Baseball is back! Modesto Roadsters inaugural game met with optimism and victory
The Modesto Roadsters ushered in a new era of baseball Tuesday with their inaugural opening-day 12-1 victory against the Pioneer Baseball League’s travel team, the RedPocket Mobiles, at Modern Woodman Field.
Standout performances on offense and defense — which included a six-inning, one-hit shutout by the team’s pitching ace, Jonah Jenkins — allowed the Roadsters to cruise to the finish line with a sizable lead.
But the event’s spectacle wasn’t confined within the lanes of the game. A Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office helicopter flyover during the national anthem, a professional wrestling-esque hype speech from team owner Dave Heller, mascot karaoke and dazzling post-game fireworks entertained a crowd that appeared to no longer mourn the loss of the ballpark’s previous tenant.
Stadium experience
Positive responses to the schticks aside, fans appeared very happy with the new stadium experience. Free parking, reasonable concession prices, the field’s new paint job and attentive staff drew praise. As for food and drinks, a Tuesday promotion featured $2 hot dogs and a unique $5 beer named Cruiser Light after the Roadsters’ fox mascot.
The new merch in the stadium’s shop includes a wide variety of items adorned with the city’s name, unlike the Modesto Nuts’ merch toward the end of their tenure. Shirts, sweaters, hats, jerseys and more in the team’s colors (candy apple red, egg cream malt and neon diner blue) were very popular.
Another popular item was a jerrycan-shaped cowbell, which paid homage to the city’s car and agriculture history. The crowd was beckoned by staff to use the bells between innings. Before the game, a line circled the inside of the shop and out the door. Also drawing long lines were players, right at the entrance, signing pennants and gear for delighted kids and adults.
“If you look around this ballpark, and I know many of you have been here many times before, you will see it is very, very different than what it used to look like,” Heller said. “OK, all of the credit for that belongs to the city of Modesto and the great team that we’ve assembled here.”
Pregame ceremony
At game time, 7:11 p.m., attendance was a bit thin but filled out to near capacity as the game went on. Weather was clear and sunny with a slight wind. The temperature, 80 degrees, was comfortable in the shade before sunset but even more so after. Those in early attendance included several elected officials, or their representatives, who participated in a pregame ribbon cutting ceremony.
City councilmembers in attendance included Mayor Sue Zwahlen, Chris Ricci, Eric Alvarez, Jeremiah Williams and David Wright.
There to present a certificate to Heller on behalf of the office of Rep. Adam Gray, D-Merced, was Tammy Dunbar, whose slight gaffe immediately evoked jeers and boos from the audience. “On behalf of the United States Congress, and your representative, Adam Gray, it is my pleasure to welcome you and to thank you for bringing back baseball to Manteca,” Dunbar said.
After Dunbar corrected her slip and presented the certificate, Heller grabbed the microphone and yelled, “They will not come to Manteca, they will come to Modesto!”
A representative of state Assemblymember Juan Alanis, R-Modesto, also presented a certificate. Pioneer League President Michael Shapiro attended the ceremony as well.
Sheriff helicopter
Following the ribbon-cutting, the national anthem was accompanied by a Sheriff’s Office helicopter flyover. The Sheriff’s Office’s use of its helicopters has had some controversy in the past. In the early 2010’s, the Sheriff’s Office used helicopters as part of two promotional events, which led to scrutiny by a civil grand jury.
In 2014, the grand jury said it was OK for the Sheriff’s Office to use its helicopters for community engagement events but that it needed a clearer policy. Stanislaus County rejected that recommendation.
More recently, low-altitude fly-bys over a neighborhood near Sherwood Park earlier this year led to some complaints and safety concerns. The Sheriff’s Office defended the flights, calling them “positive community interactions.”
Heller said that later in the season, the team will feature a promotional event “where we fill (a) helicopter with dollar bills and we drop them all over the field after the game” and that “only kids 12 and under get to go out there and pick up all the money.” It has not been announced if that event will use a Sheriff’s Office helicopter.
