Good Hitting Beats Good Pitching and Vice Versa

    Since old farts get in for free on Thursdays, my friend RF and I went to the Thursday afternoon game against the Dodgers. We were given seats in Section 6, Row 10 -- just beyond first base in right field, not as good as the behind-the-plate freebies Orlando and I got the last Thursday we went to, but hey, the price was right and the tickets were not bad.
    And we got to see a Major League team, with an all-star pitcher (Kershaw) and an all-star of the future, Puig. Their 6-0 hammering of AA Marlins was a bit numbing, and so RF and I spent considerable time arguing about baseball.
    He insists I'm wrong in claiming that it was Yogi Berra came up with "Good hitting beats good pitching, and vice versa."  His smartphone search was inconclusive.
    French also expressed amazement when I said that the free seniors tickets deal might cease after this year. He said that the Marlins make money on the luxury tax before a single fan walks in the gate, so that there's no need for them to charge for tickets. I think of this as the newspaper theory: The more you give your product away, to "news partners" and on the web, the more prosperous your business with be.
    We also wondered if there is another current Major League park that has never had a sell-out. Marlins opening day last year had a crowd of 36,601 -- their highest attendance ever, according to BaseballReference.com. The park is listed as having 36,742 seats, with another 1,000 standing room (Budweiser sign). Both of us have tried various web searches and haven't had an answer whether there's another current park that has never sold out.
    The crowd Thursday was listed officially at 25,609, which must have included a ton of people who bought tickets and didn't show up, because attendance was far smaller than the 27,000 at Monday's Dodger's game. I wonder: Are we old farts included in the "paid" attendance?
    The good news: The hot dog guy across the street from the Clevelander was back, with his $3 sausage and $1 water, saving us a bunch of money. He wasn't there Monday, not sure why.