Реферат: Minor League Baseball- Boom Or Bust To

have been the major reasons for fans attending the game. In Prince William, Virginia,

home of the Class A Cannons, general manager Kenneth Shepard has come up with a valet

car wash and a preferred parking pass for season ticketholders. For $2, you can have your

car washed while you?re watching the game; and for $75 a year, fans can have their own

assigned parking spot(Morgenson 9). Robert Rich, Jr., president of Rich Products Corp.

in Buffalo, the nation?s largest family owned frozen food manufacturer, has owned the

Buffalo Bisons since 1983 and was among the first to make his games ?events.? He puts

on a weekly fireworks display, sponsors at least three major concerts a season — last year

the Beach Boys, Aretha Franklin, and Huey Lewis and the News came to town — and

dreams up contests where fans participate on the ball field. Rich explains, ?Thursdays are

Pizza Hut Pop-up Night. Before the game, contestants come out onto the field and try to

catch three pop-up fly balls. If someone catches all three, everybody in the stadium gets a

free pizza from Pizza Hut?(Morgenson 9). In Wilmington, Delaware, promotions include

the Dizzy Bat Race, Dirtiest Car of the Game, Frisbee Toss, and minor league baseball?s

version of ?Let?s Make a Deal.? There is no limit to the creativity that they have come up

for promotions at minor league baseball games

Another aspect that has played a part in adding to the quality of life has been the

attitude of the fans. Unlike the fans at the major league games who seem to keep to

themselves and have intolerable attitudes, fans are unusually friendly at minor league

games. Leanne Pagliai is Vice-president of the High Desert Mavericks, a Class A San

Diego Padres farm team in Adelanto, California. Pagliai has a theory: ?Our commuter

society is so splintered today, citizen?s can?t bond as much as a community anymore;

minor league baseball is a chance to get together with your neighbors.? Darwin explains,

?Away from the world of world-class, people behave normally. They are decent and

friendly. They have time to chat. The fans are not impatient with the ball players. The

ball players, paid salaries that are smaller than those of many fans, are approachable and

nice. They give balls to kids.? Darwin also credits his success in Ottawa because he was

able to spot a desire by the fans to be part of something small(Gordon 9).

In Durham, North Carolina, minor league baseball has had an impact on the