Playing under a hazy summer sky on Sunday afternoon, about twenty people gathered at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
Armed with baseball bats and gloves, the Spikes season ticket holders were ready to take a special batting practice on one of the nicest fields in the New York-Penn League.
While no one was able to blast a ball as far as Spikes first baseman Justin Byler or make a diving grab like right fielder David Rubinstein, these fans came together to celebrate another year of Spikes baseball.
For some it is their first season watching the team on a consistent basis, while others have followed the Spikes since their inception in 2006.
The Spikes have 430 season ticket holders who occupy approximately 1,500 seats. With the team hovering around .500, the ticket holders have found this season to be more enjoyable than last year's 18-win campaign.
Paul Spock, of Centre Hall, is one of the ticket holders who has followed the organization since Medlar Field at Lubrano Park opened. While Spock originally owned four seats along the third base line, he and his father decided that two seats behind home plate would be better.
Spock made every home game last year and even brought his young daughter with him. Although she was only a year old, she managed to make 25 of the 38 home games. He said she still enjoys coming to the games and gets upset if he doesn't take her.
Spock said it wasn't until last season ended that he realized how tough the losses were to endure.
"At the end of the year when you looked back, it was frustrating," Spock said. "This year it's nice to see a team that appreciates winning and when the spirits are good in the clubhouse it's also good on the field."
While Spock and his daughter still enjoy coming to the games, season ticket holder Guy McDonald has made minor league baseball a part of his life.
After major league baseball went on strike in the 1980's, McDonald said he stopped supporting professional baseball. Even though it was hard for him because he grew up an avid Baltimore Orioles fan, the Spikes have helped him regain his respect for the game.
"I enjoy it here because they're still playing with heart," McDonald said. "They're still playing for the love of the sport and they haven't been spoiled by the dollar yet."
McDonald said the strike also inspired him and some of his friends to start playing baseball again. He and some of his teammates from their adult league team, the Orioles, decided to use Sunday's batting practice as a warm-up for their game.
He said the Spikes provide a great opportunity for families to buy affordable season tickets, which is something he said he probably wouldn't be able to do at Camden Yards.
"I know how hard I work in life," McDonald said referring to the money professional ball players make. "It's like you're playing a game that you grew up loving and that I still love and you're being paid to do it and you're whining because there's more money to be had. They're ungrateful."
At the Short-Season Single-A level McDonald is able to watch Spikes players fight to keep their jobs every night. He said Medlar Field has provided him with the opportunity to watch some amazing plays and that he believes the team will only continue to get better.
McDonald and Spock both said the changes in management that the team made during the offseason were good for the club. McDonald said he would watch from his seats near the opposing team's dugout last season to see how the opposing coaches critiqued their players. The Spikes new coaching staff is now also doing a good job of correcting players mistakes he's noticed.
"Now they have management that cares," McDonald said.
Even though Greg Smith had never been to a Spikes game before this season, the fact that they have a losing history didn't deter him. Smith, of State College, said the only thing he knew when he left for the Army a few years ago was that the team was being established.
Smith said he just got out of the Army and enjoys watching baseball so the Spikes are a perfect fit. The Spikes are a good cure for his boredom, he said.
"I heard about how bad they were last year," Smith said. "I just like watching baseball so just coming to the games is my favorite part."
With manager Gary Robinson leading the team, the season ticket holders are optimistic about what the future holds. While finishing above .500 is something they all believe is possible, for now they are just taking it one game at a time.
"It's great to see them already have nearly as many wins as they did last season," Spock said. "And they're only thirty some games into the season."
