Play ball: Fort Myers Miracle style

Ask Fort Myers Miracle owner Mike Veeck what the minor league baseball club (a single-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins) brings to Fort Myers and he responds, "Joy." For a moment he doesn't say anything else, and so the word gathers meaning, arching up and up like a fly  ball over what it represents.

"It's just baseball," Veeck said. "You could watch a little league game and it's still enjoyable."

Naturally, part of the joy is the American pastime itself. It's watching the Miracle stars such as Red Sox all-star slugger David Ortiz who played in Fort Myers in 1997 or Twins catcher Joe Mauer who led the AL in batting in 2006. Mauer played here in 2003. But it's also the beery fans, hard line drives and hot dogs; and the serious spectators, whose lifeblood is statistics, their pulses beating to the slow, intellectual pace of collected innings.

But that's all a given in baseball. Veeck has added his own unique brand of joy to the Miracle since 1992. His humorous, irreverent promotions have garnered national attention (like locking fans out of the park to set the lowest attendance record). Crowds averaged over 1,800 per game last year, during the Miracle's 86 game season.

GLINER

Perhaps the most famous promotion was last summer's "Billy Donovan Night," in honor of the University of Florida basketball coach who backed out of a multi-million dollar contract with the Orlando Magic. It was the brainchild of Miracle media relations director Gary Sharp, who offered fans the chance to back out of their "contracts" or tickets in the third inning, by convincing Fort Myers defense attorney Michael Hornung of heir dissatisfaction. In keeping with that nig night's theme, they also sold waffles and gave out free flip-flops.

Horn Hornung told NBC Sports, there to report on the proceedings, that he delib deliberated with fans in earne earnest.

"I w would think opting GLINER Don out of a Miracle game has as much c credence as Billy novan leaving a $27 5 m Donovan 27.5 million contract," Hornung sai said. "I don't know why you'd do it." The promot promotions take place regularly, and give fans a glimpse of the creative power behind their crowd pleasing success.

 

MCNABB

"Working for (Miracle owners) Mike Veeck, Jimmy Buffett and (actor) Billy Murray - they've always encouraged us to think outside the box, and do things creatively," said general manager Steve Gliner, who is in his fifth year with the club. "It's hard to imagine not being able to do things like this. I wouldn't have it any other way."

Murray and Buffet, along with others like producer Lorne Michaels and John Alexander (who designed the cover art for the Rolling Stones' album, "Urban Jungle") invested in the team in the late 1980s in Miami. That was a few years before the eclectic group of baseball lovers asked Veeck to be involved, and moved the Miracle to Fort Myers in 1992. (Minor league baseball started here in 1926 with a team called the "Fort Myers Palm.")

"When they bought the club, they hired me, because I lived in Fort Lauderdale and I had a reputation for being a little off kilter," Veeck said. "Murray and I are neighbors, so we're friends that hang out all the time. Buffett works during the summer."

VEECK

The sometimes wacky promotions reflect Murray's sense of humor in particular,

but are also done in the tradition of Veeck's father, Bill, the late baseball owner/ administrator and Hall of Fame inductee. He was famous for his leadership of major league clubs in Chicago. His own promotions included hiring a midget to bat for the White Sox. At one point in his career, he planted the well-known ivy on Wrigley Field's outfield wall.

"As Bill Veeck always says, it's meant to be fun," wrote Roger Angell in "Late Innings," a 1982 book about the state of the game then.

Baseball is still at the heart of the fun, Gliner said, but he also considers the ball park an entertainment venue, with live music, prizes and contests which run alongside more standard, yet also joyous fair - thirsty Thursdays, two for Tuesdays, an all-u-can-eat Wednesday night buffet and Friday happy hour. And of course, the always magnanimous mascot, Miss-AMiracle.

"On certain nights there may be fireworks," Gliner said. "We do many, many different food and beverage specials.

Murray

"The goal is to provide fans, when they come out, with a great experience. We're fortunate that we're able to keep those prices affordable…it's kind of what we're all about."

Gliner said fans come from all over to see the team and partake in the fun - but mostly from Lee, Charlotte and Collier counties. "We have a pretty good reach." (Tickets for the games are only $5 and $7).

The team also does some traditional television ads (Gliner and President Linda McNabb star in one this year). But Gliner said the best marketing has been grass roots efforts - for example, the front office staff is going to businesses in Southwest Florida and giving out pocket schedules. There are Hurricane Awareness nights, and fundraisers for organizations such as The Red Cross and the American Heart Association.

All this gives people a reason to attend games, which becomes its own promotion.

"When people ultimately come out here for a game - that's the best form of advertising," he said. "Because they go out and tell friends and family what a great time it was."

Buffet

And just like some of the Miracle players who make it to the major leagues, the fans will do much the same.

"At the minor league level, we develop new fans and send them along," Veeck said. "Eventually they have to go see the best."

Play ball.