Jupiter, FL - Hamilton R. Head

05/17/2009 - Jupiter Hammerheads - Roger Dean Stadium

On our trip to meet Billy the Marlin last summer, we found ourselves with a free evening in central Florida. And while Florida is best known to baseball fans as a Spring Training destination, those stadiums that welcome Major League stars each spring also serve as summer-long homes to the Florida State League (Single-A). While teams are spread throughout the state, Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, FL is home to two of the teams (Jupiter Hammerheads and Palm Beach Cardinals) which assures that there will be baseball here almost every night of the summer.

I'm not sure if it was the single-A nature of the product of the field or the fact that there is nightly baseball but to say that this is not a tough ticket is an understatement. We pulled up about 30 minutes before first pitch hoping that it wasn't a sellout. What we found was a crowd that paled in comparison to some of my little league games growing up. After we took our seats (5th row behind the dugout and the only people in our row), I decided to start counting heads. Most attendance figures that teams publish are bogus anyway so I started in the right field corner and by the time I got to home plate, I was right around 100 people. And two of them were crash test dummies!

I'm an atmosphere guy so I will admit that the lack of fans was a bit of a disappointment but it did allow for some unique experiences. For instance, we were able to hear the infielders communicate on plays up the middle and could even hear the pitchers back foot drag on the mound as he completed his delivery. Oh, yeah, and the knowledge that the players would be able to hear each and every one of my snarky comments was kind of fun too. We enjoyed some $1 hot dogs, snagged a few free tee shirts and had no problem meeting up with Hamilton R. Head (get it, Ham R. Head) for a picture.

I wouldn't suggest driving a few hundred miles out of way or anything to check out Roger Dean Stadium but if you're a true baseball fan who wants an unobstructed view of the action or dreams of being able to call off the third baseman on a popup and have him actually hear you, its not a bad place to spend a few hours.

Goodbye February, Hello Baseball

For all you hearty souls that have survived the winter, keeping your spirits up with college basketball or the Olympics, fear not, you have made it. When the sun rises tomorrow it will be March and with March comes Spring Training Baseball. Pitchers and catchers reported to camp earlier this month and all across Florida and Arizona, baseball players are shaking off the winter rust and preparing for the long season ahead.

I encourage you to grab a schedule and plan a road trip this summer. Pick your favorite team or one in a city that you've never been to, check out the promotional calendar (everyone likes free stuff) and get out there. Because that's what it's all about - hitting the open road, meeting some new people, tasting new foods and just taking it easy for a few hours. By my count, we are at 11 MLB parks so far (8 current, 3 defunct). We'll keep working our way towards all 30 stadiums but in honor of Spring Training, I'll do my best to post a recap today from last year's excursion to Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida. It's home to 2 minor league teams during the season and the Spring Training home of the Florida Marlins and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Lawsuit Claims KC Mascot Blinded Fan With Wiener

Please raise your hand when this officially seems like a bad idea...

Take your costumed mascot.

Arm him with an air powered gun.

Wrap hot dogs in tight foil wrappers.

Load hot dogs into said air powered gun.

Let him stand on the dugout and fire the tubed meat into the crowd.

Sluggerrr, the crown-wearing, lion mascot of the Kansas City Royals (MLB) apparently had some aiming issues last fall at a Royals game and mistakenly hit a fan in the eye with a hot dog during this promotion. According to that fan, the hot dog caused a detached retina and he is suing the team for $25,000 for negligence and battery.

Not that I am condoning such lawsuits, but someone had to see this coming. Well, someone other than the guy who took the wiener to the eye. I've been to many games where they do this promotion at a break in the action. Below is a picture of Captain Jolly Roger doing this at a Pirates game last July and he was getting them into the upper deck! I'm all for free handouts and getting food to people as quickly as possible but this never seemed like it was going to end well. Now if they offer to wash it down with a beer hose after the next half inning, maybe then we'll talk.

Oh, and just so you know, it officially seems like a bad idea at the words "arm him."

Welcome Nutzy the Flying Squirrel

Last Thursday, the Richmond Flying Squirrels of the Eastern League (Minor League Baseball) held a public event to introduce their new mascot. After soliciting suggestions from the public in a "name the mascot" contest, the team decided to name him Nutzy. The team is a AA affiliate of the San Francisco Giants and moved to Richmond this past off season from Connecticut, where they were known as the Connecticut Defenders. The local fan that submitted the winning entry won a personal appearance from Nutzy and a 20 person picnic at a 2010 home game. If you are in Richmond and want to meet Nutzy, the team begins their home schedule on Thursday April 15th.

While we are happy for Nutzy, we must admit a little bitterness towards our suggestion not being selected. We recommended "Cooper" and argued that the team could setup the whole kid's area as "Cooper's Town." Assuming it didn't infringe upon any trademarks, it seemed like marketing genius. And we really wanted that 20 person picnic. Oh, well, maybe next time.

Mascot Hunter Version 2.0

Through all of our sports travels, the one thing we at Mascot Hunter began to realize was that kids have a pretty sweet deal. They get giveaways all for themselves (I never got a chest-protector shaped backpack when I was 8), they get to run the bases after designated games (go ahead and try it adults, see how it goes) and no one is going to charge them $8.50 for their favorite beverage. So with that in mind, we at Mascot Hunter have expanded to include a third member to take advantage of the kid-friendly aspects of sports travel. He arrived in late January and has already shown an interest in the NFL football playoffs, Australian Open tennis (which thankfully is on at 2 in the morning) and drinks that come in bottles.

"Junior" is 1 foot, 7.5 inches tall and weighs in at just over 8.5 pounds. He currently lists his favorite mascot as the stuffed Virginia Tech Hokie Bird that he lives with and lists his goal for 2010 as meeting the real Hokie Bird.