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Spending Labor Day at the Ballpark
Aired September 01, 2003 - 14:37 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It's a tradition for millions of Americans to spend Labor Day at the baseball park, but don't expect to find big crowds at the big leagues. Attendance is hitting record highs at minor league games. CNN's Sean Callebs joins us now from the home of the Chattanooga Lookouts with a look at the reasons behind the trend. Oh, so now you're sitting in the stands. You had enough batting practice?
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And pitching practice. Actually the game started. They threw us off the field. Go figure. We're actually having a great time out here. We're sitting in the most expensive seats they have to offer. They were $8 apiece, so you figure you get a soda, maybe a souvenir. The average family is going to spend about $40 at a game like this, which is one of the big draws for coming to a minor league game. But the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) knows it takes more than that. They also have to have good entertainment as well.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS (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, OWNER OF THE CHATTANOOGA LOOKOUTS: You can never forget that people have a choice of where to spend their money.
CALLEBS: With that in mind, the owners like Frank Burke of the Chattanooga Lookouts have to be part maverick and part slapstick.
BURKE: Nine times out of ten, 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.
CALLEBS: That's why you can find hot tubs and human bowling in Colorado. Luck dice in Everett, Washington, in fact, even the chance to win the ultimate muscle car in Chattanooga. But, not all the contests go well. There was the time the Aquasox 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. MARK SPERANDIO, OWNER OF EVERETT AQUASOX: 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)
CALLEBS: And we got to tell you, a lot of folks come out here on a day like this to have a good time, but really, the minors can't promote a star player because the rosters change so much. People move up and down. In fact, one kid got moved up to the Cincinnati Reds from here just last night. So they have to come away with the giveaways, these stunts. And the big thing that they are doing here, Kyra, someone is going to drive home with the $55,000 hummer. All these guys? They are going to go home. Season ends after today. Back to you.
PHILLIPS: Well, it is pretty cool. They can get up close and personal with the players, too, unlike the big leagues, sometimes, Sean. Now, speaking of up close and personal, I want to have Orlando zoom in on the cup of yours. I want to see if there's foam on top of that? Is that a coke?
CALLEBS: Oh, come on. Clean living here. Not only is it a coke, it's a diet coke.
PHILLIPS: Ah, Sean. You don't need to be dieting. All right.
CALLEBS: I got my hot dog.
PHILLIPS: I should say, bring us back a few, would you?
CALLEBS: I don't know, do you really want to eat that thing?
PHILLIPS: Actually, that does look a little frightening. Never mind. OK. I'm cooking fish tonight. Sean Callebs, thanks, pal.
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 - 14:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It's a tradition for millions of Americans to spend Labor Day at the baseball park, but don't expect to find big crowds at the big leagues. Attendance is hitting record highs at minor league games. CNN's Sean Callebs joins us now from the home of the Chattanooga Lookouts with a look at the reasons behind the trend. Oh, so now you're sitting in the stands. You had enough batting practice?
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And pitching practice. Actually the game started. They threw us off the field. Go figure. We're actually having a great time out here. We're sitting in the most expensive seats they have to offer. They were $8 apiece, so you figure you get a soda, maybe a souvenir. The average family is going to spend about $40 at a game like this, which is one of the big draws for coming to a minor league game. But the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) knows it takes more than that. They also have to have good entertainment as well.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS (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, OWNER OF THE CHATTANOOGA LOOKOUTS: You can never forget that people have a choice of where to spend their money.
CALLEBS: With that in mind, the owners like Frank Burke of the Chattanooga Lookouts have to be part maverick and part slapstick.
BURKE: Nine times out of ten, 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.
CALLEBS: That's why you can find hot tubs and human bowling in Colorado. Luck dice in Everett, Washington, in fact, even the chance to win the ultimate muscle car in Chattanooga. But, not all the contests go well. There was the time the Aquasox 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. MARK SPERANDIO, OWNER OF EVERETT AQUASOX: 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)
CALLEBS: And we got to tell you, a lot of folks come out here on a day like this to have a good time, but really, the minors can't promote a star player because the rosters change so much. People move up and down. In fact, one kid got moved up to the Cincinnati Reds from here just last night. So they have to come away with the giveaways, these stunts. And the big thing that they are doing here, Kyra, someone is going to drive home with the $55,000 hummer. All these guys? They are going to go home. Season ends after today. Back to you.
PHILLIPS: Well, it is pretty cool. They can get up close and personal with the players, too, unlike the big leagues, sometimes, Sean. Now, speaking of up close and personal, I want to have Orlando zoom in on the cup of yours. I want to see if there's foam on top of that? Is that a coke?
CALLEBS: Oh, come on. Clean living here. Not only is it a coke, it's a diet coke.
PHILLIPS: Ah, Sean. You don't need to be dieting. All right.
CALLEBS: I got my hot dog.
PHILLIPS: I should say, bring us back a few, would you?
CALLEBS: I don't know, do you really want to eat that thing?
PHILLIPS: Actually, that does look a little frightening. Never mind. OK. I'm cooking fish tonight. Sean Callebs, thanks, pal.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
