Sapakoff: An oral history of the RiverDogs’ Vasectomy Night promotion
From Gene Sapakoff at the Charleston Post and Courier on April 12, 2020:
A familiar wind blew across Riley Park that June, warm and pleasant and full of smells from the adjacent salt marsh, fresh popcorn and fresher ideas.
The 1997 minor league baseball season was the Charleston RiverDogs’ first inside a shiny new ballpark on the Ashley River. They would go on to shatter the franchise attendance record, more than doubling the 1996 total at College Park to reach 231,006.
The RiverDogs’ team, a Tampa Bay Devil Rays affiliate before the expansion Devil Rays played a Major League game, was terrible. But game-night promotions sparked by co-owner Mike Veeck’s “Fun is Good” mantra and enhanced by frequent appearances from fellow co-owner Bill Murray helped keep turnstiles turning.
Read the full article here: https://www.postandcourier.com/sports/minor_leagues/the-riverdogs-vasectomy-night-an-oral-history-of-the-zaniest-sports-promotion/article_df5c6708-7773-11ea-90bb-272edd803ec1.html
Originally published: April 13, 2020. Last Updated: April 13, 2020.