Hot dog! It's been 10 years
RedHawks celebrate anniversary with promotions drawing attention to state's baseball heritage
RedHawks celebrate anniversary with promotions

By Bob Hersom

Published: April 1, 2008

Win or lose on the field, RedHawks management intends to have a historic 2008 season at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark.

After all, it is the 10th anniversary of The Brick and the RedHawks, as both debuted in 1998.

"We're very excited about the 10th anniversary, and we're going to draw attention to the facility with the kind of events we're going to have,” said RedHawks managing general partner Scott Pruitt, noting last Friday's Major League Baseball exhibition game between the Rangers and White Sox and the Dave Matthews Band concert in August.

"You don't see those kinds of events every year,” Pruitt said. "And we'll be more historical and baseball-centric in our promotions. We're introducing some special bobbleheads and commemorative pieces to draw attention to our Oklahoma heritage in baseball.”

A Mickey Mantle "Commerce Comet” bobblehead and Mickey Mantle and Johnny Bench statuettes will be among the commemorative pieces. On June 21, Nolan Ryan will be at The Brick, when replicas of his Hall of Fame plaque will be given away.

Because Oklahoma City taxpayers built The Brick a decade ago, the ballclub is also having an Oklahoma City logo designed and manufactured by Studio Simon, a Louisville company that has also designed Super Bowl and Dodger Stadium logos.

"We're going to do an OKC logo to commemorate the 10th anniversary, and we're going to unveil in April or May,” Pruitt said. "We will wear the OKC logo at different times during the season to celebrate what the fans did 10 years ago.”

The value of season tickets has never been higher. In addition to 72 RedHawks home games, the season tickets include: last Friday's Rangers-White Sox exhibition game, the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State game, free year-round parking in Bricktown, the Dave Matthews Band concert on Aug. 13 and a Jeremy Camp concert on April 6.

"We're going to do some branding of the beauty of the ballpark,” Pruitt said, "and what it means to Oklahoma City to be have one of only 30 Triple-A baseball teams in the country.”

The RedHawks also are introducing all-you-can-eat seats. There are 900 of them, on the third-base-line bleachers. The all-you-can-seats sold out for the major league exhibition game. The seats will cost $20 during the regular season and include unlimited hot dogs, popcorn, nachos, peanuts, soft drinks and cotton candy.

"They're great seats, right there on the line,” Pruitt said. "They've been so popular that someone called in and asked if you can buy an all-you-can-seat season ticket. So we're trying to develop that.”

•On TV: Two RedHawks-Round Rock games, June 22 at home and July 14 on the road, will be televised by Fox Sports Southwest.

•On Radio: Jim Byers will return for his ninth season as the voice of the RedHawks. His color commentator will be newcomer Adam Marco. Ten stations, including the KEBC-AM 1340 flagship, will carry the games.

•On the field: The RedHawks will work out at 6 tonight and noon Wednesday at The Brick. Their regular season starts Thursday night at 7:05 when they host the Memphis Redbirds.

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