Jimmy T stealing 3rd!
It was a beautiful night.
The Ironpig’s game in Scranton was played on the big screen. After a suggestion by yours truly, the audio was changed to the Ironpig’s radio network
Free food and short lines. They were even handing out those plastic helmets full of popcorn. I ate my fair share.
Just about every portion of the field was open. Scenarios were unfolding across the stadium
A 50+ year old man was walking the outfield foul line like on a balance beam.
Parents and kids were warming up in the bullpens.
I actually picked up the bullpen phone for a photo and was surprised to hear it ringing. A woman in the dugout answered and told me I needed to warm up because she needed me in the game soon.
Soon after visiting the bullpen I took a try at rolling out the rain tarp with our good friend Morris. Morris informed me that he will be heading to Memphis soon to work in his true passion of basketball.
No rain tonight.. but I was ready!
Also gave some signs from the 3rd base coaches box but opted not to slide head first into home plate Pete Rose style.
There was a lot of running around the bases too. Boy there was a lot of running. Until the final out kids and adults alike were rounding bases, posing for staged photos and having an all around fun time.
I must have heard, “HOW COOL IS THIS?!” a thousand times.
Dugouts were open, club level and the dugout suites were open.
I had so much fun, I didn’t even realize that the Pigs were getting crushed in Scranton. I watched the last inning out by the K corner in the dark and just soaked in the atmosphere.
A rough attendance would be close to 4,000. Announced paid attendance from the game in Scranton.. 4,421. Note that paid attendance is not actual attendance. From what we saw on the TV the crowd looked sparse. Maybe Scranton could try giving away free food? I suppose the local politicians up there would want to get their hands on that too. That’s a whole different story though. Is it amazing that more fans out to watch the game on TV than did for the actual game? Yeah, yeah, I know.. free food.. games.. field access.. all that. But still, it is a good thought.. at least for the Ironpigs organization.
I guess they heard about my knuckleball
Altogether, it was a great time. Got a chance to catch up with some of the staff there too. Amazing people work there. If you get a chance to talk to one, take that opportunity. The family bond that has formed there at Coca Cola Park is strong and very welcoming.
To the Ironpigs staff.. THANK YOU! Keep it coming and we will be faithful to you!
Note: Reservations for 2011 season tickets are now being taken! Join in the fun!
noisenation.mlblogs.com 
What a night. Your write up really sums it up. We had a ball. Thanks for taking our picture. I loaded some of my photos to facebook.
Unlike you, I didn’t get the call from the bull pen. That was for the best as my control leaves a lot to be desired. I almost beaned the catcher of the guy throwing next to me. My next pitch was a strike. I decided to leave the bullpen before someone got hurt.
Got great photos everywhere. I look pretty good leaning on the rail from the dugout. Very “manager-like”.
Everyone I talked to had a great time. What a terrific event for ticket holders.
Your blog post is perfect. It was a perfect night! How often do you get to say you got to sit in a duggout of a baseball team (that you are NOT playing on). It was just so great to get to walk the whole warning track, having my boys pretend they are making a catch while banging into the outfield wall (Frankie even got involved in that one).
I’m with you…I forgot there was a game going on. I’m glad you suggested the radio broadcast. I would rather listen to Matt and Jon rather then the Blue Ridge people.
So sad that we had almost as many people at our park as they did at theirs!! I can’t wait to hear the attendance tonight, since they told me there wasn’t any seats left on the first level. Since I have to work tonight, I may tape the game to see if they were telling the truth.
My one complaint was I thought they had burgers last year and this year, was only hot dogs and pizza. As someone who cannot eat pizza, a hot dog with no bun was my only option. So, that was my biggest complaint. BUT…it was free food, so shut up and eat, right 😉
Caution, Heather… the R-Phils are on 2, the LHV/SWB game is on 50…
Thanks R.D.!!
Food was the same last year except last year it was “Super Pretzels” and this year “Philly Pretzels” No burgers. The pizza line was long last year, stretching down the concourse past 3rd base. I didn’t bother to get in that line. Except for the initial rush, lines were short on non existant this year. It was more fun to be on the field than to eat.
Great write-up and I’m happy everyone had a great time. I’m hoping to join the season ticket holders next year for this event.
When can I request GA season tickets for 2011 AND keep the 9-game package I have, and give them to my family ? I know I have to buy the 9-game package to keep them but just give them to my family.
Thank you !
I don’t think the GA ST’s became available until real close to the opening game last year…
Report from Moosic:
So it looks like I went to the wrong stadium last night! Last year the rain really put a damper on the ticketholder event; if you recall, they wouldn’t let us on the field or in the dugouts or in the’pens. Hence, most folks huddled under the concourses (sound familiar?) and stood in line for food. We had picked this game in Moosic months ago, and had tickets 5 rows from the field next to the ‘Pigs dugout. So we bagged out on the CCP event for the game in person. I had my ticket rep give my tix to someone who might need extras.
We rolled in at about 4:40 with plans to eat at the restaurant on-site. It’s called Bo Brothers now and it’s a BBQ joint. The BBQ was very good, but I confess to eating mostly wings, as it was ‘wing night.’ Plus, $1.75 shock tops was a nice touch. Others had burgers and turkey BBQ and other sandwiches. I had some smoked chicken. All good and not crazy expensive. (McFadden’s at CBP last week: similar experience at twice the price. welcome to the city.)
There were plenty of Phillies caps to be seen, and even a few with ‘pigs garb, in the restaurant and in the stadium. I wore my Saturday jersey and my younger son wore his ‘away’ jersey. He was disappointed that the ‘pigs were wearing Saturday jerseys for the game.
The game, of course, was a dud. The pigs couldn’t get anything going and Huppert stuck with Robertson too long–not that it mattered, but by leaving him out there when he clearly had lost it made it a 5-0 lead when it should have been 2 or 3. Robertson never got above 88 or 89 on the stadium gun, and did get hit hard at times.
I can’t say that the Yankees fans about were any better than IronPigs fans. Again, aside from the selfish complainers, I still defend our fans–most of us are just (still) waiting for the good baseball to start. The lower seating bowl was mostly full in the blue seats, but the others in the outfield were mostly empty. Perhaps that’s what constitutes a sellout these days in Moosic. The upper level appeared to be closed to fans. I was one section over from Sutter and Mazone sitting behind the plate with a radar guy. I didn’t bother them.
Lowlights from the game: I couldn’t get into a lather over such a lackluster effort, so the proximity of my seats to the pigs on-deck was not the advantage I was hoping for. I guess I’m prone to the same hopelessness the players are at this point. Also, Worley and Bastardo yukking it up during the National Anthem. Not cool. Talk later during the game, fellas.
What’s wrong in Scranton?
I’ll say the field was in good shape. I think they put some money into that in the offseason after last season’s fiasco. The Stadium is indeed showing it’s age. I know there’s probably no money, public or private, to fix it, so I won’t go into structural improvements and the like. I know the Yankees just re-upped with them to keep the fanchise there, though. I don’t believe in complaining withoud proposing ways to improve, so, I propose:
1. Use any money available to upgrade the video board and the sound system.
2. Work harder at ‘putting on a show.’ Oh, I know, the baseball purists and IronPigs haters will have a field day with this one. But those between-inning antics entertain the masses and make it feel less boring when you don’t have a gorgeous stadium to walk around.
3. Work harder at promotions. I remember before the season checking on promotions, and there were none. They’ve added some as the season’s progressed, and we’ve discussed the relative benefit of trinkets from China; however, I think it would go a long way to help promote the games there.
4. Groups. They did have a bunch of groups there last night, but I bet that they could do better. They should make full use of any and all hospitality areas that are available to them. I was only there for one game, so I don’t have any more specific ideas–I just bet they could do better.
5. this goes with number 4: busses. I’m not sure how it would work, but I know many have to travel further to get to Moosic from the surrounding areas compared to the Coke. Work with a local bussing company to help provide groups from all of northeastern PA with a transportation option for the games. Hey, it works for casinos…
6. If all else fails, put in a casino. (mostly, I’m kidding)
I think the biggest obstacle to fans in that area is that the affiliation is the Yankees. For years they were a Phillies team and I don’t think the good people of Scranton care for the new tenants. Imagine if the Phillies pull out of the Lehigh Valley 2 years from now and the Yankees take over. There certainly wouldn’t be a Noise Nation anymore… at least not one run by me 🙂
Well, maybe you’re right.
But they do get to watch winning baseball! I grew up north of Scranton, and you are correct: even before the Red Barons there were Phillies fans>Yankees>>Mets in my area. Perhaps if they named them something different? The Pinstripes? The Doodle Dandies? The Coal Miners? The Union?
Point being I guess, hard to be a SWB Yankees fan and not be a YANKEES fan. Personally, I can describe myself as an IronPigs fan while I’m not really a Phillies fan. Plus, the ironpigs can change affiliation without changing name–certainly the attendance would go down once the, say, Brewers affiliation starts. I’m not worried about it, I’m just saying…
And, yeah, I’m gonna have a more difficult time with the Phantoms. I feel much more strongly about the Penguins than I do the Pirates. Cheering for Phuture Phlyers is gonna give me pause. 😉
“But those between-inning antics entertain the masses and make it feel less boring when you don’t have a gorgeous stadium to walk around.”
You mean more like those antics cause needed distraction to all of the foaming homers that need to be bamboozled instead of watching another uninspiring loss.
potato, potahto.
Foaming homers?
Anyway, it’s all in good fun, and does take some effort on the IronPigs (read: employees/management, etc.) part. It’s not like they’re spending time coming up with distractions when they should be scouting players. It’s not like they’re raking in the dough instead of paying players (like my own MLB team, the Pirates).
The uninspiring losses and the t-shirt launches are unrelated, as irritating as it may be to you.
“I think the biggest obstacle to fans in that area is that the affiliation is the Yankees. For years they were a Phillies team and I don’t think the good people of Scranton care for the new tenants.”
That has nothing to do with it.
The team did not draw for the last 5-7 years when the Phillies were affiliated with Scranton either. Attendance is actually up with the Yankees and winning baseball in Scranton.
Last year Scranton averaged 6188 per game. In 2005 when the Phillies were still there they averaged 5724.
Scranton’s problem is 100% that it’s a crap stadium. It was built as a mini-Vet and has had little to almost no fan friendly renovations done to it in 21 years.
The chances of any renovations to the stadium are slim as Rendell, the state legislature, and the Yankees have been battling for the last few years about whether to spend 20 million dollars of state money to renovate PNC Field, spend 20 million of state funds as a down payment to build a new stadium, or to sell the franchise outright to Yankees and force the Multi-Purpose Stadium Authority and Lackawanna County to sell the stadium.
Also if renovations are not made and the stadium falls into further disrepair the International League could take control of the stadium and do with it as they see fit including allowing the Yankees to leave Scranton before their contract is up in four years.
Well, they managed to break 10k last night…even in the crappy stadium. Why? Fireworks? Well, I guess those five people from Allentown don’t have family nearby.