Frontier Field is really nice--though my preference is the Sky Chief's field in Syracuse as it it lower and more park like. However, the Rochester field boasts the integration of some buildings that have always been part of the downtown landscape and other ball-parky structures as part of the baseball complex--like picnic pavillions (a la the State Parks around here) and some umbrella-ed areas where companies can provide picnics for their employees in a very tasteful and low key way. Rochester also has lovely, grassy berms on either side of the field that people can plop down on and sit in the grass versus the seats.
Every seat was sold for the game we attended on Saturday. Chock a block people (when the ticket prices are $6, $8.50 or $10. and you know what movies cost...this is a deal, a chance to sit outside and scream). Every person was handed a pair of black, blow-up thundersticks (you get the idea)--so everyone was banging these balloons, eating up a storm and yelling their heads off during a classic upstate stand-off between the Buffalo Bisons and The Rochester Redwings. The local community church choir sang the opener. We had handicapped kids playing ball. We had young dads throwing tennis balls into a net to win lottery tickets. We had the Rochester Redwings boy and girl mascots hopping around with kids or riding in the backs of shiny pick up trucks. And then we had the presentations by the blow-up mascots, the Zooperstars
The Zooperstars are these enormous, blow-up mascots in the tradition of the huge Santie Clauses or the bloated Frosties people keep on their front lawns around the holidays but they are shiny fabric and someone is inside. They bounce when they move, and often they do little innocuous things like dance. However, they all reference sports in some way ie Cow Ripkin, Tiger Woodchuck, and Roger Clamson. Roger is the most frightening as it is a clam on the body of a person. The clam has a long, gross tongue which picks up baseballs and hurls them at an "unsuspecting" person. The high jinx go on to have the Clam eat the ball player and then after a little time, reguritate this person out sans clothes. I guess it was funny, but I was rather disturbed by this...I cannot figure it out, but I was. The head above is of a character called Harry Canary who did all the dancing etc and then shot silly string out of one of his button holes.
I did a little research on these things--and it seems that Walk Around does the making and designing of these things...Man. They could use some illustration help--designing better looking creatures. Check out their gallery>>
Or their rentals>> Or the video of the Pepsi Logo as a Walk Around>>
This should get us going during a short week. Think of the possibilies!