Fans shape up in stadium

Federal officials are constantly advising Americans to get out more and exercise.

Obviously, health officials haven't been to a Cardinals' baseball game on a steamy Sunday in late August.

Our family spent the day at celebrated Busch Stadium. Like just about everyone else in the place, we sweated for hours in the heat.

Not only that, we used up a ton of calories just fanning ourselves with free cardboard fans provided by Purina. The pet-food business also gave away dog food to pet fans like us.

The paper fans were pretty well torn up by the time the game was over. They just weren't made for such heavy duty use.

But at least the ball club didn't have to worry about fans throwing fans (the cardboard kind) onto the field.

We all could have used some giant fans in the stands like those that Izzy bought to keep the Cardinal bullpen cool.

Our 9-year-old, Bailey, and a friend of hers accompanied us to the game.

Like all the children 12 and under who entered the stadium, Bailey and her friend both received stuffed teddy bears with the last-year-of-Busch-Stadium logo on it.

Clearly, that's a nice door prize. The kids loved the bears.

The stuffed animals didn't seem to mind the heat.

But everyone else had a real workout without ever leaving their seats.

I'm convinced I lost a few pounds sitting at the ballpark.

Federal health officials should take note. Instead of signing up for all those exercise classes, Americans could lose weight simply by going to summer baseball games.

If you want to lose more weight, you can walk up and down the stadium ramps.

Major League Baseball can market its ballparks as fitness centers. Of course, they might have to go easier on the beer to keep waistlines trim.

But there is something to be said for being entertained while you're sweating off pounds.

Add a squirrel to the mix and you can really get the crowd to rise to its feet.

A frisky squirrel raced through our section of the stadium, causing one woman a few rows behind us to let out a scream and jump to her feet.

Soon, fans all around her were jumping to their feet as the animal scampered by.

It certainly got the adrenaline pumping. The Cardinal players weren't providing any excitement on the field at the time.

Fans in those squirrel-attacked sections got an added workout, and all for the price of a baseball ticket.

Health centers would do well to consider putting squirrels in those exercise classes. That would really get people pumped up or at least jumping around a lot, which is clearly a good cardiovascular workout.

As for Major League ballparks, I do think they should take after fitness centers in one respect: They should provide a lot of white towels so people can wipe away the sweat.

Otherwise, I think ballparks are doing a great job of getting us in shape.

If only we could have baseball and hot weather year-round, we could sweat away even more pounds.

There's clearly more to Major League Baseball than the game on the field. I just hope league officials realize it.

Then maybe we can all stand up for exercise, at least during the seventh-inning stretch.

Mark Bliss is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.