Gateway Grizzlies

Thanks to a Groupon, some of us went out to GCS Ballpark in beautiful Sauget, Illinois to take in a Gateway Grizzlies game a couple weeks back. The deal was such that the ticket was basically free after you throw in the concessions so we figured, why not? We were joined by Matt and Amanda:

And Brandon & Sarah:

The game was a little one-sided (Grizzlies lost to the Normal CornBelters 6-0), but the seats were great — right behind the dugout — and the Zooperstars were awesome. You may be asking, “What are the Zooperstars?” Well, they are inflatable characters with punny names that put on exhibitions of hilarity at minor league baseball stadiums and state fairs across the country. To give you an idea, the creature on the right below is named “Manatee Ramirez.”

In between innings, they’d ride in on the back of a souped up golf cart and perform a little dance routine for the enjoyment of the audience. Probably the best show of the night was when Mackerel Jordan ate a batboy. Just before the 7th inning stretch, the girls saw Harry Canary walking through the crowd and wanted to get a picture:

I guess that signaled to Harry that these girls were up for pretty much anything. First, Harry sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” as he loomed over us from on top of the dugout.

Then, he snatched Amanda’s purse!

Then, he doused Jen and Amanda with silly string!

It was pretty awesome to be in the middle of all the action, especially since I managed not to get silly strung. The game was a lot of fun, and we’ll definitely be going back sometime in the future. Click here for all the pictures.