Latest / The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views / TABLE TALK: The 2025 IronPigs Baseball Experience!

Transcript

TABLE TALK: The 2025 IronPigs Baseball Experience! · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up everybody. Hope you're doing well. I wanted to
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: let you know. This podcast episode was recorded on Monday,
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: March thirty, first, twenty twenty five. By the time you
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: hear this, some things may have changed here or there,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: but we hope you enjoy the show. Welcome to Table
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Talk here at the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast Show, the
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: That's right, this April, it's gonna be twelve years that
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: we have been recording here at the PST podcast show.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Audition out the content on a weekly basis. Absolutely love
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: this podcast platform. Thank you longtime listeners. If you are
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: new to listening to the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast Show,
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: subscribe on whatever podcast platform you are on. Well, folks,
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: the baseball season is here. Yes, major League Baseball has started.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: The minor leagues have also started in many markets throughout
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: the country. And we've got a great discussion about the
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: Lee High Valley Iron Pigs, the Philadelphia Phillies Triple A affiliate.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: We're gonna be talking to the guy who runs the
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: ship there and really has done an amazing job over
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: so many years creating such a great family atmosphere and
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: environment when it comes to baseball in terms of minor leagues.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: I can't wait to talk to him. It's always great
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: to talk to him. Let's get right to it. And
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: joining us this week, coming to us from the Lehigh
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: Valley and specifically in Allentown. He is the president and
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: general manager of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, the Triple
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. It is great to have
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: him back on the podcast here on our table talk
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: interview show. Mister kurtlandis how you doing, Kurt Jess?
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: I am happy as a pig in mud. How's that for?
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: I love Monday.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: I love it Monday here. You're happy as a pig
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: in mud because it has been a nice three days
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: of minor league baseball at Coca Cola Park for you all.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: I think it's fantastic.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: It was a great start to the year. The team
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: won two of three games against the hated Scranton wooks
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: Bury Yes rail Riders, those of the Yankee affiliation. But
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: you know, overall we had some pretty good weather, mostly
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: dry weather for the weekend. Saturday was incredible and the
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: ballpark looks great. The grass is green. We have so
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: many viturning employees because I love working here and it
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: makes it easier for us to kind of get out
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: of the gates on a strong start. People know what
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: to do and how to do it. So I'm thrilled
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: with the start so far.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, awesome. I love how you said the grass was green.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: We're going to be getting into that, folks. Okay, it's
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: not the easiest task in the entire world in terms
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: of a minor league baseball park. We're going to get
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: into that subject matter actually in a little bit. But
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: first here, Kurt really wanted to give some background about
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: the Iron Pigs for any of our new listeners here
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: at the PST podcast show. I mean, you all have
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: been around for years and years. You are a staple
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: within the Lehigh Valley community, and I'm wondering if you
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: can just kind of take us through again for the
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: new listeners here at the podcast show, how the Iron
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: Pigs triple a affiliate to the Philadelphia Phillies came to
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: be and the overall impact that you've really had here
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: in our Leehah Valley region.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: Well, I could take up the rest of the podcast
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: and then some true yes and in short order, you know,
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: we were blessed to have the ability to come to
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: the Lehigh Valley. The actual franchise was purchased in two
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: thousand and six, and we moved here the franchise in
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: two thousand and eight. So from since two thousand and eight,
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: By the way, Jeff no No Mile League organization has
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: drawn more fans to its ballpark than the Iron Pigs.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: And you know, I was here at the start the
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: fall of two thousand and six, so during the ballpark construction.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: But we also focused a lot, of course on branding
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: and naming and so many of the initial decisions that
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: makes a team, an organization and a ballpark great. And
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: you know our owners Joe Finley Craigstein. Joe has owned
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: portions of the Liquid Blue Claws as well as the
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: Trent and Thunder. Craigstein owned a portion of the Writing Phillies,
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: and those two coming together have had an amazing amount
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: of respect and experience within the industry. And I think
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: the Lehigh Value was always just bursting at the scenes
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: looking for a genuine professional minor league baseball team, and
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: so many people would come to the ballpark in two
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: thousand and eight. This wasn't too long after the decline
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: of steel, decline of industry, and people come into ballpark
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: and would be amazed at like, oh my gosh, I
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: can't believe I'm in East Allentown. I can't believe something
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: positive has happened for the region. And since then, I
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: think the ballpark has been a catalyst for and things
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: have gotten easy and easier, been a catalyst for the
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: casino and Bethlehem, a catalyst that helped allow arts Quest
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: to have success and raised the dollars that they did
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: to get started, certainly the PPL Center. And since two
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: thousand and eight, the attitudes have changed about it's not
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: Allentown and Bethlehem and Easton, but we're part of this
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: Lehigh Valley. The attitudes have changed in terms of, you know,
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: we deserve great things in the valley and you see
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: more restaurants and you see more options for entertainment. And
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: I think that started in two thousand and eight when
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: the IronPigs came on board. It was the first you know, notch,
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: you know, the first run on the ladder that kind
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: of led us out of the dol drums from the
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: mid late nineties and early two thousands.
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and let's not forget the Iron Pigs Charities that
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: have done such amazing work throughout the Lehigh Valley region
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: honestly and beyond to help a lot of various nonprofits,
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: a lot of other organizations, Kurt that you know, has
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: again impacted the community in such a positive way. I
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: just wanted to throw that out there. The Iron Pigs Charities,
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: They're fantastic.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: I really appreciate that. The Charities Foundation was something we
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: started from day one. We always wanted to be about
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: more than just baseball, and that goes to the impact
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: and what you see at the ballpark in terms of
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: entertainment for more than just baseball fans, but also on
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: how we give back to the community. And Jeff, there's
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: truly an other team. We're approaching three million dollars in
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: cash grants back to local nonprofits in the community. And
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: when I tell that to other people in the industry, like, oh, well,
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: you must be including you know the free tickets you
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: give out right right or free are the free leftover items?
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: Like no, that's that's cash grants. And then on top
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: of that, you know, we try to donate to local
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: auctions and charity events and so forth. That non cash
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: support as well. So that's a big part of who
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: we are and what we do and we want to be,
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: you know, give back to the community, and we're able
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: to continue to do so in such large ways because
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: we have such support. I mean, fans continue to come
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: out in droves. Year seventeen and sixteen, our seasons, we
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: still finished number one and overall attendance in my league
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: baseball absolutely very very rare for a team in that
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: stage of its maturation to have to be number one
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: in attendance.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: Folks, if you go to Coca Cola Park, you are
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: going to have an incredible experience. And yes, maybe I'm
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: biased because I live about fifteen minutes right down the road,
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: but I got to tell you, Kurt, you know, my
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: family and I we always love attending games at Coca
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: Cola Park. It's such a great family friendly environment. And
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: while you know, we're not in the winter season anymore,
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: and I'm bringing this up for a specific reason, you know,
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: I'm hoping you might be able to talk about some
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: of the off season success and events that you've all showcased,
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: especially this past year. I gotta tell you, my family
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: and I we were at what is called folks illumination
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: and had a fantastic time during the winter at this event,
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: the entire ballpark was a holiday festival and it was
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: It was really incredible to be part of that and
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: have that as part of our community. Kurt, I'm wondering
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: if you could talk a little bit about how you
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: make sure that you're providing quality entertainment for families not
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: just during the minor league baseball season, but year round, right.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: And again, I think this goes towards you know, the
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: Iron Picks brand isn't just IronPigs baseball team. It's about
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: providing entertainment year round. And when you have that level
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: of success, because you have great sponsors and great fans
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: and great partnerships, you feel a responsibility to do more
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: and to make this community location, This Lehigh County owned
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: facility used more than just six months of the year,
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: so to do illumination was amazing. We were open for
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: forty four nights. We drew just a hair over seventy
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: thousand people to the ballpark, so almost two thousand fans,
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: two thousand guests per night of illumination, over a million
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: lights and it was just the lights, but the lights
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: were all themed to music. Set to music and the
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: lights would dance and based on the rhythm of the music,
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: which is incredible. But then we had, you know, things
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: to do such as visit Santa and visit Elsa and
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: write letters to Santa and visit Santa's workshop, all kinds
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: of selfie stations throughout the ballpark.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: I got to tell you thees. Yeah, I was just
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: going to say do this Moores. My family and I
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: absolutely loved it. And I'm not just saying this either,
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: Like I honestly, I wasn't expecting it to be as
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: cost effective what we came in and I'm like thinking,
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: all right, thismores are going to be like fifty sixty bucks,
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: you know for one of the containers of everything, and
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: it was so affordable for a family. It was great.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and affordable isn't by accident. You know. We were
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: very cautious and methodical about what we charge for our events,
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: and certainly you know, there's a for profits start of
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: our business that tries to be profitable, but they want
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: to be a long term partner of the community. So
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: it's you never want short term breed. You want to
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: be successful for many, many years and provide an affordable attraction
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: so that people have an affinity for your brand, not
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: just one year, but multiple times. But the illumination where
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: already looking, Jeff, how we improve that for next year?
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: Nice?
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: If we add a carousel? Do we add a large
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: heated dining tent? Do we add curling lanes? Do we
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: add a hay ride? That the train was so popular
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: people ride the train around the infield and the lights tunnels,
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: so's there's so many more things that we can do
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: that we're excited to go to that event. And we
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: talked about special events even beyond illumination. We're preparing, you know,
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: tomorrow we have two high school games here. We have
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: a college game on Friday. We have another high school
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: game here on Thursday. This year we're hosting Banana Ball,
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: which is the party animals and the Savannah Bananas mindset.
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: We also have Cosmic Baseball, which is glow in the
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: Dark Baseball that will take place here in May Devonte
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: Smith and the Eagles Celebrity Softball game. So there's things
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: here all the time. We have about two hundred and
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: fifty to two hundred and seventy five events here a
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: year out of the three hundred and sixty five days
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: of the season. So it's there's always something.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, absolutely, there's always something at Coca Cola Park, folks.
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: And again, you know, search out the Iron Pigs on
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: social media, make sure you're following them so that you
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: can be kept up to speed on what is going
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: on at Coca Cola Park. And again, you can get
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: Iron Pigs tickets. I believe if you go to MLB
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: dot com slash Lehigh Dash Valley, you're gonna be able
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: to get tickets to your Iron Pigs games. And again,
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: great family friendly atmosphere and environment. But as we started
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: the conversation, you actually mentioned a phrase called green grass,
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: and it may have seemed a little bizarre. It's like, yeah,
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: of course you're going to a baseball game, you want
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: to see green grass. But look, folks, I'm telling you
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: right now, it is not as quote simple as just
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: planting some grass out like you would do in your yard. So,
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: as we're talking about this season here, Kurk, I recently
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: read in the news about the two gentlemen who are
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: in charge of the field operations at the park. They're
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: in charge of what that grass and that field looks
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: like at Coca Cola Park, not just for the players,
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: which is of course critical, but for the people who
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: are walking through the great gates because as they are
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: walking through, you want people to have that wow factor
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: right when they're walking in the park, based on what
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: that field looks like. So I'm wondering, can you talk about,
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: you know, the field operations here, what goes into a
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: year round and how that impacts the shared experience at
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: the at Coca Cola Park overall.
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: Well, I mean, at the heart of it, you walk
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: in and the baseball field kind of gives you this
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: moment of your kid again, right, you remember playing on
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: the grass field, and you remember going to your first
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: major league or minor league game, and it kind of
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: makes you feel happy to see a field and maintained
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: like that. And so many people will say, well, the
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: artificial turf looks great, like that's that's not artificial turf, right,
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: you know, it's it's a heart of it though, it
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: is providing a very safe environment for the players. So
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: you know, a small divot can make a bounce bot
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: a ball bounce in the wrong direction. So you want
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: consistency of play. It's very important that the field drained. Well,
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: you know, we want to be able to play as
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: many games as possible that aren't impacted by the weather.
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: Even opening day. I know we mentioned before we jumped
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: on air we had probably between the third and seventh
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: innings it started to rain, but we already play through
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: the light rain because the field conditioned and there's about
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: below the surface, there's about fourteen to sixteen inches of
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: field service that makes it drain and play ball with stone,
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: sand and gravel, and then you have the actual subsurface
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: and then the grass on top of it, and it's
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: we have two full time groundskeepers and we usually have
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: on a game day anywhere from six to seven additional
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: staff members just to make sure the five acres, you know,
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: our pristine. And you know it's when you have a
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: night like Friday where the players track you know, mud
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: or dirt or material from one surface to the next.
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: You're trying, you know, you want the field to last
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: and be gorgeous for a long time. And anyone that's
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: ever maintained a littleague field, we'll tell you that the
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: dangers of it. Try to do it for professional athletes
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: who are you know, many of them have played in
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: the majors and they rely on the health condition of
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: the turf to be safe. So's it's a labor of
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: love and a significant amount of work to have that happen.
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, absolutely all right. Well, as we're moving along with
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: a conversation here, I have to get into an aspect
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: of the baseball experience that we all love when we
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: go to ballparks, and that is food. Food is always
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: huge when we go to various ballparks throughout the country,
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: you know, throughout the the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It's part
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: of the fan experience. So I'm wondering, Kurt, if you
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: can take us through some of the new foods that
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: are being introduced at Coca Cola Park this season. I
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: always enjoy grabbing some of these foods when I'm there
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: with my family, So take us through some of them,
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: my friend.
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: Sure, sure, well, food is an important aspect of the experience.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: Yep.
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: You know, we've talked about the game and the entertainment,
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: but the food journey. We actually are the only min
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: League team to have a website dedicated to our food.
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: You can visit that at Pigs foodfinder dot com and
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: it tells you every single item we have where you
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: can find it. And again it's amazing how many options
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: we have for a ballpark. It's not just hot dogs
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: and popcorn and peanuts, but we have about two hundred
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: and fifty options for our fans, and new this year,
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: we have a number of things from a Cuban sandwich
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: is new Buffalo chicken tenders. Two of my favorites are
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: the Black and White Cheese Steak, which is the chicken
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: and steak cheese steak combined, which has been received really
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: really nice. My personal favorite, I have a sweet tooth.
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: We have always served churros, but now we have a
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: cream cheese filled chur that served with either chocolate, a
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: raspberry sauce and Jeff served warm. It is incredible. So
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: I still like some of the favorites though that you
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: know chickens and petez fries here of course, as Schuck's
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: seasoned corn is a local favorite. I love the ash
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: pork noachos and anything pork is fantastic. I love the deep,
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: the thick cut bacon which we will roll in brown
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: sugar and dip in syrup and then cook for about
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: twenty minutes at three hundred and fifty degrees and that
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: comes out as a thick sliced candied bacon and Jeff,
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: there's nothing better than candy bacon in my world. I've
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: had it.
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: Yes, it's fantastic, chocolate covered bacon.
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: You know there's a team that celebrates its dead form
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: of itself. I think that's fantastically ironic and wonderful.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely it is. Well, Kurt, before I let you go, Buddy,
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: as we're closing out the discussion here, I was just
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: wondering if you could dive maybe into some of the
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: fan experiences that we're going to be witnessing and have
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: really had the opportunity to see this coming season at
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: Coca Cola Park. I always know there's fireworks nights, things
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: like that for families to enjoy. Tell us about some
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: of the fan experiences that folks can see throughout the season.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: Sure, well. I mentioned a couple things with special events.
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: Cosmic Baseball being Gold in the Dark Baseball coming up
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: May sixteenth and seventeenth, the Party Animals and Banana Ball
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: coming July fifth and sixth, the Eagles Celebrity Softball Game.
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: Those are five huge, huge events that will sell at
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: the ballpark that fans can look forward to. Myself specifically,
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: there's some things in the ballpark that are new. I
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: love that we've added on le should say added on.
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: We've enlarged the size of our retail store. We removed
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: some of the stories the backstorage made it part of
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: the retail floor. Fans love our gear and we have
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: so many different logos and theme nights, so to have
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: more options on the floor has been something our fans
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: have requested. More size runs, more types of better options
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: for females, large and tall kids, selections. So we have
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: that now. I'm excited. We haven't installed them yet. They're
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: getting ready to hear in the next two or three weeks.
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: But we have flamethrowers, we have fires on the co bottle.
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: I'm getting ready to install fog cannons that if we
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: score a run, we'll shoot out about three or four
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: different flumes of forty feet long fog cannons over top
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: of the crowd. So when fun things happen and you
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: see the flame throwers and the fog cannons, like, the
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: energy that we have here is really second to none
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: compared to any other my League ballparking, and I put
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: us up against a lot of the Major League ballparks
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: as well.
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: From that standpoint, absolutely folks. He's Kurt Landis, President and
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: general manager of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. Head to
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: Coca Cola Park this season. You're going to have a great,
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: great time, Kurt body always great talking to you. Thanks
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: so much for jumping on the podcast here, and let's
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: talk at some point down the road, my friend, Jeff.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: It's my pleasure. Make sure you and the fans tune
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: in on Wednesday. We have a big announcement. We have
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: our salute to Philly Jersey and Cap Night announced this Wednesday,
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: and it's gonna be a doozy so awesome. Shure you
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: tune in for that.
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: Tune in for that, folks. All right, Kurt, I'll let
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: you go. Let's talk at some other point down the
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: road about what you guys are doing at Coca Cola
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: Park and with the Lea Valley IronPigs. I'd love to
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: have you back on the show, my friend, anytime. I
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: appreciate it. That's gonna do it for us here on
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: Table Talk this week. Please share our podcast with your
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: friends and family members who are Philly sports fans or
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: sports fans in general. We thank you our listeners for
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: being part of this online community with us and within
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: this space. Please make sure to check out our website,
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: Philadelphia Sportstable dot com for all of our podcasts, and
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: follow us on our social sites over on Twitter at
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: Philadelphia PST, threads at Philadelphia Sports Table, and over on
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: Instagram as well. Take care and we'll catch you next time.