{"id":6173,"date":"2020-02-06T20:45:45","date_gmt":"2020-02-07T00:45:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.daytonastateinmotion.com\/?p=6173"},"modified":"2020-02-06T21:03:54","modified_gmt":"2020-02-07T01:03:54","slug":"tortugone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.daytonastateinmotion.com\/oldsite\/tortugone\/","title":{"rendered":"TortuGONE?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jarred Walker – In Motion Staff Writer<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0According to Ballpark Digest, in 2019, 137,570 diehard fans showed up to Jackie Robinson Ballpark to cheer on their Daytona Tortugas.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This statistic was a new record for the team when it came to single-season attendance total. Every game, the stands are packed and the attendance has been increasing every year since the team\u2019s inception in 2015.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In late 2019, out of nowhere, rumors began to swirl that the team would be abolished. With numbers like these, how could that be possible?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alexander Gaines, longtime fan of the team who goes to about half of the home games each season, was not at all happy with the reports.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m outraged!\u201d said Gaines. \u201cI think it would be an absolutely terrible decision and I know I\u2019m not the only one who thinks that way.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gaines was introduced to the team through school like many in the community.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIt was a belly buster event where we would go on Tuesdays and get unlimited hotdogs.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He went on to explain some of his positive experiences at the games. \u201cI think it\u2019s a great meeting place for the community. I love the all-around atmosphere and it\u2019s so much better than watching a game on TV because there are no commercials. One of my favorite experiences at a game was when one of my really good friends got a chance to go on the field and race the mascot during the seventh-inning stretch. He obliterated him.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The best possible word to describe going to a Tortugas game is \u201cfun.\u201d Although the main event is the game itself, the number of interactive events going on from start to finish is immense. Whether it be music, food, parties, gatherings, t-shirt tosses, dance-offs or bobblehead giveaways, it really is an experience that caters to all ages.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The team\u2019s assistant general manager, Austin Scher, explained that the rumored potential future doesn\u2019t specifically have to do with the Tortugas team itself.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIt comes down to the Professional Baseball Agreement which is the partnership agreement between Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball allowing franchises like ours to have player development contracts with specific Major League clubs. The Tortugas are associated with the Cincinnati Reds.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThis proposal that Commissioner Rob Manfred has put forth would cut 42 of the 160 affiliated Minor League Baseball teams across the country,\u201d Scher continued. \u201cWhat it all means is a bit unclear and a bit uncertain. The negotiations between Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball are ongoing.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nothing is set in stone.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Scher ended by saying, \u201cWe don\u2019t exist without our community. The support that has been shown in Volusia County and central Florida has been nothing short of phenomenal. They have made an extreme impact already.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Although the future is unclear, this upcoming season is going to happen and it all starts back up on Thursday Apr. 9 at 7:05 p.m. at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jarred Walker – In Motion Staff Writer \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0According to Ballpark Digest, in 2019, 137,570 diehard fans showed up to Jackie Robinson Ballpark to cheer on their Daytona Tortugas.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This statistic was a new record for the team when it came to single-season attendance total. Every game, Continue reading TortuGONE?<\/span>→<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daytonastateinmotion.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daytonastateinmotion.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daytonastateinmotion.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daytonastateinmotion.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daytonastateinmotion.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6173"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.daytonastateinmotion.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6175,"href":"https:\/\/www.daytonastateinmotion.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6173\/revisions\/6175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daytonastateinmotion.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daytonastateinmotion.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daytonastateinmotion.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}