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CNN Live At Daybreak
For Love of the Game: Minor League, Major Fun
Aired September 01, 2003 - 06:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It's a long way from Fenway Park to Bell South Park. That's the home field for the AA Southern League Chattanooga Lookouts. As Minor Leagues wrap up their seasons today, we look at what makes them even more popular than the big leagues.
CNN's Sean Callebs live in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
And I can imagine one reason, it's a lot cheaper to bring your family to the ballpark in the Minor Leagues.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Without question. I think that's one of the big draws here. And this is -- this team is called the Lookouts for nearby Lookout Mountain here in Tennessee, sight of a pretty famous Civil War battle. But today, this and other franchises are really fighting for the consumer's dollar. And the owners here tell us that good entertainment as well as a fan-friendly stadium, like this one, is helping fuel near record crowds in the Minor Leagues.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, but I only charged her three, you give me three.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The tickets are cheap, the drinks are cold and the play, well, it will never be mistaken for the big leagues. But you know what, look around, it seems everyone is having a great time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We like the atmosphere of this field. They always do things for the family, for the kids. There's always something going on in between innings.
FRANK BURKE, CHATTANOOGA LOOKOUTS OWNER: We can never forget that people have a choice of where to spend their money.
CALLEBS: With that in mind, owners like Frank Burke of the Chattanooga Lookouts have to be part maverick and part slapstick.
BURKE: Nine times out of 10, people don't know what place we're in or whether or not two days later who we played, but what they sure do remember is whether or not they had a good time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks. CALLEBS: That's why you can find hot tubs and human bowling in Colorado, lucky dice in Everett, Washington. Heck, even a chance to win the ultimate muscle car in Chattanooga. But not all the contests go well. There was that time the Aquasocks had 600 campers sleep over on the field and someone was supposed to make sure the sprinklers wouldn't go on at 2:00 a.m.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody forgot to turn the sprinklers off. We actually assigned someone to the task and we just forgot. At the time it wasn't so funny, but now it is.
CALLEBS: But of course it's always better business to get fans to laugh at a stunt that's supposed to be funny.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
You know it's really hard to promote star players at this level because there are so many roster changes the players are always moving up and down within the organization. They could be here one day and gone the next. But the owners tell us they can always count on that one constant, good entertainment and keeping the crowd laughing.
Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: Yes. Hey, you going to join the team?
CALLEBS: Yes, without question, without question.
COSTELLO: Who you playing catch with?
CALLEBS: I mean it's good playing baseball here. My cameraman, Orlando Ruiz (ph), how about that? He's multitalented.
COSTELLO: Man, you're not kidding, multitasker, too.
CALLEBS: Exactly.
COSTELLO: Sean Callebs, thanks so much, live from Chattanooga, Tennessee this morning. Good arm.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 1, 2003 - 06:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It's a long way from Fenway Park to Bell South Park. That's the home field for the AA Southern League Chattanooga Lookouts. As Minor Leagues wrap up their seasons today, we look at what makes them even more popular than the big leagues.
CNN's Sean Callebs live in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
And I can imagine one reason, it's a lot cheaper to bring your family to the ballpark in the Minor Leagues.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Without question. I think that's one of the big draws here. And this is -- this team is called the Lookouts for nearby Lookout Mountain here in Tennessee, sight of a pretty famous Civil War battle. But today, this and other franchises are really fighting for the consumer's dollar. And the owners here tell us that good entertainment as well as a fan-friendly stadium, like this one, is helping fuel near record crowds in the Minor Leagues.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, but I only charged her three, you give me three.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The tickets are cheap, the drinks are cold and the play, well, it will never be mistaken for the big leagues. But you know what, look around, it seems everyone is having a great time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We like the atmosphere of this field. They always do things for the family, for the kids. There's always something going on in between innings.
FRANK BURKE, CHATTANOOGA LOOKOUTS OWNER: We can never forget that people have a choice of where to spend their money.
CALLEBS: With that in mind, owners like Frank Burke of the Chattanooga Lookouts have to be part maverick and part slapstick.
BURKE: Nine times out of 10, people don't know what place we're in or whether or not two days later who we played, but what they sure do remember is whether or not they had a good time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks. CALLEBS: That's why you can find hot tubs and human bowling in Colorado, lucky dice in Everett, Washington. Heck, even a chance to win the ultimate muscle car in Chattanooga. But not all the contests go well. There was that time the Aquasocks had 600 campers sleep over on the field and someone was supposed to make sure the sprinklers wouldn't go on at 2:00 a.m.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody forgot to turn the sprinklers off. We actually assigned someone to the task and we just forgot. At the time it wasn't so funny, but now it is.
CALLEBS: But of course it's always better business to get fans to laugh at a stunt that's supposed to be funny.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
You know it's really hard to promote star players at this level because there are so many roster changes the players are always moving up and down within the organization. They could be here one day and gone the next. But the owners tell us they can always count on that one constant, good entertainment and keeping the crowd laughing.
Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: Yes. Hey, you going to join the team?
CALLEBS: Yes, without question, without question.
COSTELLO: Who you playing catch with?
CALLEBS: I mean it's good playing baseball here. My cameraman, Orlando Ruiz (ph), how about that? He's multitalented.
COSTELLO: Man, you're not kidding, multitasker, too.
CALLEBS: Exactly.
COSTELLO: Sean Callebs, thanks so much, live from Chattanooga, Tennessee this morning. Good arm.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
