There are probably lots of reasons why nobody goes to the games of the minor league New Orleans Zephyrs. One is that the stadium is technically in the 'burbs, not Downtown like glorious PNC Park. Another, and I'm just taking a wild guess here, is that because the team plays in New Orleans. In the summer. It's too frickin' hot to go sit for three hours in a plastic chair in an open-air stadium. But we went during this past weekend's "cold front" where the temperature actually dropped below 85 F and you didn't need to carry a water bottle with you just to go get the mail.
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| Big Time |
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| The fleur-de-Z |
The season winded down yesterday with a win against the Nashville Sounds. And boy, was it exciting. Over my plate of "Pig Nachos" I watched some fairly boring baseball, but some pretty clever attempts at fan and community involvement. Know how the Pirates have the Great Perogie Race n'at? Well, the Zephyrs have Dizzie Lizzie. Here's the pics:
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| It's about to get crazy |
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| And they're off |
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| Man down--Notice her opponent doing the Thriller dance in the background |
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Besides the stellar athleticism, you may have noticed something else in the above pictures. That is the New Orleans Zephyrs' mascot. He's a nutria and his name is Boudreaux (pronounced "Boo-Dro"). Bou actually has a girlfriend but she had the day off and was home cooking up some shrimp and grits. For a funny article about this mascot and others, visit
http://www.bofads.com/stories/baseballmascots.htm.
The stadium is small, which is kinda cool since you can get really close to the field and the players. It's kinda not cool when said players throw bats at the fans, though. I was in the food line during the action, but apparently two batters in a row threw their bats--one went right at the Zephyr's dugout and the other into the section where we were supposed to be sitting, but chose the shade instead.
I missed those two but I did see the third bat throw. This girl saw the bat coming at her and tried to turn and flee, only to be smacked right in the lower back. She screamed and all action stopped on the field, except for the some old stadium worker who ran over to her. At this point, Edgar Snyder, Pittsburgh's finest personal injury champion, began surfing kayak.com for cheap flights to Nola. Hee hee.
Anyway, turns out the girl was fine. Her little brother even got a souvenir bat that he could use to whack her again later at home.
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| Assessment | |
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| "Come with us. We need you to sign away your rights." |
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All in all, I recommend attending a Zephyrs game. Beer is cheaper than at PNC Park and you get a souvenir cup. The season starts April 15, 2011. Season tickets are cheaper than attending one Saints game. By the by, their season starts on Thursday. Let's see how the Who Dat gang compares to Steeler Nation and their merry band of delinquents.
I've heard of the Zephyrs. They were a farm team for the Washington Nationals for a year a while back. That's crazy that play on the field stopped because of spectator injury. And even for minor leagues, that's a lot of bats flying for one game...
ReplyDeleteAs for the Saints on Thursday, I have much at stake. I own their defense in my fantasy league. So if you being down there can in anyway help out the defense, I am asking you to do so.