POWER NEWSLETTER MAY 27TH

The West Virginia Power are over halfway through their final home stand in the month of May.  Don't miss your final chance to see the Power bloom in May. For ticket information call (304) 344-2287.  In this week's newsletter we will take a look at what the Power have done through the first six games of the home stand, and we will show you what we have to offer during the last three games of the stretch during Memorial Day weekend at Appalachian Power Park. We will also chat with a man who is considered to be the biggest Power fan of all, Rod Blackstone, a.k.a. the Toastman.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

The West Virginia Power began the 8 game home stand with a 4 game series against the Delmarva Shorebirds. In the first game the Power got out to a good start, leading 4-2 after the first inning, but the Shorebirds took advantage of a five run fourth inning and never looked back, beating the Power by the final of 8-5. The Shorebirds jumped on the back of starting pitcher Carlos Perez who paced them to a 4-1 victory on Saturday night. Perez threw seven innings and allowed only a run on four hits. Monday morning marked the third and final Grand Slam School Day at the ballpark. The Power were 0-2 on Grand Slam School Days this year heading into Monday Morning's match up. The Power jumped out to an early 6-2 lead, and held off a late Shorebirds rally in the ninth inning to snap their four game losing streak with an 8-6 victory. On Tuesday night the Power earned a series split with Delmarva riding the coat tails of Greg Kloosterman and Justin Barnes who combined to pitch a gem for the Power in a 2-1 victory over the Shorebirds.

The Power began their five game series with the Lake County Captains last night. They were supposed to play a pair of seven inning games, but ended up playing a total of 22 innings. The first game went 15 innings and ended in a 7-4 Lake County victory. The Power answered back in game two of the double dip beating the Captains by the final of 7-3.

THE FINAL 3 DAYS OF THE HOME STAND

Friday, May 27th @ 7:05 pm - Ford Friday Night Fireworks presented by 107.3 WKAZ

    
The series against the Lake County Captains will continue tonight. The West Virginia Power presents “Friday Night Power Hour” at Appalachian Power Park. The gates will open an hour earlier than usual. The gates will open at 5 PM and there will be a live band. “The Black Diamond” will be performing and there will be 50-cent drafts up until the start of the ballgame. The first pitch will be delivered at 7:05 PM and after the game there will be a post game fireworks extravaganza presented by Ford.

Saturday, May 28th @ 7:05 pm - Squeeze Bottle Giveaway presented by NationsRent featuring 4-H and Agriculture Day

Saturday night is 4-H and Agricultural night at the park. The Power will be giving away water bottles courtesy of Nation's Rent. At the Yard Magazine will also be at the ballpark giving out free issues of the magazine that takes a close look at life in the minor leagues. The gates will open at 6:00 PM and the first pitch will be delivered at 7:05 PM.

Sunday, May 29th @ 2:05 pm - Upper Kanawha Valley Community Day presented by Larry L. Rowe, Attorney at Law featuring YMCA Kids Day
The home stand will come to a close on Sunday afternoon. Sunday afternoon is Upper Kanawha Valley Community Day presented by Larry L. Rowe. Tickets for all three games are still available at the Power box office or by calling 344-2287.

YOU ARE TOAST!

In the final days at Historic Watt Powell Park, fans of all ages enjoyed listening to the trademarked chant of “YOU ARE TOAST!” when opposing players struck out. The unique aspect of heckling the opposing players at the Watt has been brought to Appalachian Power Park. This week, we had the pleasure of sitting down and chatting with the man who leads the charge, Rod Blackstone, better known to the general public as “The Toastman”.
AB=Andy Barch       RB=Rod Blackstone

AB: Opposing Players seem to either love you, or hate you. There doesn't seem to be much gray area. Of all the players you have ever heckled, which do you think has hated you the most, and taken a particular liking to you?

RB: Ironically, a lot of the players I have heckled the most have been the friendliest after the game is over.  I've had great conversations about baseball and life with Ryan Minor, Micah Schilling, Walter Young, Leo Daigle, Seth McClung and Jai Miller after heaping them with heckling during the game.  I don't get personal, except maybe to do some word play with a player's name, and I think most opposing players know that it's in the spirit of the game to try to get them to think about something other than the next pitch.  On the other side, Dan Phillips, who played for Asheville, made the mistake of addressing me with an obscenity after he struck out in his first at-bat of the four-game series when all we had done was toast him. That gave us a lot of heckling fodder for the rest of the series, and I don't think he liked me very much.
 
AB: Of the chants you've come up with over the years, what are some of your favorites of all time?

RB: Early favorites were for Wheelers Tom Raffo – “Smasho … Raffo!” –  and Steve Eddie (pronounced EE-dee) – “Eddie eats his Wheaties!” followed by “Better taste … bigger crunch,” which was on the boxes of Wheaties back then.  I've heard that some fans in Cincinnati chant, “LaRue, LaRue, LaRue is on fire!” for Jason LaRue, as we did when he was here in 1996 and 1997.  “O'Hearn … Oh, Yes!” was quite popular for Brandon O'Hearn.  When we cheered, “Full Power … Mr. Scott” for Scott Dragicevich two years ago, we had no idea it would translate to the new team name.  Probably my all-time favorite, though, was for Maikel Jova (pronounced HO-vah), who had to try three times to escape from Cuba before he achieved liberty.  Our cheer, “Jova … the wall!” was not so much about hitting a home run as it was a tribute to his perseverance in pursuit of freedom, which we too often take for granted in our country.
 
AB: What is your favorite aspect of this new ballpark?

RB: I like the four-tiered picnic area where people can hang out with their friends and families, have some food and beverages and socialize during the game.  It's close enough to the action to see what's going on and far enough away so there's more reaction time if a foul ball is headed for the stands.  That's where I would sit, well, if I weren't sitting in the prime toasting location near the visitors' dugout.  I also think the Molgaard Colonnade on the first floor of the warehouse building is a marvelous place to enter the park.
 
AB: The toast tossing and the chants after every strikeout have become a staple at the new park.  Tell us how all of this originated, and how the nickname "The Toastman" came about.

RB: The cheers for the home team began in 1990 when George Manahan and I talked about ways to get more fans more actively involved in the games as the Wheelers drove toward winning the SAL championship.  We sat in the blue seats half way between home plate and the visitors' dugout, so opponents, who struck out, walked in front of us back to the dugout.  In 1991 we started exclaiming “You are toast!” toward them.  Then, before the 1992 playoffs, Wheelers' owner Dennis Bastien encouraged me to plug in a toaster, make toast and have as many people as possible wave pieces of toast at each strikeout victim in conjunction with the cheer.  We've been doing it ever since, even when I'm not there, which is really gratifying.  After spelling, T-O-A-S-T, we'll shout, “You are toast!” three times with dramatic pauses on the final refrain.  Some day, I'd love to see a sea of hundreds, maybe even thousands, of pieces of toast waving at an opposing player who has just struck out in the new park.
 
AB: You really dig deep to find dirt on some of the opposing teams that come through Charleston, what kinds of things do you do to find information on these players?

RB: The Internet is a great resource for effective heckling.  You can get game box scores and logs of every minor league game through several different sites.  From this information, you can find out, for example, if someone struck out with the bases loaded to end a close game or blew a save by giving up three runs in the final inning or failed to hold a five-run lead (like Lake County did three games in row earlier this month, by the way).  Again, good heckling is about getting the other team's players to think about something other than the next pitch or play, and if they're thinking about being “toasted,” or how they've struggled, or what we're saying, maybe – just maybe – that will distract them from their focus on the next pitch and give our team an edge.
 
AB: Before we wrap this up, is there anything that you would like to add?

RB: I just hope that everyone who is able to do so will come spend time at Appalachian Power Park and experience minor league baseball in this very special place.  When you consider the struggle to get it built, the legal delays, the corresponding increases in construction costs and the other obstacles to building a ballpark for the 21st century, you appreciate that this ballpark is a remarkable achievement for our community.  Make no mistake; if we did not make the commitment to build it and then get it done, West Virginia would have lost its Class A team two years ago.  Now because of the vision and hard work of a whole lot of people, we'll be enjoying professional baseball in our capital city for a long time to come.  I'm grateful to all the people who made it happen.