Oklahoma City Baseball Club – Jim Stafford's BlogOKC

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.

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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.”

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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.

Back to the Future: Original 1980s Dot Race makes 2024 appearance

PreRace Dots — The Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark scoreboard says ‘Pick the Winner’ as it shows the dots and course before the Dot Race starts.

Back in December, I published an article on this blog about the history of baseball’s Dot Race and how it was created here in OKC by Larry Newman in the early 1980s. You can read it here.

Larry was an employee of the Oklahoma City 89ers in those days, as well as working part time on the Sports desk at The Oklahoman.

That’s where my path crossed with Larry’s, because I worked on The Oklahoman’s Sports desk as a copy editor for most of the 1980s.

So, I saw the Dot Race in action on the 89ers scoreboard many times and learned that it was created by Larry. The Dot Race often created almost as much in-game excitement for the 1980s Oklahoma City baseball fans as the game itself.

After the blog post was published — and also mentioned on the 3 Old Geezers podcast, of which I am a part — the current-day Oklahoma City Baseball Club contacted Larry. He offered to re-create the original Dot Race for use during the 2024 season and the team accepted.

Larry went to work and created a perfect replica of his work from 40-plus years ago.

The OKC Baseball Cub plays as the Oklahoma City 89ers on Thursday nights, and the team decided to play the Dot Race during each “89ers” game.

That brought Larry and his family, along with me, my fellow Geezer Ed Godfrey and Ed’s son, Cade, to the ballpark this past week to watch the first 2024 Dot Race.

Larry Stephanie — Dot Race creator Larry Newman and his wife, Stephanie, at the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark on Thursday night before the Dot Race.

To me, it looked exactly the same as the 1980s version, although maybe a little smoother with the better technology and scoreboard capabilities in 2024. It was a small crowd that witnessed the rebirth of the original Dot Race, but I could see and hear some excitement as the dots rounded the final turn for home.

Anyway, I asked Larry to share his thoughts on the whole experience. Here’s what Larry Newman had to say about going Back to the Future to watch his 1980s Dot Race in 2024:

Larry Newman’s Dot Race thoughts

“First, I was quite surprised when you contacted me this winter to learn more about the origin of the Dot Race. After all, it had been over 43 years since I did the first Dot Race and about 38 years since I had done my last one. It was an enjoyable experience meeting with you and recalling the events that occurred to set the stage for the creation of the first Dot Race.

Thoughts about seeing other teams adopt the dot race

“By nature, I spend very little time thinking about the past, so after I left the 89ers to take a technical writing position in Phoenix, AZ. in 1987, the Dot Race became a small footnote in my mind and simply a fond memory of the eight years I spent working for the 89ers at All Sports Stadium. The only time I thought about it was when I would go to a Texas Rangers game or other major league sporting event and see a Dot Race in those other venues. I got a kick out of seeing how various teams improved the race over the years, and I enjoyed watching the fans cheering on their selected dot during the races. That always brought a smile to my face.

Thoughts about how the Dot Race came back to OKC

“Fast forward to early 2024 when AJ Navarro from the Oklahoma City Baseball Club contacted me after either listening to your podcast or reading your blog about the origin of the Dot Race.

“He said they are dedicating every Thursday home game to honor the legacy of the 89ers and were doing all they could to integrate as many elements of 89ers history on these nights.

“During our conversation, I asked Mr. Navarro if he would like me to create an authentic replica of the first generation 89ers Dot Races that he could run on their video system. He was enthusiastic about the idea.

“After receiving the video resolution specifications from Mr. Navarro, I set off to create a race that would look as much like the original dot races as possible. This meant it needed to be in black and white, no color, and a little jerky. After all, creating a Dot Race in the 1980s involved creating a 400-frame black and white animation one frame at a time. It was also a bit jerky due to computer processing limitations — very crude tools compared to today. The data was also stored on audio tape—there were no reasonably affordable disk drives or rewritable flash memory in those days! So even storing each race took a bit of time.

Thoughts about the fan reaction

“During the dot race Thursday night at the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, I was mostly watching the reaction of my two adult children, Matt and Haley. Matt was born in 1989, and my daughter several years later, so neither of them had ever seen a first generation Dot Race created by their dad. My kids got quite a kick out of watching the race, so I was happy. My wife (Stephanie) also came to the game, but since we were dating in the 1980’s, she had seen many of my Dot Races at All Sports Stadium.

“The general fan reaction in the ballpark was muted but better than I expected. It was evident that some of the fans either recalled the Dot Races at All Sports Stadium or enjoyed Dot Races at other venues and enthusiastically cheered for their selected dot.

“The Oklahoma City Baseball Club does such an incredible job of filling every moment between innings with great entertainment that I suspect some fans will continue to look forward to watching the Dot Races, but it will probably struggle to stand out or gain much momentum with the fans throughout the season. There are simply so many other things competing for the attention of the fans. It’s an amazing environment for baseball and elevates the fan experience far above what I have ever experienced in any other ballpark, so it’s a good trade-off.

“I plan to attend many more games this year.”

Thank, you Larry Newman, for creating the Dot Race and for sharing it with the 2024 audience. It’s a great memory for me from days long past, and I’m sure it will create some memories for today’s fans.

Even RoboNiner made a 2024 appearance at the ballpark on Dot Race night.

Fading glory: Bricktown Ballpark needs upper deck rehab

Advertising banners cover the entire upper deck seating area down the first base line of the Bricktown Ballpark.

I was enjoying a summer evening at the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark with a friend last year, savoring the crowd, the game and the park’s immaculate green pasture.

Then my eyes landed on the upper deck along the first baseline that extends out into right field. There were no seats or bleachers visible. Only advertising banners draped across each section.

The faded tarps have been there for years, at least since the ownership group that renamed the team the OKC Dodgers took over, maybe longer. I mentioned to my friend Steve that I found the tarps covering the seating area unsightly.

“It’s not a good look,” replied Steve, who, like me, is a partial season ticket holder.

Don’t get me wrong. Oklahoma City has a beautiful ballpark that has retained its attractiveness since it opened in April 1998. However, the tarps do nothing but detract from the ballpark’s charm.

The sight stirs memories of when I attended an Oakland Athletics game in 2004 at what was then called McAfee Coliseum. I knew it as Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum growing up.

Anyway, there is no charm to that stadium, beginning with the chipped concrete exterior and on to the narrow, dark concourse.

But the A’s venue has come to be known for the massive tarps that circle the entire upper deck. It’s as if the team gave up on its fan base years ago. Which, of course, it did, and is relocating soon to Las Vegas.

Back to the Bricktown Ballpark. I’ve enjoyed many summer nights there over the years and seen some spectacular games and individual plays. The team continues to attract fans in large numbers, especially on weekends.

I guess it comes down to what the team’s management thinks detracts from the ballpark experience more: empty upper deck seating areas on most nights or fading advertising banners covering those seats. I take it as a sign that no one anticipates crowds large enough to need them ever again.

I contend that an entire second deck of seating covered in fading tarps makes the Ballpark looks less inviting and a little tired. It’s not sending a signal of anything fresh and exciting.

So, I’m proposing some changes that would help the look and appeal of the ballpark. I’m not sure if it’s the responsibility of the team or the city for upkeep, maintenance or rehab of the park.

But here goes.

First, I would reinstall seats in the first two upper deck sections closest to home plate. Then I would install bleacher seating in the remaining upper deck sections down the first base line.

The team could market the two sections with actual seats as special group sections or maybe for special events. My friend Russ even suggests carving out a “party deck” into the area.

As for the bleacher seating, the team could market that as general admission seating and invite the public in for $10 a ticket or something like that.

And the tarps all would go into the nearest dumpster.

The point of all this is to restore the beautiful Bricktown Ballpark close to its original look and make it even more inviting.

So, I’m asking the OKC Baseball Club and the City of Oklahoma City to consider the possibilities and make our ballpark look as beautiful as it was on April 18, 1998.

Let’s eliminate comparisons to a tired old stadium like that in Oakland. Our ballpark is better than that.