Best excuse to ignore the Red Sox

The Massachusetts Mad Dogs, of the independent Northeast League, play just a few miles north of Boston in beautiful downtown Lynn, Lynn, the city of sin. The price: cheap. The food: no worse than at Fenway. The seats: great. The main attractions are manager and former Red Sox first baseman George Scott (and what a travesty it is that the Sox won't offer him a job somewhere), and Fraser Field, a 1940 WPA project with a really cool-looking cantilevered roof. Extra bonus: great logo of a bulldog demolishing a bat in his teeth.

Fraser Field, 365 Western Avenue, Lynn. (781) 592-2255.