The Tri-City Valleycats, contending for their first division title in the NY-Penn League in 4 years, decided to do something novel on Saturday night for their game against the Aberdeen Ironbirds. They went old-school.
On a normal night, the PA system is blaring with the latest in country, pop, hard rock, and hip hop. Valleycats shortstop Ben Orloff, for example, normally has Kenny Chesney's latest hit, "Summertime", playing when he comes to bat. After the 5th inning, the grounds crew will rake the infield, then groove to the beat of Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA", from last year. None of that was on Saturday's playlist.
Instead, the Valleycats opted for an organist playing in the PA booth between innings, and the usual promotions, such as the "Mayors Race", which has 3 'Cats staffers wearing papier mache masks of Troy Mayor Harry Tutunjian and his Albany & Schenectady counterparts, Gerald Jennings & Brian Stratton, respectively, were given the night off. Lou Gehrig's famous retirement speech and Abbott & Costello's legendary "Who's On First?" routine were shown on the video screen. "Who's On First?" is still funny even today, by the way. They even pulled out a decades old ad for Purina Dog Chow that probably hasn't seen the light of day since the 50's. The PA announcer explained how the word "fan" came to be in sports parlance (originated in England). They also ran an interview with Willie Mays culled from some cable sports show of recent vintage. While the on-field promotions were suspended for one night, they still gave away t-shirts by having staffers walk the concourse and throw the shirts down into the bleachers.
At the end of the night, the crowd went home happy, as Tri-City defeated Aberdeen, 4-3, on a bases loaded wild pitch in the bottom of the 9th. With two weeks left in the season, including today's game vs. Aberdeen, the 'Cats are in position for their first playoff berth since reaching the league championship series vs. Staten Island in 2006. The Stedler division leaders, the Vermont Lake Monsters, are on the verge of a total collapse, but, as we've all learned over the years, nothing is ever certain until the final out is recorded.
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