What's out: Major-league Baseball. What's in: AAA ball.

A couple of months ago, as the Yankees were finishing up their final season in the house that Ruth built, my wife, daughter and I decided to see our first (and last) Yankee Stadium game. Given that my daughter is a toddler, we bought tickets for the non-alcoholic section, which is located in the space below the scoreboard. I expected that our cheap seats would be miserable, but we actually had a great view of the field and, as my wife and daughter settled in, I ventured forth in search of provisions.

The food was a little pricey: all tolled, the three Nathan's famous hot dogs, one knish, and two bottles of water that I came back with cost a little bit less than $30. Since we were in the non-drinking section, I didn't have to make the tough choice between a $9.50 Miller Lite and $12.50 Heineken.

After the National Anthem, the game started. And stopped. And started. And stopped. As the evening progressed, I noticed that the pitcher was lucky to get through two batters before play would pause for a few minutes. It didn't take long to figure out what was going on: the game planners were leaving room for commercial breaks.