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In case you missed, baseball is considered the national pastime here in the United States. Even after the sport's recent battles against use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs, baseball has quickly recovered from the fiasco, and the sport's popularity continues to remain high. Although it was controversially removed out of the summer Olympics, many people rank it as the seventh most popular sport in the world. While it's popular world-wide, the sport is most popular in the United States, Central and South American, and Eastern Asia.

One interesting aspect of attending baseball games is that every ballpark is different. In contrast with the highly regulated playing fields in other sports, each baseball field is unique from the others. Although the infield of the park must fit specific dimensions, the rest of the field can be configured uniquely.

There are a wide variety of customizations that take place in major league ballparks. The distance required for a home run varies between stadiums, and sometimes one side of the field is further back than the other. Some stadiums have higher fences than others, affecting the likelihood an athletic over-the-field catch. The discrepancy means that statistics aren't always effective in comparing players. A home run in one stadium may be an easy out in the outfield in a game played at another stadium.

For an avid baseball fan, finding a great ticket is an important part of making the most out of trip to see the big game. Some fans make pilgrimages to history stadiums such as Fenway Park, while others just look to support the local triple-A team, but there's definitely a strategy to finding the best seats in the ball park.

Some fans' dream seat would be right behind the fence, down at the home plate. After all, all of the action is right in front of you, and you can watch the plays unfold in front of you in real-time, without needing the aide of the giant scoreboard or a pair of binoculars. If you want to be in the prime seat for watching the ceremonial first pitch, or watching your team trot around the bases after a bottom of the ninth grand slam, then down behind the fence is the premier seat.

However, if you souvenirs are what you're after, it's necessary to rethink the seating strategy. Some sports memorabilia collectors carefully pick their spot outside of the stadium, waiting for player to hit a homer out of the ball park. For the purposes of this article, though, we'll focus our seating strategies inside the field.

When memorabilia collectors expect there to be a souvenir ball sent over the fences, they strategically pick their seat in the park, picking what they consider to be a "hot spot". This spot depends on which hand the batter uses to swing with. If an easy catch is what you're after, tough, foul balls are easier to come across. They'll still have some sentimental value without significantly raising you to another tax bracket.

Baseball continues to be a tremendously popular game for both young and old people alike. For those people of all ages, still looking to live an outlandish childhood dream of playing in the major leagues, experiencing the game from inside the ball park is a great way to live the dream and potential catch a souvenir.