RailCats Revisited

4-18-2004

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

GARY - Sometimes your reaction to a place depends on the mood your in. I often see movies in the predawn hours due to a varying schedule and just the basic insomnia we all suffer as we grow older. Slapstick comedy and action films aren't good late at night. Science fiction, drama and romantic comedy, which require a certain suspension of reality, are best viewed late at night when everyone else is already dreaming.

With that said, as a baseball fan, I thought it would be best to hold off judging the Steel Yard, the 6,800-seat RailCats stadium in total until I'd seen it more than once. Warm days. Cold days. Pro teams. Prep teams. First year. second year.

Upon further review, here's how I think it stands.

1.) Courtesy

The Railcats get very high marks here. I have heard of an occasional media person or group getting a cold shoulder, but it has not happened to me. I'm hardly from any large media group and I don't always try to get in free. I've even been mildly critical of one minor aspect of the Railcats operation and I'm still treated well. The more I go, the more I want to go because they are friendly.

People have a hard enough time in their everyday life. If people at a recreation or entertainment event give you a hard time, you won't be back. That's just the way it is. Our presence at the ballpark is a vote for their success. Through smiling and pleasant employees, the Railcats' management seems to say 'thank you.'

2.) Freedom

This may seem like a childish point, but I can walk around anywhere and nobody follows me, bugs me or asks what I'm doing. Part of the fun of being at a ball park is to walk beyond left field, walk to the right field seats. Walk anywhere you want. Clearly, the park is not packed for high school games and obviously, I am media. But I look like a homeless person. My wardrobe is 'dollar store chic.' If I was security, I'd stop me.

But no one does.

When they spend money to come to a game, people don't want to be herded into certain sections or constantly watched or followed. Baseball is a game viewed from many angles. There is no 50-yard-line. I might want to watch three innings from center field, three innings from behind the plate and three innings from down the left field line.

The people there seem to understand that this is not Wal-Mart and baseball fans don't need or want someone approaching them every 15 minutes with "Can I help you."

This differs from courtesy. Courtesy is being nice when I need you. Freedom is getting lost when I don't need you. The RailCats do both well.

3.) Concessions

Okay, here's the minor criticism of one aspect of the operation. Concessions just flat out cost too much. I'm a poor boy and $3.50 for a hamburger and $4.25 for a polish sausage is simply over the top. For the life of me, I don't know why the people there cannot understand this. Rich people, if I can stereotype, are not baseball fans. The game appeals to the common man. You need walkup trade and kids. Those people are dying to go to the concession stand and they will go repeatedly during a 3 hour game. But $2 for a box of popcorn when tickets are $9 is a contradiction. You want low-priced family entertainment but you discourage it with Trump casino prices.

I also think that super high concession prices send a message that poor folks need not apply. In other words, we want an upscale clientele and that upscale clientele doesn't want the riffraff rubbing elbows with them. Hamburgers that are priced as if the meat came from solid gold cows is a good way to keep scum of the earth like welfare mommas, poor white trash, teenagers and sportswriters out of your building.

4.) The product

The Railcats Prep Baseball Challenge doesn't make much money (if any) for the ballclub, but it is does make much good will. Is it an obvious idea? Sure. Is it a nuisance to them? Poorly attended weeknight and Saturday morning games in April. A nuisance? I think we know the answer to that.

But nobody there ever says it. Even boys coming back for the second time this spring have found it an overwhelming experience. They are unhappy when they can't play all seven innings.

As far as the RailCats' product is concerned, I think they need a former major leaguer or a local player on the field. You can talk all day and all night about putting the best player on the field, but the RailCats' game is won at the turnstiles and in the Times and Post-Tribune. Andrean's Brian Houdek fills the bill as the local (Andrean) player. Wes Chamberlain is the former MLB player, but he may not be back. If I'm in the Railcat management I look closely at former Chicago players like Brant Brown who will bring in fans who grew up on the major league teams. I'm not saying some stiff who can do nothing but talk. I'm saying lay it out to the former Chicago star (or at least starter) that he can help build this franchise and stay in the Chicago metro area where he has a name. The Cats need a name for promotions. A playing name.

IDEAS

1.) Get in touch with the IHSAA

There should be a high school sectional championship played in the SteelYard. If there are scheduling problems, work it out. To put 2,000 fans in the park on a Railcats off day in June would be a boost to ticket sales for the just-underway season. The Cats should do everything they can to make it happen. If the Railcat Prep Baseball Challenge is good for them, the Class 4A Gary Sectional championship would be a PR windfall for them.

2.) Call the America Legion

An America Legion state championship would boost the Railcats profile state wide. In Evansville, a Railcat is probably some kind of stray animal. But If Evansville Post 346 played for the state title in the SteelYard, they would go home talking about what a nice park they have. If four teams went back to four parts of the state with the same message, who benefits? You must bid for the Legion state tournament. The bid money is in the $7,500 to $10,000 range and that money could be made up easily with ticket sales. A Regional tournament, for which the bid money is much less, might even be more profitable if the teams were Logansport, Plymouth, Whiting and Crown Point. There's money to be made.

3.) What about college baseball?

Somebody call Butler, which have five sophomore varsity baseball players (Boone Grove's Clayton Deeb, Munster's Mike Rosen, Merrillville's Stephen Gill, Kankakee Valley's Andy Bulla and LaPorte's Craig Costello) who are from northwest Indiana. Could next year's Butler-Valparaiso game be played in the SteelYard? Call Notre Dame. Maybe ND-Valpo could be played in the Steel yard one year. Wait a minute. Call Valparaiso. The Crusaders play on a glorified high school field just north of Route 30. What stops Valparaiso University from playing a half dozen games in the SteelYard every year? There might be profit for both sides.

4.) Get in touch with the Little League

This was attempted last year but rain delays nixed the idea. Gary should hold the Junior (ages 14 and under) or Senior (ages 16 and under) Little League state finals every other year of they can fit it in their schedule. These are state wide teenage ballplayers (including 2 teams from this area) who will grow up to be baseball consumers. As the Cubs prove with day ball and Channel 9 free TV, you must breed your audience for years to come. If the Railcats are drawing 5,000 a game in 10 years, it will be because they put seeds in the ground now.

WILD IDEAS

These are out-of-the-box ideas that could go over big or they could be a waste of money. But, at worst, the organization will have done something for the community.

1.) Build a Little League Field next to the Steel yard

Knock down that 'vintage' building west of the ballpark and build a Little League Complex for the City. They need it badly. But, for the Railcats sake, put the little guys park in the shadow of the pro park. The thanks the team would get could manifest itself in season ticket sales. Team groundskeepers could maintain it. The pro players could do clinics right next door. Every team that comes to Gary would see the pro park. Call them the Junior RailCats. Call them the RailKittens. I don't care. But build the field next door and they will come.

2.) Hold high school graduations in the Steel Yard

Let the Gary schools hold graduations outdoors in the ballpark. It would brings 1,000 folks to the park in June. The lighting and sound systems would be perfect for the occasion. Graduates would not tear up the park. Little preparation and security is necessary. And 1,000 people would see a new value in the ballpark. Plus, you can open the concession stands and make some cash. Lots of good will here.

3.) Battle of the Bands

Not rock and roll knuckleheads who would tear up the place. High school marching bands. Every big school has one. How about a series of band competitions in the fall after the RailCats' season ends? If you have a 16-school, three week band competition on Saturday afternoons in the fall, I can guarantee you 4,000 fans.

In week one, give each band 15 minutes, then cut the field to four. Bring them back in week two and give each band 20 minutes.

On the final day, give each band a 30-minute program. The whole show would last 2 1/2 hours. A three-week band playoff would draw at least 7,500 fans. First of all, 16 big school bands is 2,000 kids right there. Parents and friends come for the music and the show. This could become a tradition. Eventually, the final two weeks could be total sellouts. And Railcats, you can charge a $1 admission and open the concession stands here.

4.) Pursue major league affiliation

This is the big one. I know they, at some time, will weigh the plusses and minuses here. It would change the face of the franchise. You do not get veteran ballplayers if you are not an independent. They aren't in Class A ball. You don't get former major leaguers. They do not play at the Class A level.

What you do get is phenoms. The just-signed college or prep star. High school players begin in the rookie leagues but College grads begin at Class A. That could be a big draw. What you also get is rehab assignments. An injured star coming off the disabled list. For example, if Gary was a Class A affiliate of the Cubs, Mike Prior might get a rehab pitching start in the Steel yard. It would be sold out immediately.

Affiliated Class A teams also have a legacy. The next Frank Thomas or Magglio Ordonez would have to come through A-ball. That's a heritage that money cant buy.

The problem for affiliation is that the OTHER Chicago team would have to agree. If the Railcats are a Class A affiliate of the White Sox, the Cubs would have to agree to that. Gary is in their market. But if those problems could be worked out, it would maximize the profit potential of the Gary franchise. There is a limit to how much a community can emotionally or financially invest in an ever-changing group of ballplayers who have no connection to anything they know. Hook them up with a midwest MLB organization, the Cubs, Sox, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, Detroit Tigers or Milwaukee Brewers and fans would drive long distances to watch them. Bottom line. If the Railcats were a Class A farm club of the Cubs, 6,800 seats would not be enough.

Future Prospects

Overall, the Railcats became a qualified success last year. They drew the 2,500 per game they need to survive. But I'm sure they'd like 5,000 a game. The quality of the team is second to the stability of the team. Some players have to return every year.

The RailCats Prep Baseball challenge is a good way to breed fans. They should basically draq every Little League player in the five county northwest Indiana area into the park. That's their future. Whoever thought up 'town night' should get a raise. To have a 'Lowell night' or a 'Chesterton night', where the town is saluted and residents get a ticket break is brilliant. The RailCats are accomplishing the alternative goal of bringing people back to downtown Gary.

But the Cats have to be good neighbors. That's why the concession thing is so important to me. In my mind, what people do not understand about sports it is not a business at the core. It's a love affair. If you feel your woman is using you, it no longer matters how good or sweet she is. Once the love is gone, you cannot get it back, ask the White Sox.

And once you get the true love of your community, you virtually can't lose it. Just ask the Cubs.

What do YOU think?

How do the RailCats stack up in your book? What improvements or suggestions would you make to RailCats management? Send us your ideas via e-mail at usa365@ameritech.net. We'll post some of the more creative responses and alternative suggestions prior to the RailCats home opener set for Monday, May 24, 2004.

Return to Top