Jose Conseco fights Gary Hogan in one of the biggest promotional nights of the season
By Dan Hennessey (’11)
After my first year at Ohio, I was still a bit uncertain about which direction I wanted to go with my future career. I figured that minor league baseball would be perfect because it would give me a little experience in several different areas. When I found out that I had an opportunity to return home for an entire summer and work for the Arkansas Travelers, I could not pass up the opportunity.
The Travs are the AA affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The team has been with the Angels since 2001. I have been lucky enough to work in the new stadium which was just opened in 2007. While my internship is technically in the ticketing department, I have experienced just about every aspect of the front office. In addition to working in the ticket office selling tickets, my main responsibilities are the daily production of scorecards, scheduling mascot appearances, and assisting the dance team. I have also been able to help restock the concession stands in the mornings after games and help set up for our group outings.
While this has all been a great experience, my favorite part of working here has been getting to participate in the crazy promotions that exist across the minor leagues. Our biggest promotional night was one that I will never forget. We brought in former MLB slugger and controversial author Jose Canseco to fight retired University of Arkansas-Little Rock baseball coach Gary Hogan. Hogan, 60, won the fight by a decision. However, I do not think Canseco was really fighting too hard. Scan YouTube for a video of the fight and judge for yourself.
The other promotional night that I have really enjoyed since being here was split up over two evenings, one for the guys and one for the ladies. On guys’ night, we took an old television remote the night before the game and buried it in the infield. After the game was over, we brought out any guys over the age of 18 and gave them a plastic spoon. They were then allowed to dig through the infield dirt looking for the buried remote. The first one to find it won a 40” flat-screen television. On ladies night, it is the same promotion except we bury an old jewelry box and the winner wins a diamond ring. The remote dig was very successful and the diamond dig is coming up later this week.
In August, we will have a “clunker car” promotional night where we give away old cars between innings to fans. Unfortunately, I only have about a week left here with the Travelers and will not get to experience that promotion. I have really enjoyed my time here and have experienced several aspects of the business. I have enjoyed working in the ticket office and will probably end up going that direction. I have no doubt that the experiences I have had here will end up helping me in the future.
