Take me out to the Ballgame Show

Take me out to the Ballgame Show

Kevin Tedesco grew up in South Jersey. Went to ballgames at The Vet. Worked there. So, he really remembers it. And he knows it was built for one reason: for fans to watch games.

“It wasn’t built for what we do now,” he says.

When Tedesco says “what we do now,” he’s talking about the seemingly endless food and drink options available at Citizens Bank Park, which replaced Veterans Stadium in 2004 and released fans from the dark concourses and limited bill of fare that they endured for 33 years.

As Aramark’s General Manager at CBP, Tedesco is responsible for the menu of dining options at every stadium concession stand, in each suite and club area, through each Philadelphia-branded partner and for the stadium’s dining room. His purview includes about 80 concession outlets and more than 1,100 employees and contractors responsible for keeping fans fed and thirst-free.

And he knows times are much different from those when the Phils played on the concrete turf at The Vet, and fans hardly looked at a trip to the ballpark as a chance to satisfy their hunger.

“For having done this as long as I have, people would come before to watch the game and then go home,” Tedesco says. “Now, it’s different.”

It certainly is. A Phillies game is not a mere sporting event. It is an evening of entertainment that extends beyond the diamond. Hard-core baseball fans may not always like it, but the franchise has created an experience designed to give patrons way more than balls and strikes. Instead, they get three-plus hours of sights, sounds, food and drink that surround the on-field competition.

It starts with the stadium, which features an open design whose purpose is to encourage people to traverse the concourse while still watching the game.

Fans who leave their seats during the action don’t have to miss anything, thanks to clear sight lines – along with enough TV monitors to make even the best-appointed sports bar envious. In between innings, the Phanavision scoreboard presents an array of live content, taped interview segments, animated contests and other content designed to make people forget that there are two minutes and 20 seconds until the next pitch.

“It’s definitely an entertainment venue,” says Sean Rainey, the Director of Phillies Productions and a gameday producer who is in his 17th season with the club. “There is an entertainment mindset. We are trying to entertain the fans who are here. We don’t have commercial breaks. We give them things they aren’t getting at home.

“We live in a world where people are using second screens. We need to give them more.”

Those fans who remember the quaint “electric scoreboard” days of The Vet, when in-between innings fare consisted of low-def, monochromatic animation, must consider today’s Phillies entertainment lineup something akin to sensory overload, but Rainey is right that today’s fans – of just about all ages – are not looking to spend time between innings, or even between pitches, talking baseball with those sitting in their row. They will most likely have an app open on their phones, so why not keep them engaged with content that attracts their attention and makes a Phils-Marlins game about much more than the score?

The days of people keeping score are long gone, even if there are still some who still want to keep their own records of the game. How do you draw more than three million fans year after year? Win games, for sure, but give those who aren’t huge baseball fans something more than the crack of the bat.

“The ballpark lends itself to the casual fan,” Tedesco says. “If you’re in Ashburn Alley, you can see the field. Wherever you are in the ballpark, you can see the game.”

Tedesco says that many fans enter the park as soon as it opens, head to Ashburn Alley for food and then watch batting practice or simply enjoy being at the stadium. Once the game begins, the concourses become “empty” in the bottom of the first because fans want to watch the Phillies’ first at-bat, which usually means plate appearances by Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. But they are soon back at the concession stands, and Tedesco says that fans almost treat a trip to the ballpark as a three-course meal.

“They’ll get their first course early, then some French fries in the sixth inning and ice cream sundaes later in the game,” he says.

Fans certainly eat a lot at the park, but they don’t forget about drinking. Tedesco estimates that there are “60 different varieties” of alcoholic beverages at the park, covering everything from lite beer to international offerings, craft beers, hard teas and seltzers.

“We draw three million fans, so we have to have something for everybody,” he says.

Since it opened, the park has been home to a variety of dining partners for the Phils, including Chickie’s and Pete’s, which is the oldest restaurant that has been part of the concession offering, dating back to The Vet. Others include Campo’s, Manco & Manco Pizza, P.J. Whelihan’s and Federal Chicken & Donuts. There are many others, and the Phillies and Aramark are always looking for new partnerships. Since CBP will be hosting the All-Star Game this July, expect some themed food offerings throughout the season.

In the past, Aramark has teamed with Phillies players to create signature offerings, like the Schwarburger, Jesus Luzardo’s Cheesesteaks for Charity, former standout Greg Luzinski’s Bull’s Barbecue and last year’s short-lived “Bader Tots,” which linked food sales with centerfielder Harrison Bader. Most proceeds from these items go to charity.

Tedesco also worked at the old Giants Stadium when he began his Aramark tenure, and he likens the food experience there to that of Veterans Stadium and relates how different it is from what today’s fans can get.

“Without question, people come here to eat and drink,” he says.

Fans may flock to concessions from the moment the ballpark opens, but they also spend 40 minutes before the game starts enjoying the program put together by Jess Messner, the team’s Coordinator of Entertainment. Batting and fielding practice before a 6:40 game ends at 6:00, and that’s when Messner’s team takes over. She helps coordinate any pre-game presentations and handles things like the national anthem performer.

“We try to keep it fresh, Messner says. “One night, we could have an elementary school choir, and the next could be a high school band. For themed nights, we have singers who reflect the theme. On Country Music Night, we’ll have a country artist.”

Messner is also responsible for arranging who will throw out each game’s ceremonial first pitches. “First pitch is my whole world,” she says. On a given night, there could be as many as three people tossing to the Phanatic or – in the case of a celebrity or a Phillies alum – to one of the team’s catchers. Included are sponsors, season ticket holders and representatives of special groups in attendance.

The first pitch doesn’t end things for Messner and her team. She is also in charge of the Phanatic, who makes three appearances per game in the park, and the Happy Birthday brigade, which can sing up to 50 times for fans in the seats during a game, although up to 200 people’s names can appear on the scoreboard on their special days. And Messner can be seen on the field before the game next to legendary public address announcer Dan Baker as he runs through announcements, lets fans know about the starting lineups and introduces the umpires.

“As a fan of baseball, it’s an honor to work on the same team as Dan Baker every day,” Rainey says.

Rainey’s production team, which includes three full-time producers and between 25-30 freelance employees each game, is responsible for Phanavision content, music played between innings (the players choose their walk-up songs) and the camera crew that roams the stadium, looking for fans to feature.

“We’re looking for energy,” Rainey says. “If somebody is moving around or is getting up and dancing, we’ll find them.”

Rainey’s team is constantly coming up with ideas for new animation, interesting features – like Bongo Cam – and ways to capitalize on trends. It comes up with many of the concepts before the season, but that doesn’t mean new features can’t arise as the year goes on. And should a new player arrive with a unique introduction sequence, Rainey’s group can pivot. When the Phils acquired closer Jhoan Duran from Minnesota last summer, the Twins sent over the files containing his unique “Durantula” intro. Rainey’s group changed the spider and added the flames that shot up as he took the field and curated a light show that dazzled fans.

Although each of the three has unique responsibilities, they emphasize how the game production is “a company-wide collaboration,” and daily and weekly meetings make sure everything continues to work well and that the entire presentation stays fresh. It’s a big reason the team has earned the “Best Ballpark Experience” honor several times from USA Today.

“We want a nice experience for the fans from start to finish,” Messner says.

Especially for those who remember The Vet.