From the Desk of the GM - July 3, 2009

“A review of the first half at Canwest Park”

Flashback Fridays – the first four Flashback Friday guests have been fantastic. Not only did the guests themselves and the fans have a great time, in the case of Brian Duva and Carmine Cappuccio, their families did as well. Brian and Carmine brought their wives and two children to see the city they called home while they played for the Goldeyes.

Troy Fortin, Chris Kokinda, Duva and Cappuccio were the first four of eight flashback Friday guests this year, with another four coming in the second half of the home schedule. The lineup in July and August is as follows:

Friday, July 10 – Dan Guehne
Friday, July 24 – Rafael Gross
Friday, August 7 – Chad Thornhill (was originally scheduled to be Jeff Zimmerman, but he is pitching in Seattle’s organization and will be unavailable that date)
Friday, August 28 – Ryan Robertson

Entertainment acts – Mad Chad and Quick Change. To spice up the entertainment aspect of Goldeyes games, we booked four different entertainment acts this summer. The first two, Mad Chad and Quick Change, were very entertaining. People are still asking themselves two questions: 1. How does someone decide they would like to juggle three chainsaws?, and 2. How did they change their clothes so fast without us seeing how they did it?

Home record – The Goldeyes ended the first half with a home record of 15 wins and 7 losses. Being someone who enjoys stats and breaking down the numbers, I’ve broken down our record at home:

Monday – 1-2
Tuesday – 4-0
Wednesday – 2-1
Thursday – 1-0
Friday – 1-2
Saturday – 2-1
Sunday – 4-1

Double headers – 3-1

Weather – The home schedule started out cold, then warmed up a little, then it rained…a lot, then it finally got nice out for our final four games of the first half. We had three rainouts in June, including back to back rainouts on June 26 and 27. It was the first time we had back to back rainouts since May 29 and 30 in 2004.

Attendance – our attendance started slow, which can largely be attributed to the near freezing temperatures and large amount of rain the city endured most of May and early June, but did pick up near the end of June. We ended the first half with an average attendance of 6,001 (120,023 in 20 openings). Even with the slow start, the Goldeyes lead all of independent baseball in average attendance. The next two closest teams are the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League (5,647) and the St. Paul Saints of the American Association (5,167). Goldeyes fans have proven throughout the years that they are the best in baseball. They come out when the temperature is near zero, when the winds are blowing through Canwest at 70 km/hr and they come out even when the heavens have opened up, dropping five inches of rain on the field, with the hope that we will still play the game.

Canada Day – Everything except the final outcome of the game on Canada Day was spectacular. The team looked great in their replica 1999 Team Canada jerseys and hats, the weather was beautiful and the place was packed near capacity with flag-waving, face painted fans. As with just about everything we do, we can always do it better. On this day, it was the fact that we neglected to put up our red and white bunting in honour of Canada Day. It was something we hadn’t thought of because we just purchased the new bunting prior to the 2008 season and we didn’t have a game on Canada Day last year. Prior to 2008, we had the traditional red, white and blue bunting, which was obviously not appropriate to put up on Canada Day. It is something that has been noted and will be fixed for next July 1 game we have.

A brief preview of upcoming promotions in the second half home schedule:

July 10 - Flashback Friday - Dan Guehne & Fireworks after the game
July 11 - Ball game and a movie - stick around after the game and watch a movie on the video board from the field
July 12 - The magic of Brian Glow
July 21 - Donnie Smith jersey retirement night
July 22 - Shirt off our Backs night
July 23 - Special 6 pm start and Turn Back the Clock Night
July 24 - Flashback Friday - Rafael Gross
July 25 - Christmas in July
July 26 - Dave the Horn Guy
August 4 - Luau at the ballpark & Fireworks after the game
August 5 - Bookmark Giveaway Night
August 6 - Pajama Party!
August 7 - Flashback Friday - Chad Thornhill
August 8 - Pre-game BBQ for season ticket holders
August 9 - Tin Lunch Box Giveaway
August 17 - 40th anniversary of Woodstock celebration
August 18 - Double header starting at 6 pm & Fireworks after the game
August 19 - Special mid-week noon game
August 24 - Country Night!
August 28 - Flashback Friday - Ryan Robertson
August 30 - Second half team photo giveaway and on-field autograph session
August 31 - Fan Appreciation Day, Player Card Set giveaway & Fireworks!

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Until next time…