May 5, 2005 - Its one of the oldest adages known to man: the early bird gets the worm. On Sunday, May 8, the St. Paul Saints intend to add a codicil to that: the early bird hits the fast ball and curveball, too.
On this morning, you can get to Midway Stadium bright (well, sort of) and early, see a ballgame, have breakfast and still have time to enjoy most of Mothers Day.
The Saints are hosting Sioux Falls in a Northern League exhibition game at Midway that will have the earliest starting time ever registered for a pro baseball game: 5:30 a.m. For perhaps the first time in history, a game will start under the lights and finish in daylight.
Im a morning person, said Mike Veeck, Saints team president. But I will admit it is unusual even for a Veeck to have a game start before my newspaper is delivered.
There is a method to what some people might consider to be madness: A portion of the ticket proceeds from the game will go to Darkness to Light, a national non-profit organization dedicated to teaching adults simple, pro-active steps to protect children from sexual abuse and the Foundation Fighting Blindness.
The Saints are offering a special $15 package that includes a General Admission ticket to the teams pre-season opener on Saturday, May 7 against the Canaries at 4:05 p.m. as well as a free hot dog and soda as well as a ticket for the Sunday game and a Saints cap to keep the sun out of your eyes.
I dont know if this is going to start a trend, said St. Paul Executive Vice President/General Manager Derek Sharrer. But it should be an interesting experiment. Were looking at it as a day-morning doubleheader.
General Mills, the games sponsor, will provide cereal for fans that purchase this unique package.
Fans who attend the Saturday game will be allowed to stay overnight in the Midway Stadium parking lot and sleep on the field. On Sunday, the parking lot will open at the usual three hours before game time (2:30 a.m.) and the gates at Midway will open at 4:30.
Fans will be treated to the rare sight of the umpires ordering the stadium lights be turned off. When the team plays its conventional 7:05 p.m. night games, the right fielder frequently has to battle the sun for a few innings. For this game, the sun is scheduled to rise behind right field at 5:44 a.m. and should be a welcome sight for fans. Look at the bright side of this, Veeck said. This is one game where the fielders wont be able to complain about losing balls in the sun.
In addition to the cereal, most of the usual ballpark fare will be available for early risers. Well have plenty of coffee and orange juice, too, said Saints concessions director John Schumacher. I have to draw the line at making Eggs Benedict, though. This is a ballpark, not the Ritz.
The defending Northern League champs unusual doubleheader against the Canaries kickstarts a nine-game pre-season schedule that includes three other games at Midway May 9 and 10 against Winnipeg and May 13 against Fargo-Moorhead. Those three games will start at the normal 7:05 p.m. starting time.
The regular season opener is Friday, May 20 at Midway against the team St. Paul defeated in last years NL title series Schaumburg also at 7:05 p.m.
St. Paul manager George Tsamis thinks his players will see the light regarding the unusual starting time. Guys are always looking for days off during training camp. No matter how long this game goes, theyll have most of Sunday off, Tsamis said. Theyll have no excuse for not calling their mother.
While this may be the earliest starting time, it's not the game which takes place at the earliest morning hour - the annual Midnight Sun Baseball Classic (11PM start on the longest day of the year, near the arctic circle) edges the Saints out.
Speaking of crazy Northern League stunts, the Schaumburg Flyers have signed Nigel Thatch, who you've seen in plenty of sporting events and even as part of the World Series - just not under that name.
Originally posted by odessasteps have you been to any games yet, Z? Saints or Twins?
I'm not big on going to see baseball. If I didn't bother to see the Giants ONCE at the new place, you can bet I'll be hard pressed to go see the Twins are their OOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD place...especially since I didn't bother LAST year when they were, like, gonna win the World Series or something.
This'll sound really dumb, but....I miss going to see the Modesto A's. I'm sure if I dragged my ass to a Saints game I'd catch the fever all over again...but I think I just can't imagine using my free time to DO that.
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