, but a small patch of land behind the field that welcomes fans. We were able to sit amongst a small crowd of others who shared the same idea, and with a fantastic view of the game we could kick our shoes off and spread out on our blanket. We brought a picnic along, standard game fair of hot dogs and potato chips and root beer. There was a sign posted this year the regulated the use of grills and alcohol, though a few did have grills cooking, and many others had coolers full of beer. Its personal discretion when it comes to following the rules, but I would suggest being safe rather than sorry, and having a picnic prepared was no problem at all to us. Hot dogs, beer, peanuts and more are all available for sale at the concessions inside the park.

The game was a blast, and it was so fun to stand up and cheer, sing “Take me out to the ball game”, and snuggle close to my fiancé as the sun set and the evening cooled down. Ollie the Osprey—the team’s mascot—wasn’t the only osprey in the area. Right above was a huge osprey nest, and we were awed to see the beautiful osprey flying in and out of it throughout the evening…a true tribute to the team’s name.

So our Osprey didn’t win; the final score was 5 to 6, and though the loss was a bit of a bummer, it didn’t change the fact that we had a great time and will be back to cheer on team again. For its one, two, three strikes you’re out at the ol’ ball game!

Schedules can be found in the local papers or at: www.missoulaosprey.com