Game on Like Donkey Kong

Published on March 3, 2007 under Florida State League (FSL1)
Brevard County Manatees News Release


Baseball fans, today's the home opener for the Washington Nationals at Space Coast Stadium. Gates open at 11:30 am for a 1:05 pm start.

We just wanted to send out a head's up to area baseball fans that although the weather has been overcast and drizzly, the rain has stopped, the tarp if off the field and the game is on so don't change your plans to attend today's action. The Washington Nationals host the Baltimore Orioles...fans will receive a Nationals long-sleeve t-shirts as a giveaway today.

The stadium is renovated and a lot of work went into upgrading the facility to make it a much more fan-friendly facility. The Manatees would like to thank the Nationals the Brevard County Commissioners for making this upgrade a reality because fans are going to enjoy the improvements.

We could write for pages, but there are a lot of changes at the stadium and you need to come see 'em for yourself! Even Ovations, the stadium's concessionaire, has new rolling food and drink carts positioned to shorten your time at concession windows.

We'd like to wish the Nationals good luck this season and thank some of their guys that very hard worked behind the scenes at the stadium to get this baseball season off the ground: Jack Masson, the Nationals Director of Florida Operations, who recently retired not once, but twice, from the Brevard County parks and rec department, has worked tirelessly behind the scenes. Jack walked into a whirlwind and put in some serious hours to make your spring training experience the best it can be. Matt Blush, the point man on the renovations for the Lerner Group, the ownership of the Nationals, was the guy that got it done when everybody else doubted that the stadium would be ready by March 3rd. Also behind the scenes is somebody most of you have never heard of: Thomas Bell. T-Bell as we call him, heads up a group called Control. Control is responsible for the maintenance and cleaning of the stadium and if you ever want to see a monumental task, clean up behind a stadium renovation job. And finally, you can't play baseball without having a first class field and Head Groundkeeper Doug Lopas is as good as it gets. Fans, I don't think you can appreciate the effort this grounds crew puts into this field. There are days when we get to the stadium early and Doug (the Sodfather) and his staff (the Dukes of Dirt) have a couple hours already in. And think about this....they aren't just worried about the main stadium but all the practice fields and the grounds, parking lots, etc. That is a huge task and Doug's guys are the best in the business, bar none.

So to Jack, Matt, T-Bell and Doug...great job and best wishes for a successful spring training.

Now, I'd like to thank our staff for their efforts. Thank you, guys, for hanging in there, I truly appreciate everything you've done to assist the Nationals to this point. You're the best and I can't thank you enough, now get off the computer and back to work.

On to Manatees news...if you don't read the Florida Today you need to start. Jim Cawley and the guys at the sports desk are giving out former Manatees some great coverage out in Spring Training in Arizona. The Brewers are 2-1 with some serious offense. Log onto www.brewers.com for the complete stories. If you love it when one of our guys sticks it to the man, then you're going to love what Ryan Braun, Hernan Iribarren , Yovani Gallardo, Carlos Villanueva and a few other former 'Tees are doing. Braun has three home runs in two games, a three-run shot, a grand slam and a solo shot yesterday. Yovani struck out Barry Bonds and then added a single and an RBI at the plate. Hey, get your fill of all the action at the Brewers official web site. I'm getting stoked just seeing these guys get their chance and know that the date is coming where they're all wearing Brewers blue together. I'm going off the chart optimistic here and telling you now that every 25 years a team from Milwaukee goes to the World Series. Every 50 years a team from Milwaukee wins it. In 1957 the Braves won it, in 1982 the Brewers lost it...it's now 25 years later since the last Milwaukee appearance...we have a Friday the 13th game during the season, a home game on 7/7/07, heck, we'll even have a blue moon in June (full moon on the 1st and again on the 30th). If any of this sounds superstitious, it is, but baseball players are notorious for that. So while the spring is young, get your hopes and dreams together (except you sorry, crybaby Cubs fans, you can hope and dream all you want but you already know what the results will be) and let's see what happens in September. There's no charge to jump on the Brewers bandwagon now, but that train's gonna leave the station in a month and don't come sniffing around in June or July when your team is 15 out and you have no hope in sight. Get on while the gettin's good, baseball fans. The planets are going to align, the injuries are going to be minimal and it's going to be a crazy year and the Brewers are a team on the rise!

Earlier we referred to concession upgrades and I failed to mention that Ovations will now be serving Miller products as well as Budweiser. There were hundreds of you that have written in the past year or so asking for Miller products; your time has come...it's Miller time!

Kids, Snip-It's Salon, the coolest thing in hair cuttery to hit the nation, has signed on to sponsor Snip-Its Sundays. During the 2007 Manatees season all kids 12 and under will receive a free game ticket by uttering a Snip-Its password at the ticket office. If you want that phrase you gotta read our email newsletter. Snip-Its Salon is located at The Avenue Viera and has everything from video games to a Nickelodeon-esque motif that will have every kid wanting to get a haircut!

Good luck to all the Little League teams with their opening ceremonies today around the county. The weather's ugly but it's not snowing and you're are playing baseball unlike your counterparts up north that are digging out today. We'll see you at the ballpark for your Field of Dreams teams activities next month!

Have a good weekend, everybody.

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Florida State League Stories from March 3, 2007


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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