What do you do with a 2 1/2 hour rain delay in a Double A park

Written by: Bill Ivie on 10th April 2009

What do you do with a 2 1/2 hour rain delay in a Double A park | read this item

Covering minor league baseball can be entertaining at times. Tonight was the home opener for the Springfield Cardinals as they played host to the Frisco Roughriders, the Texas League affiliate for the Texas Rangers.

It’s exciting to see the Cardinals’ top minor league prospect, Brett Wallace, put together a great night in the first two innings. Brett grabbed an RBI on a base hit in the first, then hit a three-run monster home run to the opposite field in the second. And then the third inning hit, and so did a huge thunderstorm.

A 2 1/2 hour rain delay in a Double A stadium can be quite pressing to find something to do. As the press box began to empty out of the reporters that didn’t see the game ever starting back up, a few guys that I didn’t recognize drifted in. After sitting and talking with one of the guys, Charles, for a while I learned that these two guys were the mascots for the team. Louie the Cardinal and Fetch, his pet dog.

Allow me to introduce you to Charles Sollars and Chris Kuhn, Fetch and Louie, respectively. Charles joined the team during the fall as a back up to Louie for events throughout the holidays, including the tree lighting in Springfield and the Christmas parade in nearby Bolivar. Chris has been Louie for three seasons now and is using it to become a larger part of the organization. During this season, he also works as an intern in the promotions department, learning how to schedule and solicit appearances for himself and the other mascots.

Naturally, my first question of these guys was how did they get started doing this. Chris’ story leans towards being “discovered” by the General Manager of the organization, Matt Gifford. Chris needed work during his freshman year of college and found himself playing the title role at a local Chucky Cheese. Matt Gifford came in for a birthday party and invited him down to the club. “And the rest is history,” Chris says. Charles, on the other hand, was coming in to the park looking into tickets for opening day and seen a sign that read “Mascots Wanted”. He went home, suited up in full suit and tie, and came back hoping that while he asked about a mascot job, they would offer something in advertising or promotions. Charles had to go through a full try-out with empty seats, having to pretend people were there and interact. Chris says he had a good time being a mascot and enjoys it. Charles says he qualifies for the job because “I’m just a idiot.

Seems a day in the life of a mascot can be quite exhausting and demanding. When you don’t see the mascots, they are doing everything they can to cool off, stay hydrated, and relax for a few minutes in a storage room downstairs. They also have to pay attention and be in the storage room during certain promotions on the scoreboard as it can lead to the impression that Louie is in two places at one time. If there is one thing that irritates both men that put on the Louie suit, it’s being referred to as Fredbird and both men will correct you on it.

Both guys like to brag about their duties and spend a lot of time letting people in the public know what it is they do for a living. Charles has an eight year old cousing that “thinks I’m God,” as he puts it. He says that every kid at the youngster’s elementary school knows that he plays Louie and Fetch and are amazed by this fact.

And that, friends, is how you spend a 2 1/2 hour rain delay in a Double A park.

Topics: baby birds, Fetch, Louie, mascots, Rain Delay

Meet the new guy : Baseball Digest says:

September 9, 2009 at 7:02 am

[...] remember me from a previous article here on Baseball Digest a few months ago. What article you ask? The one about the minor league mascots in Springfield silly. Yes, it is true when I am not writing about the Saint Louis Cardinals I am on field as a [...]