Padres to Spur Groundswell of Cheap Beer at Baseball Games, Or So We Hope

When Anaheim Angels owner Arturo Moreno assumed control of the team in 2003, he worked to win over the team's fan base by vowing to slash beer prices in the stadium. Being that that was seven years ago when the country wasn't steeped in a prolonged economic crisis, it might have been more daring than the San Diego Padres proposal to cut the price of beer in their home park.

Nevertheless, Southern California baseball fans are getting a price dip in their stadium beer prices once again. The rest of a watchful nation looks on with envy.

The Padres this season are going to sell a 14-ounce domestic draft beer for $5. Last year, I mocked the team for a token lowering of the premium beer price by 50 cents, to $8.50. I’ve also done weighty exposés in the past about the beer’s alcohol content — some of it was only 3.2 percent.

But I have received assurances that the $5 beer will be the real thing.

They’re two for two, baby. The price is right. The alcohol content is right. And it appears the recession has driven Petco Park to become what it should have been in the first place: an affordable place to watch baseball, not a joint where you get gouged.

Hey, hey, hey - not so fast, Mr. Sports Writer. Fans can still, most assuredly, get fleeced on tickets and merchandise. Now at least they can get drunk enough on, well, not the cheap, but at least not significantly for more than if they were to watch the game at the bar. They might scarcely even notice that they still spent a significant amount of money to see a lackluster team lose most of their games.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.