Calgary Vipers minor leaguer traded for 10 baseball bats - Page 2 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Resolute 14 · 05-30-2008, 09:58 AM

Vipers signed former Major Leaguer Felix Jose to a contract:

http://www.goldenbaseball.com/ArDisp...4293&SecID=303

Resolute 14 · 05-31-2008, 08:30 PM

Ripley's Believe it or Not bought the bats for $10,000.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slu...v=ap&type=lgns

JayP · 05-31-2008, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Ripley's Believe it or Not bought the bats for $10,000.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slu...v=ap&type=lgns

Peter Young...genius?

CrusaderPi · 06-01-2008, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayP

Peter Young...genius?

Maybe not a genius, but he's certainly smarter then the owner up here in Edmonton.

BTW, our GM quit last Tuesday because of a dispute of insurance.

Resolute 14 · 06-01-2008, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayP

Peter Young...genius?

I suspect that quote will be part of the Ripley's Believe it or not display.

Speaking of Edmonton, what is going on up there? Their attendance for their opening weekend was abysmal, even by GBL standards.

Locke · 06-01-2008, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

I suspect that quote will be part of the Ripley's Believe it or not display.

Speaking of Edmonton, what is going on up there? Their attendance for their opening weekend was abysmal, even by GBL standards.

Wow, thats awful....did anybody show up?

getbak · 06-01-2008, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Speaking of Edmonton, what is going on up there? Their attendance for their opening weekend was abysmal, even by GBL standards.

Too many people who can't figure out what the hell a Cracker Cat is, or why they would want to cheer for a team with such a ridiculous name?

CrusaderPi · 06-01-2008, 03:27 PM

Edmonton got 2700 paid + 500 free for opening night. Which isn't great, but better then the crowds of 3 or 4 hundred we got for the rest of opening weekend.

To be honest, you couldn't do a better job of mismanaging a team for four years. The front office has been an absolute disaster since day 1 and it all starts with the owner. Some of the people that have come and gone were really solid, talented individuals.

worth · 06-02-2008, 07:13 AM

I'm pretty sure GBL averages under 1,000 per game in the states.

2,700 on opening night is pretty decent. Calgary's opener was on Thursday and I know we didn't get that many. Anyone know the attendance for the rest of the weekend. Probably didn't help that it looked like it was going to rain all weekend.

Resolute 14 · 06-02-2008, 09:08 AM

1900 Thursday, 1800 Saturday and 1200 yesterday. Friday was postponed.

Not a bad weekend overall, given Calgary's history. That opening weekend would put Calgary comfortably atop the league standings in attendence.

worth · 06-02-2008, 09:24 AM

yeah, actually those are pretty decent numbers.

CrusaderPi · 06-02-2008, 09:29 AM

Those are really good numbers for the Vipers. After 3 mostly dreadful years they look to be finally turning the corner after the disastrous start with the original owners. I really wish I could say the same thing about the Crackers, but they just keep getting worse.

I wonder if it'll be considered ironic when (if?) Edmonton folds and Calgary losses their professional baseball team this time?

Resolute 14 · 06-02-2008, 10:07 AM

Well, the GBL is looking at Kelowna and Saskatoon as potential expansion markets, so a failure in Edmonton wouldn't necessarily spell the end of Calgary. Though I really can't see the other GBL owners being all that keen to staying up here.

Edmonton really needs a winning team to turn things around a bit.

BOSSY · 06-02-2008, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

1900 Thursday, 1800 Saturday and 1200 yesterday. Friday was postponed.

Not a bad weekend overall, given Calgary's history. That opening weekend would put Calgary comfortably atop the league standings in attendence.

That's what they reported

the actuals were not even close to that, despite the extra media attention of late sadly the attendance seems to be pretty much the same as the last few years.

Julio · 06-02-2008, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BOSSY

That's what they reported

the actuals were not even close to that, despite the extra media attention of late sadly the attendance seems to be pretty much the same as the last few years.

I'd have to disagree with you on that Bossy. I'd say it was a legitimate 2K at the park on Opening Day (The main g'stand @ Foothills seats under 6K, and it was around 1/3 full). I wasn't able to go in Saturday and Sunday (darn rainout Friday!) to call the numbers those days, but I do know that it is very hard to estimate crowds for doubleheaders, because it seems that there is never everybody in the park at one time...some people come late because of the early start time, and a lot of people leave after the first game.

Of course, what we don't know is how many of those 2000 or so people on Opening Day paid for their seats...I do know that the 'party deck' last year was full of comps.

Resolute 14 · 06-03-2008, 01:16 PM

I've actually counted the crowd from time to time (yeah, it's been that sparse some days), and figured that typically, turnstile count *1.1 + 400 is about what they announce. So, if they announced 1800 for Saturday, then I would guess about 1300 people physically there. And that seemed a reasonable figure.

I've found other ways to guess the attendance. Long-ass lineups at the concessions = >1000 people in the park.

Sponsors get x season tickets each as well, of which I would bet almost none get used. Technically, those seats are paid for, but empty, which accounts for a sizable chunk of the difference between announced and actual attendance.

BOSSY · 06-03-2008, 04:11 PM

I'll give you opening day as I wasn't there but beyond that you can cut the announced number in half to get actual butts in seats.

Not trying to be negative, I'm a fan and am there more nights than not.

I also know a couple of people that are in a position to give a fairly accurate estimate by just looking (which is easy to do if you have experience with that stadium over time, in the past, when it has been somewhat full) and they say the reported numbers are way off.

I hoped that with the increased media attention more fans would come out, but its still spring and still early. However, opening day/weekend usually brings out more fans than you will average over the season and if that's the case nothing has changed.

I hope more people come out this summer, it's a great place to be on hot summer night, with a cold beer and a few thousand fans having a great time!

GreenHardHat · 06-04-2008, 01:36 PM

So some of the guys in the office are hardcore baseball fans. They have convinced me to go to a vipers game. I've never followed the GBL, so what the heck can I expect to see?

Resolute 14 · 06-04-2008, 04:38 PM

Expect a lot of offence. Indy ball isn't exactly known for stellar pitching, and the thin Calgary air only enhances this. Not to mention that Calgary has a very good hitting club.

The calibre of play, obviously, is not what the Cannons were. I'd probably put it equivalent to high-A ball. About what you'd see if you caught a Northwest League game in Vancouver or Washington State.

The Vipers between inning activities aren't spectacular, but leaps and bounds above the first two years. Beer is easy to come by. If there are more than 1000 people there, food is a lot harder. All in all, a nice way to spend a sunny weekend evening.

worth · 06-04-2008, 05:01 PM

is there still 2 beer and 2 spulombos for $6 or whatever it was? I haven't been out this year but plan to take in a few games for sure.