Baseball blues: Economic chaos hits Venezuelan fans

Venezuela's raucous, boozy and affordable baseball games have long provided respite from the growing gloom in the economically struggling country. Now, a more than quadrupling of ticket prices is putting a damper on the national pastime, with the season kicking off this month to sometimes half-empty stadiums and featuring players who say their per diems don't go far enough to buy lunch. On a recent game night, hardcore baseball lovers celebrating what fans call Venezuela's national religion filled about a third of the sooty stadium in central Caracas. The plaza of vendors outside had the ghost-town feel that has come to mark so much of Venezuelan life as the socialist country grapples with the world's highest inflation and a severe shortage of imported goods. Average attendance at the 25,000-seat arena is down 25 percent for the first month of the season. More…