The scouts, business leaders, service men and women, graduating seniors, the Lt. I feel as though I got to meet and talk with everyone in the State. The memories from these are literally endless.īefore each game, friends in the community are always invited to join the players and JDew’s crew on the field to start a baseball game. A 70-game season has over 1100 of them! I filled them with home-run derby, tug-o-war, musical chairs, dance battles, giveaways, races, and the infamous dizzy bat spin. My bread-and-butter were the between inning breaks. Note: I still never eaten a ballpark hotdog! We changed it up between ballpark dogs and ribs throughout the years. Every year, the Greenville Drive held our version of the Independence Day hot dog eating contest everyone watches on ESPN. The contests we constructed were a big part of that. I often told people that my job was to help people who didn’t care for baseball to have the best time possible. Some of the major fun in the minor leagues are the crowd engagement pieces. Right before he announced his bid for the presidency in 2008, McCain came through and we went on-camera to talk about his favorite Southern foods, among other things. I’ve gotten to see several famous big league ballplayers, like Roger Clemens, John Smoltz, and Jim Rice, but, also, folks like Dan Marino, Bubba Watson, Evander Holyfield, and John McCain. Over the course of 10+ years, many celebrities have come to visit. Here’s the pics that I found in the vault. As baseball begins its twelfth season in downtown Greenville this week, I took a trip down memory lane thinking about what I’ll miss most after 10+ years as the “Director of Fun” for the Greenville Drive baseball club.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |