Miracle thrilled to play for home fans

Crowd of 8,076 files into complex for 1st home game

By David Dorsey
Fort Myers News Press

Minor-league baseball sprang to life again Saturday at the Lee County Sports Complex, where at 4 p.m., new Fort Myers Miracle manager Riccardo Ingram issued a three-word pep talk to his players.

"Get it going!"

With 11 palm trees swaying in the wind behind the outfield fence and 14 empty Gatorade cups blowing around in the dugout as if they were dancing, the 14th Florida State League season got going for the Miracle, a Class A, Florida State League affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.

At 5:30 p.m., the gates finally opened as the first of a crowd of 8,076 fans trickled into Hammond Stadium, getting settled to watch as the Miracle defeated the Sarasota Reds 6-5.

But in minor-league baseball, the game sometimes serves as a backdrop to a carnival-like atmosphere.

A ventriloquist, a three-man band playing music from the Roaring '20s, a team of massage therapists and two dozen ushers wearing lime-green "Fun is Good" T-shirts greeted fans as they pushed their way through the turnstiles.

The band, called Palm City Jazz, featured Bob Schroeder on clarinet, Pat O'Brien on banjo and Jim Syoen on the tuba.

They played "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," as Miracle fan Walter Morse, 69, entered around 5:35 p.m.

"I'm a diehard Boston fan," Morse said. "But I have adopted the Miracle. They play a lot harder. They play ball. Real ball."

The Miracle players entered Saturday with a 2-0 record, thanks to winning a doubleheader Friday in Sarasota.

The Miracle players said they were excited to be playing in front of a packed house after competing in front of about 300 fans Friday.

"I like big crowds," said left-handed, starting pitcher Josh Gray.

"A fireworks crowd," said starting left fielder Ron Perodin. "A big crowd makes it easier to focus. When there's not a big crowd, it's tougher to focus. But you know, you just have to get it done."

The players said they try to block out the crowd.

"When I go up to bat, I don't hear it," said starting third baseman Matt Moses, who slugged two home runs in his Miracle debut Friday. "I'm focused on the pitcher.

"In the field, that's when you hear it. I try to take in the good and block out the bad."