Tag: Minor League baseball

A night at the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark: the band played on … and on

Colorful dancers atop the dugouts at recent OKC Comets game in OKC.

When my friend, Ed Godfrey, and I walked into Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark on Saturday night, we could hear the distinctive sounds of a mariachi band playing somewhere on the concourse.

It was Cielo Azul night versus the El Paso Chihuahuas at the ballpark, with the OKC Comets dressed in special Cielo Azul uniforms to honor fans from Hispanic heritages.

It’s always a festive occasion, with Mexican dancers on the dugouts between innings and special Cielo Azul caps and other merchandise on sale at the fan store.

But the mariachi band was a first for me, or at least I had not noticed a live band in the past.

Turns out, the band was stationed almost directly behind our section down the third base line. And it wasn’t just a couple of guitar players and a violin. This was a full on Mexican orchestra with vocalists, multiple guitars, trumpets and violins.

Ed and I stopped for a couple minutes to appreciate the music, then found our seats as the band continued playing. You can sample their music in the video below:

The band was still playing as the first pitch was thrown and continued for several innings. Ed found some humor about a mariachi band that refused to quit playing and began delivering one-liners as commentary on the Cielo Azul experience.

If you are a listener of the 3 Old Geezers podcast hosted by Ed, myself and Steve Buck, then you know that Ed can be really funny. We should call him our Minister of Humor, even if it’s not always intentional.

“Feels like a home game for El Paso,” Ed said as the band droned on. “Go ask them to play ‘El Paso.'”

I laughed at the thought and almost took the request to the band, but I didn’t have any money on me for a tip.

About that time, the colorful Mexican dancers walked past our seats on their way to the third base dugout. We enjoyed the interlude between innings as their dresses swirled and the music played. Watch below.

“It does feel like we’re at Casa Bonita,” Ed said.

By now, I was frantically writing down his one-liners. The dancing concluded and a female dancer walked toward us as she headed back to the concourse.

“When she gets up here, would you stop her and ask for some sopapillas,” Ed commanded.

I laughed out loud as I typed the comment into my phone.

Later in the game, the Geezer came out in Ed. A group of young girls who were perhaps 10 years old and sitting a couple rows in front of us were loudly chanting, trying to distract the opposing Chihuahua players.

The girls were as persistent as the mariachi band. They never stopped.

“This whole section is like a daycare,” Ed said.

The mascot, Yeti, poses with some young fans during a recent OKC Comets game.

The girls continued chanting in unison and having a great time.

“This is what softball culture has done to little girls,” Geezer Ed said.

It was like I was sitting next to Walter Matthau from Grumpy Old Men.

By now, we were deep into the game, maybe the 6th or 7th inning. The mariachi band had taken a break, but now they were back, playing on and on, although more distant from us this time.

It was a night that I’ll remember, but not because of the baseball. It’s exactly why I enjoy going to the ballpark, because you never know what you will see or hear.

It can be a great play on the field, a mariachi band, 10 year-old hecklers or a geezer with a keen wit.

I loved it all.

BONUS CONTENT: As Ed and I entered the ballpark this past Saturday night, the team was honoring Nelson Cruz in a special pregame ceremony to induct him into the OKC Triple A Baseball Hall of Fame. I thought it was great that the team honored a past player who went on to have an impactful Major League career. Also thought it was cool that Cruz actually showed up with his family and made a heartfelt speech. I hope the fans in attendance could appreciate him and the ceremony.

The ceremony honoring OKC Triple A Baseball Hall of Famer Nelson Cruz

Banana Ball was great. Once was enough

Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark was full for Banana Ball


‘Clowns to the left of me
Jokers to the right
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you’

— Stealers Wheel, ‘Stuck in the Middle With You’

There were plenty of clowns on the field Saturday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. And jokers, too. And I was stuck in the middle of about 10,000 of my closest friends who showed up to watch a spectacle known as Banana Ball.

Saturday’s “game,” and I’m using the term loosely, featured two barnstorming exhibition teams — the Indianapolis Clowns and the Texas Tailgaters — owned by the Savannah Bananas empire.

It wasn’t exactly baseball, as we know it, although if you watched closely between the line dancing, singing, juggling and acrobatics, there was pitching, hitting and fielding to be seen.

No one seemed to mind that there was really no way to know when a team’s at-bat ended or what the actual score was or if any of that mattered.

Well, it really didn’t.

Banana Ball is all about nonstop fun, excitement and noise. Oh, the noise.

Music blared from the stadium speakers from well before the game began and did not let up for a second until after, well, at least until we headed home after eight innings of the organized chaos.

So, you may be asking, how did all this begin and why did so many Oklahomans flock to the Bricktown Ballpark on two consecutive blistering nights in August?

The Bananas started out as a collegiate baseball team in Savannah, Ga. that eventually morphed into the entertainment phenomenon that we know of today.

Jesse Cole, a former collegiate player and coach, had taken over the collegiate team, which played the traditional game that moved at a slow pace and attracted few fans. Cole noticed that those who did show up were likely to leave well before the game ended.

He decided there had to be a better way. So he invented the concept of Banana Ball that injected entertainment into the mix, renamed the team the Bananas and it took off from there. The Bananas’ motto is “We make baseball fun.”

You can learn more about it by watching the CBS Sixty Minutes feature below.

 

Today, the Bananas feature seven traveling teams that fill minor league, major league and even college football stadiums across the nation. I read a story about a Bananas exhibition played in Denver the week previous to the OKC show that drew 100,000 people over three nights.

You could see in Bricktown that many in the crowd are actual Bananas fans. They wore Banana yellow shirts. They knew all of the chants and the dance routines. Some of them even got up and danced themselves.

So, it’s a show. But not The Show that players aspire to, as Major League Baseball is known.

I admit I’m a geezer and likely to shout, ‘get off my lawn!’  But I have no problem with Banana Ball or its popularity. There were people in the stadium Saturday who didn’t even realize that OKC had a minor league baseball team, so perhaps they became acquainted with the Comets. Maybe.

In reality, you can complain about the slow play of the game as played by college, minor league or Major League teams, but they all have a big advantage over the Bananas, as I see it.

You can have a conversation while sitting in the stands of, say an OKC Comets baseball game. That’s a big plus for me. You can also appreciate the strategy and great plays. You know the score and can even keep your own scorecard.

I could not concentrate on anything baseball related Saturday because of the constant disco-level volume of the music, the ongoing dancing routines or distractions like the alleged pitcher that took the mound wearing an elephant costume or the shortstop dressed as a rodeo clown.

So, I’m glad we got to see Banana Ball in all of it’s glory here in OKC.

Once was enough.

I’ll be back at the ballpark later this week to watch the Comets play El Paso. And I’ll welcome the relaxing pace of the game.

The Indianapolis Clowns entertained with a dance routine as they were introduced before the Banana Ball game in OKC.

What’s in a name? Apparently, a lot in OKC Baseball Club rebrand to ‘Comets’ … Or not much.

Comets scorebard
The Bricktown Ballpark scoreboard shows the team’s new name at reveal event.

The Oklahoma City Baseball Club revealed its new name, “Comets,” in a ceremony Saturday evening at the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark witnessed by at least a couple thousand enthusiastic fans.

I was among those who showed up for the Big Reveal, so I can attest to the collective cheer that went up when the “Comets” name and logo appeared on the scoreboard screen.

I was not expecting “Comets,” although I’m not sure what I expected. Maybe “Flycatchers,” which my friend Ed Godfrey had predicted as the future team name. Or the “Waving Wheats” or something that related to Oklahoma.

An aside: There’s is already a “Flycatchers” team in Oklahoma in the Pecos League team Blackwell Flycatchers.  Yes, Blackwell.

The OKC club tried hard to make “Comets” make sense for OKC baseball fans by linking it to Commerce, OK, native and MLB Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle. If you are like me, over the age of 60 and a long-time baseball fan, you know that Mantle was known as the “Commerce Comet.”

But if you are, say, 30 years old and a casual baseball fan, you may not even know who Mickey Mantle is or that he was from Oklahoma or that he had the “Comet” nickname.

In its presentation that night at the ballpark, the team also pointed out that stadium is located on Mickey Mantle Drive.

I thought it was a pretty big reach to link the “Comet” name to Mantle, but not entirely out of order. The team also linked the “Comets” name to the number of astronauts who were native Oklahomans.

Now THAT is a reach.

Ed Godfrey attended the event with me, and he was pretty ambivalent to the “Comets.” If I remember correctly, he said “meh.”

But our mutual friend, Steve Buck, had a much stronger reaction. About two minutes after the “Comets” name reveal, Steve unloaded on the name in our group text.

“Comets!!!! Why? Help me understand please? I hate it”

Yes, but how do you really feel, Steve?

The reaction on social media was similar, with dozens of folks posting on Twitter (now X) their opposition to the new name.

Screenshot

However, they aren’t ALL negative. In fact, Whitley O’Connor, co-founder of the Curbside Chronicle, went so far as to declare it the “best name in OKC Baseball’s history.”

Screenshot

Whitley makes a good point.

Before we left the “Comets” name reveal event on Saturday night at the Ballpark, I ran into my friend Russ Florence, and his son, Luke. Russ was all in on the new name, so I told him about Steve’s instant reaction.

“He’ll love it by the end of next season,” Russ predicted.

Bottom line: I’m pretty sure the actual name of the team won’t lure more people to the ballpark next year or drive any away. (Full disclosure: Steve Buck and I are both partial season ticket holders; and the team name won’t influence our decisions to follow the team)

Those of us who attend Comets games will be there just to watch some good ball, as my old editor, the late Bob Colon, would say.

As Ed and I were walking out of the stadium afterward, Ed said the name really didn’t matter because the team would change it in three years, anyway (presumably for the boost in merchandise sales, for you cynics).

If that is true, then the “Comets” name is perfect, I replied. A comet appears in the sky one night, and a few nights later it has disappeared.

And we’ll be on the the next name.

Fun at the ol’ ballyard with game on the clock

Altuve
That’s Houston Astros star Jose´ Altuve batting for Sugar Land against the OKC Dodgers on Friday night.

I saw something Friday evening at an Oklahoma City Dodgers game at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark that I’ve never witnessed before: A 9-inning professional baseball game played in 2 hours and 14 minutes.

And it was a fun, action-filled game between the Dodgers and the Sugar Land Space Cowboys that was won by OKC 3-2.

Thanks to new rules that mandate no more than 14 seconds between pitches — 18 if runners are on base — the game moved incredibly fast.

There seemed to be no complaints by players or managers over the mandated fast pace. However, there appeared to be a Sugar Land player called out at one point because he wasn’t ready for the pitch in time.

I was able to witness the Dodgers game thanks to my friend Steve Buck and two of his children. Steve had an extra ticket and invited me at the last minute.

Bucks
Steve Buck, along with Kenzy and Isaiah Buck at the Dodgers game Friday.

We had a blast and got to see the most exciting play in baseball — a triple — hit by Dodgers outfielder Drew Avans. The next time up Avans surprised the Space Cowboys by laying down a bunt and getting an easy single out of it.

We saw OKC’s Jake Lamb hit a 2-run home run in the third inning. We saw future baseball hall of famer José Altuve bat for Sugar Land on a rehab assignment. Altuve got a couple of singles, but also was called out on strikes.

Steve and I began to notice the incredible pace of the game after about three innings, which had taken maybe 40 minutes of playing time. We were headed into the fifth when the game reached an hour of playing time.

We saw three OKC pitchers hold Sugar Land to only single runs in the fifth and sixth innings, and nothing more. Then we watched Sugar Land’s Zac Rosscup shut down the Dodgers over the last 1.2 inning and noted that Rosscup has not given up a single run this season over 9 innings. Nothing but zeros.

We celebrated the seventh inning stretch by singing badly, then Googling the history of the seventh inning stretch because we wanted to know how it started. If you must know, it was started by President William Howard Taft at a game in Pittsburgh in 1910.

You can look it up yourself.

Even though we were tracking the swift pace of the game, the final three outs came so quickly in the 9th it caught us by surprise. We headed to our cars at 9:19 pm on a game that started at 7:05.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat through games that started at 7:05 and by 10 pm were only in the 7th or 8th innings.

It was a refreshing change, and appears to be more than a short-term trend.

FreedmanFor reference, here’s an article I found that shows just how much the pitch clock has impacted the length of games throughout the minor leagues.

Dodgers radio announcer and communications director Alex Freedman later tweeted that the Dodgers and Sugar Land games averaged — AVERAGED — 3 hours and 34 minutes last year. So far this year, the first five games have gone 2:51, 2:23, 2:58, 2:14 and 2:32.

Big difference.

I’m hoping that Major League Baseball will embrace the pitch clock ASAP.

Average time of MLB games this year so far: 3:07.

Fun at the ol’ ballyard — life returns to ‘normal’

Panoramic shot of Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark on 2021 Opening Night

Life as we knew it returned on Thursday, May 13. The Oklahoma City Dodgers opened the home portion of their 2021 season at the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

My friend Casey Harness, a long-time season ticket holder, called me early in the afternoon and said he had an extra ticket with my name on it. I cleared it with the home office and agreed to join him at the park about 6:30 p.m.

Masks were optional, as it turned out.

Although the Dodgers lost the game (as they did all but one of their six season-opening road games), it was a special night. Seating was limited and spaced out, but the crowd of about 5,000 still brought enthusiasm and noise.

Here are the top 10 things that made it an awesome night for me:

FREEDOM: The Centers for Disease Control announced early Thursday that Americans like me who are fully vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus can shed their masks outdoors,  as well as in most indoor situations. I was conflicted upon first arriving at the ballpark. I wore my mask as I entered – as did about say, 30 percent of the people I saw – then took it off after entering the club level food area where I met Casey. I put the mask back on briefly as I waited in line for food, but then took it off and never wore it again the rest of the night.

FRIENDSHIP: On my left sat Casey Harness, my host who invited me to sit in his seats with him. Casey and I worked together at i2E, Inc., beginning in 2009 and have remained friends for over a decade.  On my right sat Ed Godfrey, a long time friend and colleague at The Oklahoman who was actually at the game to write an opening night fan experience story.

WEATHER: It was a spectacular night for baseball with clear skies and warm afternoon that cooled off after dark into a night that could still be enjoyed without any sort of jacket. The only thing missing was a giant full moon rise in the east.

CONVERSATION: One of the great things about watching a baseball game in person is that the pace is conversation friendly. Casey, Ed and I tackled all sorts of problems last night, including the OKC Thunder’s ongoing tanking dilemma. And the new largely unpopular baseball rules that put a man on second to start play in each extra inning. Oh, and the extreme defensive positioning that plagues all of baseball these days.

BALLPARK EATS: The tickets that Casey has come with unlimited food service, so our group sampled grilled burgers, chicken breast sandwiches, chicken strips, peanuts, M&Ms, beer, water and even a hot cup of coffee late in the game when there was a hint of a chill in the air.

FUN AT THE OL’ BALLYARD: The Dodgers have a fun bit between innings late in the game where fans dance (mostly) badly and cameras broadcast their (lack of) talent on the giant hi-def scoreboard screen. There were the usual kids dancing wildly, girls and then a couple of 20-something guys who suddenly ripped off their T-shirts like they were World Wide Wrestling contestants. Laughter erupted throughout the stands. Later, I spotted the shirtless guys sitting behind the first base dugout and giving the umpires the business. Must have been dollar beer night.

PREDICTIONS: The Sacramento River Cats – our foes for the night – had the bases full at one point with two outs. I offhandedly predicted a “weak ground ball to second” to end the inning. The batter ripped a hard ground shot just to the right of second, and the Dodgers’ second basemen made a great stop, got up and threw him out to end the inning. I took credit for calling it, of course.

HIGH-TECH: As far as I can tell, Dodgers tickets now are all digital and sent to your phone, which are then scanned when you enter the front gate. I put my ticket in my iPhone’s electronic wallet, then scanned the URL code at the entrance. It worked great. But have the folks still carrying flip phones been left behind?

FIREWORKS: The opening night game was followed by a spectacular opening night fireworks show that was incredibly loud. There are two hotels located just over the left field fence. The game ended about 10:30 p.m. Can you imagine the unexpected jolt that sleeping patrons received? Followed by angry calls to the front desk, I’m sure.

DO IT AGAIN: There’s not much time to wallow in self-pity after a baseball loss. Teams routinely play every night during a homestand, and this year teams are playing the same opponent six straight to cut down on travel during the pandemic. They do get Wednesdays off this season. Anyway, the Dodgers and River Cats are back at it again tonight. I’ll catch this one on the radio.