An MLB game doesn’t have to break the bank if you plan accordingly.
Sep 11, 2026
Updated 10:28 am PT
San Francisco Giants right fielder Mike Yastrzemski runs to first base after hitting the ball during a game against the Kansas City Royals at Oracle Park on May 21, 2025.
Here are the morning’s top stories on Friday, September 11, 2026:
This summer, KPBS and KQED teamed up to look at different ways that Major League Baseball fans save money when going to a game, so that maybe you can too during some of these last games, or keep this in mind for next season.Governor Gavin Newsom is signing a package of bills that institute some of the strongest protections for children in the country.The San Joaquin Valley air basin has long been out of compliance with federal air quality standards. That includes ozone and fine particulate matter that can be inhaled and lodged into the lungs. One often overlooked element in this regions air pollution: fast-food drive-through lanes.
A Fan’s Version of Moneyball
Major League Baseball’s regular season is coming to an end, with post season games scheduled to start later this month. This summer, KPBS (a San Diego based radio station) reporter Jake Gotta teamed up with KQED (a San Francisco based radio station) reporter Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí to look at different ways that Padres and Giants fans save money when going to a game.
Gotta spent roughly $67 to attend a Padres game at San Diego’s Petco Park. Food and drinks, specifically beer, were a large portion of the total amount spent. He said fans reccommended getting an alcoholic in the areas surrounding area, where prices are more affordable. Gotta made his experience mroe affordable by taking public transit, and not having to pay for parking. He also saved money by attending a Padres game that was less of a big matchup. Rivalries and expensive baseball clubs like the Dodgers and Yankees cost more than smaller market teams with little historic beef.
Cabrera-Lomelí spent around $76 to attend a Giants game at Oracle Park. He too said food and drinks were a huge part of what impacts the total price of attending a game. But what he learned was that Oracle Park (and Petco Park), allow people to bring food into the ballparks, which can drastically change the total. Cabrera-Lomelí saved money using public transit instead of paying for parking, and by using a summer promotion to get a ticket to the game for $22. Oracle Park also allows helps people who don’t want to spend on gas money, by having a bike valet option.
California will now have some of the strongest protections for children in the country, following the passing of thirteen bills. Most of the bills are pertaining to children’s use of the internet and artificial intelligence.
One bill requires AI companies to disclose to chatbot users they are not speaking to a human. Another bill would prohibit social media companies from including addictive features like autoplay on accounts for people under the age of 16.
In a statement, tech giant OpenAI says they welcome the legislation, and that it will enable youth to use their tools for educational purposes.
While people wait in drive-through lines, fuel-burning vehicles pump into the atmosphere a lush combination of hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen and other emissions, including carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide.
In addition to components of ozone or smog, a raft of other tailpipe emissions, such as ammonia, benzene, toluene and more, are breathed in by motorists sitting in drive-through lanes, as well as employees who work the drive-through windows and even other diners inside the restaurant.
Each day, cars line up and idle at roughly 1,300 fast-food and coffee drive-through lanes up and down the San Joaquin Valley. But the extent to which they contribute to the degradation of the region’s air quality is a mystery that appears to have so far gone unstudied by regional and state air quality regulators.