"It is the little things that can leave the biggest impact"
When the 2008 NWL schedule first comes out, broadcasters usually circle the trips that they look forward to around the circuit. For instance, right away I circle Everett as the commute is short and the shopping usually keeps you busy with all the outlet malls nearby the hotel. I also circle Salem-Keizer because once per trip, the team gets to go over to the Nike Employee factory and get 50% off of everything they have in the building, and it’s the ’08 stuff, not something that five stores couldn’t sell first. Hey, I like to shop for sports stuff, what can I say.
I will be honest, I did not circle Tri-City as the season approached, as for me, it was the one unknown stop, and really, I didn’t know anything about the area until this past week.
Every stadium has its own identity and its own people. In Vancouver, it’s all about the nostalgia and having fun with the whole family. In Eugene they too play to the nostalgia card and have the largest outdoor barbecue in the NWL. Tri-City, well, it has a giant sunscreen so fans don’t bake in the high 90’s warmth despite the fact it remains that hot until around 8:30pm, and that doesn’t have me running around with excitement in March when the schedule comes out.
But from this point on, I will always, as long as I have a job in the Northwest League, circle Tri-City on my schedule. Here’s why…
The ushers and the staff are outstanding. From the moment you walk in you are greeted like a long lost friend, and treated as if you’ve had a hard day and they are there to help you take a load off. The mascot, Dusty, is very, very good. I asked about the mascot who claps, dances, interacts and takes center stage with the best of them – and I am told ‘she’ is a teenage girl that simply loves her job, and really wants to make sure the fans enjoy the character. She steals the show from time to time, and when Dusty brought out the Canadian Flag just before the anthem, instead of the smaller one that usually flies below the stars and stripes at most NWL ballparks, it meant something to the lone true ‘Canadian’ in the park. To watch the opposing teams mascot bring out my country’s flag and wave it back and forth as the Canadian National Anthem is played or sung – is a very nice touch.
On Sunday, July 27th in the 3rd inning of play, Canadians OF JD Pruitt was struck in the back of the head by a pitch that temporarily left him unconscious at home plate. The Tri-City staff was direct, efficient and knowledgeable about the procedure on and off the field during this incident. General Manager Monica Ortega won me over immediately with her ability to keep me in the loop and even went so far as to Mapquest the quickest route to the Lords Medical Center from Gesa Stadium in the event we needed to go their after the ballgame. To top this eloquence off, the PA Announcer, who is one of the best I have ever heard – bar none, spent the entire next inning after Pruitt was driven off in an ambulance – not once raised his voice past the average spoken word… No, NOOOOOWWWWW BAAAATTTIIINNNGGGG!!!! He was polite, understood the moment and won me over immediately.
These are the type of things that matter to baseball fans. Having stadiums and organizations that get not just the fan experience, but the game as well. I was totally impressed by the Dust Devils, and even when their internet crapped out, cutting off one of my broadcasts, Dust Devils radio guy Mike Boyle, pulled up a chair, and let me broadcast on his frequency and linked us to the Vancouver website, so that our fans could still enjoy the game with a familiar voice. A very nice touch, that capped off the week.
They are a wonderful collection of people in a trio of cities that really is as clean a city as you will find in the Northwest League… I will moving forward, always remember to circle the schedule when the C’s visit TC – or the Tri Cities.
Rob Fai
