Well, I know it’s been awhile since I have posted, but things have been busy. With the Fightin Phils finishing up the season and making the playoffs, work (job #1), plus vacations, it’s been difficult finding a decent amount of time to sit down and get some solid writing done. With that being said, time to wrap up season 15 in Baseballtown.

15 seasons. It’s still mind boggling to me that I have spent 15 summers working at a baseball stadium and I still look forward to it every year.

I would have to say the best part of this season was getting back to the ballpark and getting to see all of the regular customers and coworkers who have become more like family over the years. It’s always fun to catch up, find out what everyone has been doing during the off season, and then spending our summer nights together watching baseball. There is just something about knowing that these people, who we only know from serving them ice cream or working together and talking about baseball, are genuinely interested in us and our lives. For five months out of the year we all come together, sharing a common interest and, I know I have said it before and I will say it a million times after this post, working at the ballpark doesn’t feel like a job. It feels more like hanging out with friends and making some money on the side. Sure there are rough days, but all in all I think it’s one of the best summer jobs around.

Anyway, this post is getting a bit too sappy for me, so here are some brief highlights from this season.

Stand Hopping

This season, Ariane and I spent time working in three different concession stands over the course of the summer. Normally we spend the entire summer working solely in the UIC, which we love, but this year we were called on to fill in when they were short staffed. We worked in both of the other ice cream stands and even worked one game in the water ice stand. Don’t worry, our regulars still found us and came to visit each game! While our time in these other stands was short-lived, it certainly reiterated how much we love our little ice cream shed and we wouldn’t want to work anywhere else.

Anthem Singers

That’s right, once again we were lucky enough to have the chance to sing the National Anthem before one of the final games of the season. This is something that we love doing and even though we don’t get to do it often, each time is still pretty cool. One thing people always ask us is if we knew we were going to be singing and the answer is no. We typically find out about 20 minutes before the anthem is scheduled to take place and quickly take time to run through our harmonies once or twice while huddling in the corner of the stand. So if you ever come up to buy ice cream and we are standing close together and humming don’t be alarmed. That’s simply how we subtly get ready to sing.

Confessional: Have you ever been asked to perform or speak in front of a crowd at the last minute? What were you asked to do and how did you prepare?

Customer Appreciation

I know I already talked about seeing our regular customers and all that gushy stuff, but one thing that Ariane and I always talk about is how nice it is to hear how much people appreciate what we do. I’m not trying to boast or brag, but it is pretty nice to have people saying they missed you when you weren’t at a few games because of vacation, and how they don’t like to get their ice cream from any other stand because no one else is as pleasant to talk to. Who wouldn’t want to hear that type of compliment? The fact that fans will come find us even when we aren’t in our normal stand just so they can say hi always makes us feel good. I guess we’re doing something right!

Playoff Baseball

Every sports fan knows that cheering for your team is more exciting when they are doing well and winning. It’s a lot more fun to root for a team when they win games than when they lose. This year, the Fightin Phils did not let their fans down. They finished the first half of the season in second place in the division, but pulled it out in the second half, finishing in first and making it to the playoffs. While unfortunately our time in the playoffs did not last long, it was fun to watch the team finish out the season strong. When the team does well, the fans have more fun and the entire atmosphere around the ballpark is a lot more high energy.

Well, that pretty much sums up the highlights from this past season. Don’t worry, there are more stories to share, but if I tell them all in this post I won’t have anything to write about until next season. For now, just know that season 15 was another great summer spent watching baseball, selling ice cream, and just spending time hanging out with a great group of friends.

Oh, and Opening Day 2020 is April 9…let the countdown begin!