Tough Road Trip

We need to get home.

In my professional career, I have never been part of a franchise that has lost 7 in a row. Well, there is a first time for everything! The silver lining - we are learning that we have a great group of guys who battle, it's early on in the season (so we can recover)...and at least it was while the team was on the road.

July is upon us - what will 18 home games in the month bring us?

Off the ground

Terrible blogging, I know. But the good news is that we are officially off the ground as far as the season goes - and it was a fun and exciting opener, despite the fact that we didn't play all that well. The energy was phenomenal and we are working to improve the little things - both on and off the field.

Here are some videos that local media shot of the opener:

Union - Bulletin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtlcLAkbjhM
Tourism Walla Walla: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YzLgQZsZzQ&feature=related

Back to getting all the bills together and paid and back to work on Tuesday at Borleske...see you there!

Host Families

Still could use a few more host families. The basics:

1. A bed
2. A Shower
3. The ability to help a player get to the ballpark
4. A love of baseball and free tickets

The commitment is for the summer, but with players gone for half the summer (on the road), it equates to about 30 days. Questions? Call us at 509.522.BALL (2255) or email us here. Check out this page for more detailed info on host families.

39 days to go!

League Meetings - Kelso (Cowlitz Co.)

Well, in Longview-Kelso today and tomorrow for the WCL semi-annual meetings. It is always a fun part of this kind of thing - getting together with other league leaders and to learn from each other. You learn what is and isn't working in each market - one goal I have for this weekend is to see what can be done to better brand the league as a whole. Individually, clubs in our league do a great job in their individual markets, but a growth area for the league is building a brand identity that doesn't take away from what each team is doing, but strengthens individual efforts because Bend vs. Kitsap means something to fans in Walla Walla - like Texas vs. Los Angeles means something to fans of the Seattle Mariners. It will help recruit better talent to the playing field as well.

What are your ideas for building brand recognition of the league outside of individual markets?

So, I forgot the pictures...

But, we really did move into our new offices on Main Street. The natural light is great, and it is awesome to be out of the dungeon. Retail displays start going up, and we will add some pictures and "accent" items and we will host a ribbon-cutting grand opening on May 11...the merchandise is going to be fantastic.

On the player front, I am really excited about the players that we have recruited. We have some players that I think will be real stars in this league. Solid OPS guys at the plate, pitchers that throw strikes...it will be great to see what happens as the season unfolds.

Stop by and say hello in the new digs.

April 4 is the target...

That we have to move into our new offices. This post would be better with updated pictures - sorry about that - I will make sure we have them up tomorrow. That will give us a month to get it ready for the ribbon cutting/grand opening, which will be a great time. Here are some dates to pay attention to:

May 11 - ribbon cutting/grand opening of the store
May 12 - Single-game tickets will go on sale (pending availability!)

Some cool news today - all the player BP gear arrived today - fleece tops, dri-fit tee-shirts, dri-fit shorts and travel bags - is getting me pumped for the season's arrival. We meet Wednesday with a contractor to start the bid process on the Phase II improvements (finally), and tomorrow we put the finishing touches on the revised concessions beer and wine plan.

This was also a nice surprise in the paper today - http://union-bulletin.com/stories/2010/03/22/walla-wallans-relish-sweets - the phone began to ring off the hook as soon as the paper was hitting the stands (from 3 pm - it's an afternoon paper - until 6:15, we received 24 phone calls and sold 4 season tickets, 2 family plans, and 2 1/2 season plans). The details aren't exactly correct, but still - great pub.

Pics tomorrow!

And we are under 90 days...

We now have less than 90 days left until we open Borleske Stadium with Sweets baseball. We had our "90 days until Opening Day" meeting on Wednesday, and our to-do list currently sits at about 200 items to do. Some are 1-and-dones (order staff shirts), others are ongoing (sponsor fulfillment). Either way, a lot to do in a short window. But we'll get there...