Big Red on Roller Coaster

The middle of July home stand of the Potomac Nationals had so many ups and downs that Big Red might as well have been on a roller coaster at Kenneywood Park in Pittsburgh. It all started on Wednesday the 13th, which was also supposed to be the first of two games attended by Jason Falls, Nancy, Grant and Katie. Sister Jean and Gene also drove up from the farm to join them.

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I was at the Pfitz getting everything ready for the opening game when a major storm hit, dropping several inches of water in less than an hour. It came so hard and fast that the field was flooded causing the game to be cancelled. I informed the family before they left the motel and made plans to meet them for dinner and drinks.

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Beautiful weather was found on Thursday so the family came to the game, Grant and Katie had a funnel cake and a lemonade and helped some on Big Red. But, the field was still not playable and about 7:30, another game was called off. Jason and crew never saw a pitch thrown at the Pfitz. To try to appease the fans, ownership opened up the concession stands with free food for everyone. Since I am a contract vendor, I closed immediately so as not to loose my shirt.

Jason and I managed an adult beverage or two back at the motel. While I lost two games worth of business, at least I had more time to spend with Jas, Nancy and the kids.

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After they left Friday morning for the drive back to Louisville, I went to the Pfitz and waited out the decision on whether or not the field was playable (and to do some much needed cleaning on Red). Finally, mid-afternoon, the decision was made to play Friday night. And, we got hammered partly because it was a hat giveaway game. Much better than most Fridays.

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Saturday was a double header, brutally hot, and we opened the second stand on third base. The day was huge matching our output from the 4th of July. Both stands did very well and I was forced to go through Richmond to restock on Sunday morning. I95 was awful and it took hours to get back to the Pfitz.

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Sunday night was another hot game and we expected another great night. But, that roller coaster hit one of those down hills. Red did OK, the third base stand did almost nothing. We didn't even take in enough to pay my labor.

Monday night, we bounced back and had a better than expected game and we anticipated a great day on Tuesday when 1200 kids had tickets.

Wrong. We had another terrible day even though the temperature was hovering near 100. I only sold two gallons of lemonade.

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Wednesday night, the last game of the home stand, I wasn't expecting much and just hoped to cover my labor for the night. And we got hammered again.

All in all, it wasn't a bad home stand. It just had some very low ebbs to get to the finish line.

We're off this weekend and I'm spending most of my time getting things ready for Watkins Glen in early August. Next weekend is a 3 game home stand followed by a long one at the same time we're in New York. That one will be interesting.

 

Big Red Debuts at the Pfitz

Big Red made its debut at Pfitzner Stadium over the long 4th of July PNat home stand. The "old" tent set up was moved to a new location near third base and will be used on most weekends for the remainder of the baseball season. Big Red will continue to occupy space in the Cafe.

The first game for Big Red was Wednesday. And, it was a pretty normal mid-week game except a lot of fans stopped by to see the new addition to the stadium.  Unfortunately, they didn't buy a lot, but it was still an OK game.

Thursday was $1 beverage night and the Pfitz had Billy Clements and the Pickups as pre-game entertainment. They were a country group that featured many of the old country classics so for an old fart like me, it was enjoyable. Also, Big Red's sales went up.

Friday, was the first night using 2 locations plus Justin hawking lemonade in the stands. Overall, it was a disappointment as the Friday numbers just weren't there. Poor attendance and poor sales. But, at least my whole crew got in some practice and ready for the big weekend. And, Uncle Slam got in on the act, stealing our hawker tray and going up in the stands to sell some lemonade. The crowd loved it.

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Saturday was incredible but had a near major disaster. Early in the pregame, one of my juicers burned out leaving only one at Big Red's location. That put some additional pressure on Christina who then had to squeeze lemons for both locations. I'm not sure how she did it, but we went through 63 gallons of lemonade. The old record for one day's lemonade sales at any event was 34 gallons.

Sunday started off good with Big Red rolling as that location does every game. Unfortunately, the second location near third base, does almost nothing during the pregame period. From near gametime through the game, its sales are nearly equal to Location #1 in the Cafe Area, but, a major storm whipped up and rained out the game. Still the day wasn't a total bust as Big Red had an awesome pregame, especially with lemonade.  And, yes, folks, Stand #2 had a new juicer.

The 4th was a sellout but rain was called for, and we even had an hour or so of light rain during the conclusion of Sunday's game and the start of Monday's. Both locations did well but my total sales for the day were down slightly from last year.even with the two stands. That was not unusual as there is always a major difference between a Sunday holiday game, like in 2010 and a Monday like this years. Still a huge day for us.

Tuesday was the last game of the home stand and the first game back to one location. I wasn't expecting much and was pleasantly surprised with our totals. All in all, a great week for Big Red at the Pfitz.

For the home stand, we did 191 gallons of lemonade using 1,146 lemons. Which means my staff (a majority of it done by Christina) squeezed 2,292 lemon halves. No wonder a juicer died. Also we used 477 cups of sugar.

We also get to welcome in three new folks to the Big Red family as Casey, Erin and Nigel all put in some time over the week.  All three will be used in the future as they did a great job.

This week is an off week and I hope to put in some quality pool time. I'm back in Woodbridge on the 13th for an 8 game stretch. Rumor has it that Jason Falls and family will be in attendance for a couple of those games. That will be a treat for me.