"Open Season"
One of the first signs that winter is soon to be over is that spring training highlights are constantly on ESPN. With that being said we had our first major snow storm here in Maryland. I woke up to a 6 inch dumping Monday and most of the Baltimore/Washington metropolitan area received around 8 to 12 inches.
Things are starting to get real busy for me with the baseball season fast approaching. This winter was a strange one with the lack of release transactions from affiliated baseball teams. There are not as many free agent players available to us Indy ball managers as in years past, meaning fewer phone calls and even fewer signings.
For me that usually means extreme anxiety. Just knowing the countdown to opening day is on and not having as many players in place as I have had in years past can make me a little crazy at times. I often tell myself there will be ton of talented baseball players that will get released in spring training that will be interested in continuing their careers. Just one problem with that, every other independent club is in the same situation as I am and we will be competing against each other for their services. Tom and Rudy have been a great help to me as always as has Andrew and Jonathan. Stay tuned, it should be a very interesting March and April for the transaction wires in each independent league.
During the winter I have been fortunate enough to coach basketball at the recreation level. I have to tell you some days it’s more difficult than managing the Goldeyes! Christopher’s basketball season came to a close this weekend with a first round loss in the playoffs. I told the kids they lost because of poor coaching. David will be playing in the 12U league championship this coming Saturday against a very strong team from Thurmont, Maryland. I can’t wait. Rebekah is keeping busy with her dance classes and sweet little Erik is busy being a stinker. Erika joined the work force for the first time in 8 years. I’m so proud of her.
That’s all I have for now. My phone is ringing and I need to close this deal on a future Goldeyes player. Wish me luck!
-- Rick Forney
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
From the Desk of the GM - Mar. 4, 2009
“K’s for Kids”
Years ago, long-time season ticket holders Steve and Bonnie Heller, also known as the “K Couple” that sit above the visitors dugout and put up K’s every time a Goldeyes pitcher strikes out an opposing batter, came up with a fantastic fund-raising idea that everyone can get involved with. It’s called the K’s for Kids promotion and it works like this. Fans are asked to pledge a certain monetary amount, whether it is one dollar or one cent per strikeout, thrown by a Goldeyes pitcher at home during the season. Last year, Goldeyes pitchers threw 318 strikeouts at home. So, if you pledged 10 cents per strikeout, you would have been invoiced at the end of the year for $31.80.
Every year, beginning in 2001, we have mailed out K’s for Kids pledge forms to all season ticket and mini pack holders with their pickup letters in April. In addition, we make the forms available on the website and at the Subway fan services booth at each game. However, every year it seems to be the same people who sign up and every year the money raised through this effort remains virtually the same. Which got me thinking about the almost limitless possibilities this opportunity has. So, I decided to do some math and came up with the following:
Working with a number of 300,000 fans per season, if only one per cent (or 3,000) of those fans participated in the program and pledged five cents per strikeout with an average of 300 strikeouts thrown by Goldeyes pitchers, the amount donated would be $15 per person. Multiplied by 3,000 fans, that would add up to $45,000 that would go to the Field of Dreams Foundation, which would end up in the hands of children’s charities in Manitoba. To take the math a little further, even if 3,000 fans pledged one cent per strikeout, or $3 per person, that would still be $9,000, which is more than the program currently raises.
For added incentive to get involved with this program, if you donate $15 to the K’s for Kids program, you’ll receive a $15 charitable tax receipt that you can use to reduce your taxes on next year’s tax return.
To get things rolling for 2009, I am pledging $1 per strikeout.
To really spice things up, if you send in your form by June 30 and write “GM BLOG” at the top of your form, you will be entered to win a Goldeyes skysuite for a night sometime during July or August this summer. If you’re the winner, you can pick the night!
If you would like to get involved, please click here to view the form and print it out.
One parting note… I had a great time reading at David Livingstone School last week. Not sure how I was included with some real celebrity readers, but did my best to stumble through my book “Reading is good for you because…”. Janet Stewart from CBC and I read to the Kindergarten and Nursery School kids. I am certainly glad I read before Janet, she was very funny and entertaining. Kudos to Lorraine Maciboric from the Tallman Foundation for setting that up with the school. Below is a photo of the celebrity readers, and me!
Years ago, long-time season ticket holders Steve and Bonnie Heller, also known as the “K Couple” that sit above the visitors dugout and put up K’s every time a Goldeyes pitcher strikes out an opposing batter, came up with a fantastic fund-raising idea that everyone can get involved with. It’s called the K’s for Kids promotion and it works like this. Fans are asked to pledge a certain monetary amount, whether it is one dollar or one cent per strikeout, thrown by a Goldeyes pitcher at home during the season. Last year, Goldeyes pitchers threw 318 strikeouts at home. So, if you pledged 10 cents per strikeout, you would have been invoiced at the end of the year for $31.80.
Every year, beginning in 2001, we have mailed out K’s for Kids pledge forms to all season ticket and mini pack holders with their pickup letters in April. In addition, we make the forms available on the website and at the Subway fan services booth at each game. However, every year it seems to be the same people who sign up and every year the money raised through this effort remains virtually the same. Which got me thinking about the almost limitless possibilities this opportunity has. So, I decided to do some math and came up with the following:
Working with a number of 300,000 fans per season, if only one per cent (or 3,000) of those fans participated in the program and pledged five cents per strikeout with an average of 300 strikeouts thrown by Goldeyes pitchers, the amount donated would be $15 per person. Multiplied by 3,000 fans, that would add up to $45,000 that would go to the Field of Dreams Foundation, which would end up in the hands of children’s charities in Manitoba. To take the math a little further, even if 3,000 fans pledged one cent per strikeout, or $3 per person, that would still be $9,000, which is more than the program currently raises.
For added incentive to get involved with this program, if you donate $15 to the K’s for Kids program, you’ll receive a $15 charitable tax receipt that you can use to reduce your taxes on next year’s tax return.
To get things rolling for 2009, I am pledging $1 per strikeout.
To really spice things up, if you send in your form by June 30 and write “GM BLOG” at the top of your form, you will be entered to win a Goldeyes skysuite for a night sometime during July or August this summer. If you’re the winner, you can pick the night!
If you would like to get involved, please click here to view the form and print it out.
One parting note… I had a great time reading at David Livingstone School last week. Not sure how I was included with some real celebrity readers, but did my best to stumble through my book “Reading is good for you because…”. Janet Stewart from CBC and I read to the Kindergarten and Nursery School kids. I am certainly glad I read before Janet, she was very funny and entertaining. Kudos to Lorraine Maciboric from the Tallman Foundation for setting that up with the school. Below is a photo of the celebrity readers, and me!
My next blog…Monday, March 9 – “Relay for Life”
Until next time…
Until next time…
--Andrew
Monday, March 2, 2009
From the Desk of the GM - Mar. 2, 2009
“Best Value for your Money”
You can’t turn on the radio or TV or open a newspaper these days without being bombarded with bad news about the economy. Doom and gloom surrounds us on a daily basis. Times are tough out there and the phrase “disposable income” seems like an oxymoron. You may be wondering where I’m going with all this, so here it is. At the Goldeyes, we realize that families’ budgets are being squeezed tighter and tighter every day. However, we also know that even during these difficult times, people still need to get out once in a while and have some fun.
“$20 gets a family of four through the door” – Sam said those words before we opened the doors to Canwest Park back in 1999 and we’re still saying them now. When we opened the ballpark in June of ’99, there were 800 seats available each game for $5 each. 10 years later we continue to make it even more affordable to come to the park and for 2009, there will be 1,200 seats at each game available for only $5 each.
We believe there is absolutely no better value for your entertainment dollar than going to a Goldeyes game. Not only is there great baseball to watch on the field, but most games have a giveaway item, fireworks show or an entertainment act, and at all games there is free stuff thrown into the crowd throughout the game. If you catch a free ice cream or a bag of potato chips or a bag of sunflower seeds – Boom! – you’ve almost made your $5 back! Even at the $10, $12 or $16 ticket levels, we still believe there isn’t a better way to be entertained for three hours for the money.
If you buy a group package and bring out your staff, clients, friends or family, everyone gets a free souvenir. You basically get your money back with each group ticket purchased by getting a great Goldeyes souvenir to take home!
We are celebrating playing at Canwest Park for 10 years and have introduced some additional benefits for being a season ticket or mini pack holder. Here they are:
BENEFITS OF SEASON TICKET PACKAGE:
- Same seats for all 48 regular season, two exhibition and six potential playoff games.
- 15% discount at The Dugout Goldeyes Souvenir Store
- Invitations to the annual pre-season “Meet The Goldeyes”, Fan Appreciation Barbecue and “World Series Party” events (exclusive to season ticket holders)
- Benefits of our “Catch & Release” program
- Preferred parking opportunities
- Special discounts and offers from a variety of Goldeyes partners and vendors
- First right of refusal for a variety of events, concerts and shows at Canwest Park and other venues
In addition to these benefits that season ticket holders receive every year, as a 10th year celebration bonus, for every season ticket held, holders will receive:
- Two Goldeyes 2009 home games at no charge
- One $10 Goldie’s Grill Gift Certificate
- One $10 Hu’s on First Gift Certificate
If a full season ticket is too much, our five different nine-game mini packs might be perfect for you. The five different packages are: first half, second half, mid week, Saturdays and Sundays. Many different options for many different types of Goldeyes fan.
BENEFITS OF 9-GAME MINI PACKS:
- Same seats for each game in the 9-game package
- 10% discount at The Dugout Goldeyes Souvenir Store
The special BONUS you’ll receive for each mini pack purchased:
- $10 Ticket Gift Certificate for any 2009 Goldeyes Home Game
- $10 Goldie’s Grill Gift Certificate
To get your ticket packages, click here or call the Goldeyes box office and speak with Dennis, Blake or Brandon at 982-2273.
One parting note…Kudos to the Winnipeg Goldeyes fans for helping raise significant funds for the Field of Dreams Foundation again in 2008. The Foundation raised and distributed more than $150,000 to 40 children’s charities in Manitoba bringing the year-to-date total to more than $1.1 million. In my next blog, I will talk about an easy way to get involved with the Field of Dreams fundraising efforts through the K’s for Kids promotion.
Until next time…
-- Andrew
You can’t turn on the radio or TV or open a newspaper these days without being bombarded with bad news about the economy. Doom and gloom surrounds us on a daily basis. Times are tough out there and the phrase “disposable income” seems like an oxymoron. You may be wondering where I’m going with all this, so here it is. At the Goldeyes, we realize that families’ budgets are being squeezed tighter and tighter every day. However, we also know that even during these difficult times, people still need to get out once in a while and have some fun.
“$20 gets a family of four through the door” – Sam said those words before we opened the doors to Canwest Park back in 1999 and we’re still saying them now. When we opened the ballpark in June of ’99, there were 800 seats available each game for $5 each. 10 years later we continue to make it even more affordable to come to the park and for 2009, there will be 1,200 seats at each game available for only $5 each.
We believe there is absolutely no better value for your entertainment dollar than going to a Goldeyes game. Not only is there great baseball to watch on the field, but most games have a giveaway item, fireworks show or an entertainment act, and at all games there is free stuff thrown into the crowd throughout the game. If you catch a free ice cream or a bag of potato chips or a bag of sunflower seeds – Boom! – you’ve almost made your $5 back! Even at the $10, $12 or $16 ticket levels, we still believe there isn’t a better way to be entertained for three hours for the money.
If you buy a group package and bring out your staff, clients, friends or family, everyone gets a free souvenir. You basically get your money back with each group ticket purchased by getting a great Goldeyes souvenir to take home!
We are celebrating playing at Canwest Park for 10 years and have introduced some additional benefits for being a season ticket or mini pack holder. Here they are:
BENEFITS OF SEASON TICKET PACKAGE:
- Same seats for all 48 regular season, two exhibition and six potential playoff games.
- 15% discount at The Dugout Goldeyes Souvenir Store
- Invitations to the annual pre-season “Meet The Goldeyes”, Fan Appreciation Barbecue and “World Series Party” events (exclusive to season ticket holders)
- Benefits of our “Catch & Release” program
- Preferred parking opportunities
- Special discounts and offers from a variety of Goldeyes partners and vendors
- First right of refusal for a variety of events, concerts and shows at Canwest Park and other venues
In addition to these benefits that season ticket holders receive every year, as a 10th year celebration bonus, for every season ticket held, holders will receive:
- Two Goldeyes 2009 home games at no charge
- One $10 Goldie’s Grill Gift Certificate
- One $10 Hu’s on First Gift Certificate
If a full season ticket is too much, our five different nine-game mini packs might be perfect for you. The five different packages are: first half, second half, mid week, Saturdays and Sundays. Many different options for many different types of Goldeyes fan.
BENEFITS OF 9-GAME MINI PACKS:
- Same seats for each game in the 9-game package
- 10% discount at The Dugout Goldeyes Souvenir Store
The special BONUS you’ll receive for each mini pack purchased:
- $10 Ticket Gift Certificate for any 2009 Goldeyes Home Game
- $10 Goldie’s Grill Gift Certificate
To get your ticket packages, click here or call the Goldeyes box office and speak with Dennis, Blake or Brandon at 982-2273.
One parting note…Kudos to the Winnipeg Goldeyes fans for helping raise significant funds for the Field of Dreams Foundation again in 2008. The Foundation raised and distributed more than $150,000 to 40 children’s charities in Manitoba bringing the year-to-date total to more than $1.1 million. In my next blog, I will talk about an easy way to get involved with the Field of Dreams fundraising efforts through the K’s for Kids promotion.
Until next time…
-- Andrew
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