Help Bill Veeck III Save/Ruin Minor League Baseball

[QuikSand]

Okay, yet another concept thread for the gang here at FOFC. My first thought was that this would be an individual enterprise, seeking complete submissions from each poster -- but I'm thinking that a collaborative approach might be the better way to go. In any event, hope you enjoy.

Bill Veeck III (any similarity to persons living or dead is purely deliberate) has been apointed to commandeer the minor league baseball team from our area. We're right here in the heartland of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, and the good people of our hometown just love our Shamokin Dopes, an independent single-A club.

The Dopes have brought in the Veeck bloodline for obvious reasons -- putting butts in seats. This is not a gigantic enterprise, but we are here to help Bill to build enthusiasm for the Dopes, and to boost attendance and enthusiasm at home games.


So - our mission: Design a schedule of "typical game night" in-game diversions and activities that will suitably help the bottom line for the franchise.

We'll accept certain things as givens:

- We have no control over the actual baseball operations -- we're in charge of the sizzle, not the steak

- We are enabled to do things that require staff, but for most duties we'll have to pay someone to do real work -- and botom line considerations are meaningful here

- We can probably count on some degree of volunteerism for events that we might want to stage -- there's probably some wannabe theater type around town who'd be willing to do semi-regular emcee type gigs just for the exposure, but heavy use probably requires a stipend

- For items that are fairly public in nature, we can probably count on nominal sponsorships from local businesses -- so, Larry's Donut Shack and Thai Noodle Kitchen in downtown Shamokin will probably be willing to give us a gift certificate if we announce their name and slogan as part of an event

- Relatively incidental materials like pop music and sound effects -- things that might be easily retreivable by a savvy web-enabled forum member -- are considered to be free (or negligible), as we're small enough to fly under any licensing/royalty radar

- We're already housed in a suitable small-scale ballpark with the usual amenities, but nothing out of the ordinary (use common sense here -- we have loudspeakers and bullpens, but not a giant video screen or synthetic exploding volcano in center field)

- This given slot is reserved for future use

- We are free to dress up this game as much as we like, but we shoudl be restrained by real-world conseuqneces, too -- the more we extend the games and take away from the baseball itself, we might attract non-baseball fans, but we might alienate some of our current fans and baseball purists as well -- these considerations should be considered fairly

- - - -

With that, here's what we want to do:

-For most half-inning breaks, there is a 1-2 minute window of time to occupy while the teams exchange positions. We need to decide how to fill it, if at all. Music selections, or other stadium broadcasts, and so forth can be selected specifically.

-Most games feature a seventh-inning stretch - an extended break offering a little more time for entertainment and perhaps audience participation. We are charged with establishing a "tradition" for the seventh innning stretch at Dopes games.

-We are at liberty to stretch out the breaks for purposes of other entertainment, within the bounds set by the last item under the givens -- we need to be appropriately respectful that some people actually do come out for the baseball game.

-We are trying to focus on the "typical night" agenda, so let's reserve thoughts on special promotions (the stuff we'd only do once a year) for a separate thread, if merited.



Have at it. Billy V is counting on us to uphold the family name and we need to get those turnstiles spinning.

[QuikSand]

I'll make a first salvo, a minor one. A few years ago, I heard some music played at a minor league game, which I did not recognize. But it had a great sound to it, perfectly fitting the situation, it seemed to me.

Turns out it was the opening stages of Hit Me baby One More Time, by Britney Spears. Gah. But it even has a baseball-type reference in it, with the word hit. Cut it off before she actually identifies hereself, even loop the opening beats a couple times... and I think you have a winner.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

I'll make a first salvo, a minor one. A few years ago, I heard some music played at a minor league game, which I did not recognize. But it had a great sound to it, perfectly fitting the situation, it seemed to me.

Turns out it was the opening stages of Hit Me baby One More Time, by Britney Spears. Gah. But it even has a baseball-type reference in it, with the word hit. Cut it off before she actually identifies hereself, even loop the opening beats a couple times... and I think you have a winner.

If you focus only on her early stuff, and your only criteria is "has a good beat, and I can dance to it," Britney Spears is not bad at all.

How is our region demographically? Do we get anyone in the seats by pulling (non-vulgar bits) from Jay Z or 50 cent? Or does that just scare our target audience?

Also--I've always liked the idea of contests for the 7th inning stretch. Possibly between all of the local little league teams, and local civic groups and schools--we have enough identifiable groups in town to schedule them all for contests. Plus, that helps us tie into the community. We have the PTA of one school do a (simple/silly) relay race against the PTA of another school. We get a local store to give a small gift certificate to the winner, and let the participating groups come free. The groups feel a part of the team, and everyone likes a contest. We may also get some paying customers as people buy tickets to see Uncle Fred do a goofy/silly/"embarrasing in the name of fun" race for the glory of the Lion's Club. On the games where we can't find groups from the community, we could just have the batboys race the mascot or something--to keep the competition idea alive.

2nd idea. Have each school in town get a night. Where teachers and kids get tickets for a dollar. The kids will want to go, which means that the parents will pay full price to go with them.

[KWhit]

$1 Beer and Hotdog Night.

Sell-outs galore.

[cuervo72]

First thing we need to do is rename the team the Shamokin Hots.

And we'll need a dance squad.

[cuervo72]

Dola - in all seriousness, lots of fireworks nights.

[cuervo72]

Double Dola - I can (and have) continuously loop Pon de Replay, so we could probably use that in the music rotation.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

- This given slot is reserved for future use

Hmm....or, we could just install slots AT the park.

[NoMyths]

Mike Veeck is the president of our local A-ball affiliate, the Charleston Riverdogs. Lots of fun promotions in his tenure.

'course, Bill Murray is our official Director of Fun, so management tends to put on a good time for us down here.

[lighthousekeeper]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

First thing we need to do is rename the team the Shamokin Hots.

lol. i see bbq sauce sponsorships and bbq contests based around that theme.

[Celeval]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

2nd idea. Have each school in town get a night. Where teachers and kids get tickets for a dollar. The kids will want to go, which means that the parents will pay full price to go with them.

That's a big one. $1 in general, free for straight As, something like that. Builds a tradition among students that'll carry over into high school, etc.

In terms of music, drawing an idea Georgia Tech used when I was there.. Homerun by the home team: Theme from Superman. (They also used Macho Man by the Village People)

[Dutch]

My kids little league team got to go on the field with our Independent A baseball team (Shreveport Sports). So before the game, Michael (1B) got to go stand with the teams 1B and Nick (SS) stood with the SS and they hung out for a couple of mintues and then stood next to them during the national anthem.

Not really a crowd draw, but it's a good way to show the community the team is involved with the local folks. And a good rep never hurts bring in the families.

As for idea's. Those 1-2 minute breaks are very important. I would say you should try and gear many of them towards families/kids.

Get one of those mortar air guns that can shoot "tubed" T-Shirts into the air and have them land in the crowd. Maybe have the team mascot take the 1B line once and the 3B line once and fire off a few free t-shirts between innings. The kids generally love that kind of stuff.

Maybe the team players could run some off-season baseball camps for extra funds (for them and the team).

Do not do the Macarena Dance, but the Chicken Dance would be okay.

[Dutch]

In terms of music, drawing an idea Georgia Tech used when I was there.. Homerun by the home team: Theme from Superman. (They also used Macho Man by the Village People)

When the other teams goes out in the field play "We will rock you" by Queen. That's always a good one for hockey at least.

[stevew]

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/...=1#post1181292

Hire that guy to be your manager.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

- We're already housed in a suitable small-scale ballpark with the usual amenities, but nothing out of the ordinary (use common sense here -- we have loudspeakers and bullpens, but not a giant video screen or synthetic exploding volcano in center field)

Well, if we don't have a giant synthetic exploding volcano, then I suggest we make one

(this is my shameless post for subscribing to what sounds like a fun thread)

SI

[Fonzie]

Great idea, Quik.

Originally Posted by QuikSand

-Most games feature a seventh-inning stretch - an extended break offering a little more time for entertainment and perhaps audience participation. We are charged with establishing a "tradition" for the seventh innning stretch at Dopes games.

I propose a 7th inning stretch game called "rope-a-dope." The idea is simple: cart out a boxing ring-ish thing (it needn't be an actual boxing ring, but should resemble one) and one lucky fan gets to join three reserve Dope players (or Dope "mascots," as players/management probably won't want to risk injury) in the ring. The contestant is allowed to stand motionless in the middle of the ring and has a large supply of water balloons (or some other projectile which leaves a harmless mark on the target) to throw at the three players, who are permitted to run freely in the ring. Each player carries an envelope which contains a piece of paper detailing the prize the contestant wins for hitting the Dope. Here's the catch - the game ends when the contestant hits two of the three players. Thus, they can only win two of three prizes. Of course, only one of the prizes will be valuable (season ticket, gift certificate, discount at a car dealership, etc.). The other two possible prizes will be of the "free hot dog" or "free soda" variety.

Also, a variant on this might include buxom ladies instead of Dope players/mascots in the ring as targets. Less wholesome to be sure, but possibly more interesting to a certain subset of our fan base.

[Fonzie]

I'll propose an amendment to my idea - allow them to win just one of the three possible prizes instead of two. That reduces the odds of getting the "big" prize and makes for greater suspense. Perhaps they win the prize held by the last standing player?

[cuervo72]

Went to a Daytona Cubs game during my vacation, and there were some things they did that the Keys do as well. One is a tennis ball toss at the end of the game - fans can "buy" marked tennis balls, which they throw onto the field. If a ball comes to rest in a hula hoop, the fan wins whatever prize is represented by the hoop.

Like the Keys, they also had a moon bounce and slide (though these were free, whereas at FRE you need to have tickets), had a play area, had player intro music etc. A few between innings contests (kids races, eating competition, trivia question) sponsored by local companies too.

Interestingly, the thing that got the crowd most involved was probably when they played Runaround Sue. Many in the crowd sung along - and while the Daytona demographic isn't young, I don't think it was just seniors joining in.

[cuervo72]

Oh - I forgot the silent auction. The Cubs were wearing yellow NASCAR Nextel jerseys, which looked pretty sharp with their blue helmets and socks. These were being auctioned off by silent auction, starting at $50 (had a car there where you could change tires as part of the promotion). Looks like they do this fairly often, as they have also worn pink unis (breast cancer) and auctioned those off this season.

[Fonzie]

Damn. I thought I'd get the kill on this one.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by Fonzie

I'll propose an amendment to my idea - allow them to win just one of the three possible prizes instead of two. That reduces the odds of getting the "big" prize and makes for greater suspense. Perhaps they win the prize held by the last standing player?

And always give the "big" prize envolope to the chick with the big cans. Nobody will ever attend enough games to understand and be able to resist nailing her with a water balloon.