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Fort Myers Mighty Mussels

Miracle Nominated by FSL for MacPhail Award

September 29, 2015 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels News Release


DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 29, 2015) - The Florida State League honored the Fort Myers Miracle with the League's nomination for the Larry MacPhail Promotional Trophy, which is given for outstanding promotional work during the season.

One overall winner will be selected prior to this year's annual Baseball Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tenn. for all of Minor League Baseball's 15 leagues. The nominees were selected by the League's Directors and General Managers.

The Larry MacPhail Award is bestowed to the team that demonstrates outstanding, creative marketing and promotional efforts within the community, ballpark and through the media.

"I couldn't be happier for our hardworking and creative crew to be rightfully recognized," said Miracle General Manager Andrew Seymour. "Special thanks go to our owner, Jason Hochberg, and our Chief Operating Officer, Steve Gliner, for giving us the platform and ability to push the creativity of our promotional schedule."

"Of course, our success is made possible by the generous support lent to us by our great community."

In 2015, the Miracle set three all-time attendance marks. A record 133,817 fans passed through the gates of the renovated CenturyLink Sports Complex at Hammond Stadium for 66 openings throughout the course of the summer. The previous record of 124,749 was set during the 2008 season. In addition to the overall attendance, the Miracle also set a new average attendance mark at 2,028 fans per game. The Miracle drew over 4,000 fans on seven different dates including a new individual game team record of 9,209 at the home opener on April 10.

Opening Night also featured a ring ceremony for the defending Florida State League Champions after the Miracle won the League title in 2014. The next night, the Miracle gave away a giant replica of the championship ring to the first 500 fans through the gates. The championship theme continued with the promotion of a one-of-a-kind commemorative logo and a wide range of celebratory merchandise available at the new team store.

The Miracle welcomed multiple celebrities to Hammond Stadium over the summer. Legendary college football coach Howard Schnellenberger greeted fans and signed autographs in April. In May, Butch Patrick interacted with fans on a spooky night. Patrick played boy werwolf Eddie Munster on the 1960's smash hit television show, The Munsters, in the 1960's. The celebrity appearances continued in June when Minnesota Twins legend Tony Oliva autographed memorabilia, chatted with fans and posed for pictures.

In July, the Miracle went Back to the Future with a special evening that included an appearance from the DeLorean Time Machine. Fans had the opportunity to sit in the DeLorean for a donation to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's research. The Miracle also wore special jerseys that resembled Marty McFly's wardrobe in the movie and those uniforms were auctioned off for the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

The Miracle held other awareness nights at Hammond Stadium included Breast Cancer Awareness night with Lee Memorial Health Systems, Tobacco Free Lee Night, Ed Randall's Bat for the Cure and ALS Awareness Night.

New events this summer included the inaugural Brew Dash, Boxing and Baseball, a journalism camp with the Fort Myers News-Press and yoga on the field with Ruby and Pearl's Yoga Studio.

In addition to the activity on the field and at the ballpark, the Miracle staff, new mascot Sway and players visited schools, hospitals, camps and little leagues. The team marched in local parades and also worked on community projects such as Habitat for Humanity. In May, the Miracle hosted the tenth annual Special Needs Camp with Dave Clark Baseball. Children with special needs flocked to Hammond Stadium to receive personal instruction from the players and coaching staff.

Over 66 openings, the Miracle hosted numerous pregame demonstrations and anthem performances from local organizations and schools.

The Fort Myers Miracle are the Class A Advanced minor league baseball affiliate of the Minnesota Twins Major League Baseball club. Since moving to Fort Myers in 1992, the Miracle have qualified for the Florida State League Playoffs eight times and won the Florida State League Championship in 2014. Home games are played at Hammond Stadium at the CenturyLink Sports Complex. The Fort Myers Miracle season begins in April and ends in September. For a game and events schedule, or more information, visit www.miraclebaseball.com.

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