BY ED SIKORA
FOR THE OBSERVER
MONTGOMERY — “Play ball,” screamed the honorary bat kid as the Montgomery Biscuits took the field for their showdown with the Birmingham Barons at Riverfront Stadium in downtown Montgomery on July 23. A crowd of over 2,300 people was in attendance, partially drawn by the Camo-Jersey giveaway promotion, which was sponsored by Outdoor Alabama for the first 1,000 fans entering the park.
The warm night did not dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd, especially when the Biscuits took an early lead thanks in part to one of their bright young stars, Theo Gillen. Gillen had just been called up to AA Montgomery in the past week and is the No. 1 prospect in the Tampa Bay Rays minor league system. Gillen didn’t disappoint with a double, an RBI and two stolen bases in the game. The Biscuits also boast the No. 3 prospect in the system in catcher Caden Bodine, who played a strong game behind the plate.
In my mind, the joy of attending a minor league game is the relatively small crowds versus a game in Atlanta, plus the chance to see the rising stars of Major League Baseball. The Biscuits do one better by offering a fantastic family-friendly atmosphere to go along with the great food and other concessions offered around the ballpark.
For kids, there are popular between-innings entertainment that can include interactive fan versus fan running or dance competitions (sometimes dressed as hotdogs), catching T-shirts or even foiled-wrapped biscuits tossed in the stands from time to time. There are also on-field antics from mascots Big Mo, an orange aardvark-like creature, and Monty, a smiling buttermilk biscuit.
As they say, you can’t beat fun at the old ballpark.
