Hangin' at the Hive

Burlington Bees vs. Beloit Snappers
Class A Midwest League Minor League Baseball
Western Illinois Night
(7/30/10)

In conjuction with Western Illinois Night with the Burlington Bees, our radio stations in Monmouth (Sunny 97.7 WMOI and AM 1330 WRAM), host some games and make an appearance with giveaways at Community Field.

This is the third year that I have been involved with the evening. The first year, I threw out the first pitch....and bounced it in the dirt! Last year, we went out onto the field and did between-inning games like they do at most minor league ballparks.

It was much of the same this year, with three planned games that were a success last season. Last year, we did four games between innings, as we dropped the bubble gum blowing contest this year.

Our games were a water balloon toss, dance-off, and home run derby. It never fails, I always get the typical nerves before going out in front of a crowd. However, once I get in front of a couple thousand people and take the microphone, it's my element and it is really fun.

For the water balloon toss, three groups of two kids toss a water balloon back and forth before it explodes and gets one of the contestants wet. The last one dry, wins. Our prizes were passes to Adventureland.

In the dance competition, we have three kids bust a move. The song of choice on this night was the "Peanut Butter/Jelly" song, or whatever the title is. We had some hesitant dancers, a group of three 10-13 year old boys. The winner is determined by a show of cheers from the crowd.

Our final game came after the 4th inning. Before we went out to do the home run derby, Beloit Snappers hitting coach Tommy Watkins requested a leftover water balloon, using it to soak one of his players. Watkins had a "cup of coffee" in Major League Baseball with the Minnesota Twins in 2007. He hit .357 and scored 2 runs in 9 games. Watkins, before the game, helped one of the Bees staffers sell programs near the front gate. He had asked the young lady how to reach the ticket office, because he left tickets for someone. While the girl left her post, he grabbed the stack of programs and started announcing, "Programs....get your programs! Only $1, programs! Opposing team coach selling PROGRAMS!"

As we went out onto the field, we had three home run derby contestants. I handled the mic duties, doing the play-by-play, and mixing unfunny jokes in between. Jared, from the Burlington Bees, handled the pitching duties, Greg Ford was our catcher, and Kyle Lester was the outfielder/distance marker. Each hitter had three pitches, and the longest ball was declared the winner. One of the derby contestants nearly took out the umpire a couple times. We used a thick whiffle ball bat, with some cushy Burlington Bees balls.

Speaking of home run derby, before the game, Greg Ford kept telling me he had a "wicked" curve ball. I laughed, and laughed, and laughed. He said he would prove it, so we went out to the large grassy area near the front entrance, and he threw me some "wicked" curves. The only thing wicked about his curve, was how far I blasted his pitches!

All in all, a good night at the ballpark.