If you haven’t noticed already, we have a new name and new look. For those who are thinking to themselves, “Who are the Noise Nation?” I will give you a quick rundown on how this all began..
Mid-season in 2008 I witnessed Les Walrond strike out 17 batters in one game. I kept looking around and just felt something was missing. I had no idea what I was looking for but I knew something was off. Days later, I am telling a friend about the game and it hit me. No one kept track of the strikeouts. You see these signs in many ballparks at many levels of play. The signs consist of simply a “K” for every strikeout achieved by the home team’s pitcher. If the opposing batter strikes out looking, (not swinging), the “K” is then placed backwards. I decided I was going to make a K sign and not just a K sign, I was going to add three more letters. Thus, the OINK sign in right center field of Coca Cola Park came to be. After a trip to the dollar store and a few hours of drawing, I was ready.
The first night I tried this was an absolute disaster. It gets windy out there in right field and I was not prepared at all. All my friends bailed on me so I was alone, frantically stepping and catching posterboards as they blew around. By gametime some passers by assisted and I got “OIN” hung up there and relatively stable. Carlos Carrasco was on the mound and he was quickly making a name for himself as a new pitcher in AAA. Several innings go by, a few K’s go up. A few more innings, some more K’s. Around the 7th inning a light rain begins. I stand my post and people stop and ask what I’m up to. Most just smile and walk away. In the 8th innning a friend finally arrives. He had been across the street at a bar and is less than coherently trying to tell me that I’ve been on TV the whole night. The OINK Sign was born.
From that sign grew the Noise Nation, there will be more to come in future posts…
noisenation.mlblogs.com 