Sal Goes to an Akron Rubber Ducks Game

Last summer a few of the Cleveland Jumping Fleas played Take Me Out to the Ball Game during the 7th inning stretch at an Akron Rubber Ducks game.  (If you want to read all about that outing, click here.)

It was so much fun that we decided to do it again this summer, so I made the arrangements (I thought).  I talked to Christina (head of promotions) and we selected a date.  Then I talked to Jenna (ticket seller extraordinaire) about tickets.  The Fleas practiced Take Me Out to the Ball Game at every meeting starting at the beginning of May.  Many Fleas enlisted family members and friends to come along to watch the game and see us play.  Ticket money was collected by Bruce, our Flea money man, and he and I took a trip to Akron to pick up the tickets.  Unfortunately, there had been a power outage, which prevented ticket printing, so we went home empty-handed.  Happily, Jenna was able to print and mail the tickets to us later that day.  Tickets were distributed to the Fleas, and I thought everything was good.

We arrived at the ballpark, and I reported to the Guest Services window, just as I did last year, to let the Rubber Ducks folks know we were there, and to get instructions.  I was told to bring the group to Guest Services during the 6th inning.  This was what we had done last time, so it seemed that everything was going according to plan.  At the appropriate time, the Fleas made their way to Guest Services, meeting a bunch of Star Wars characters on the way.  (Did I mention it was Star Wars Night at the ballpark?)

You can hardly see Sal in this photo.  She is being held by the sand man.

When we arrived at Guest Services, excited (and a bit nervous) about playing, we found that there had been a mix-up.  Christina had scheduled us to play before the game.  Another person -- a young man called Jason Rummell (who had appeared on a TV show called The Voice) -- was scheduled to sing during the 7th inning stretch!

I am sure the look on my face was something to see when this bomb was dropped.  It seemed obvious to me that -- given a choice between a ukulele band and a guy who had appeared on TV -- the TV guy would be singing Take Me Out to the Ball Game with the crowd.  I gazed at the Fleas standing there, and felt absolutely horrible.  I thought about how we had all practiced, and got a bunch of people to come see us play, and talked about it to everyone we knew, and been looking forward to it for so long, etc.  and this was how it was going to end!?  It was a terrible moment.  I didn't know how the glitch had occurred, but I felt I had let everyone down.

Then it was suggested that perhaps we could accompany Jason Rummell as he sang.  Christina said she would go talk with him, and off she went.  While she was gone, we stood around wondering what had gone wrong.  Then we played a couple of tunes that some of the group had memorized, and practiced Take Me Out to the Ball Game in a skinny hallway off the concourse (just in case we were going to be performing after all).  Eventually we saw Christina conferring with Jason Rummell.  They were talking in a nearby space, and after a while we were asked to come and play for Jason.  In the end, it was agreed that we would play and he would sing.

Off we rushed to the place where we would wait for the 6th inning to be over. Last year we had performed on the concourse, but this year we were going to be standing on top of the dugout.  Gulp.  As a person who is afraid of heights, this put a bit of terror into my heart.  As we waited for the 6th inning to be over, some folks had their pictures taken with Jason Rummell, and I debated with myself about whether or not to ask him to pose for a shot with Sal.  There was lots of hubbub, and I hesitated.  But time waits for no uke, they say, and soon the chance to get a Sal photo was lost.  The inning was drawing to a close!

Here we are with Jason Rummell - right before going out to play on top of the dugout.  Not a good place for people afraid of heights!

When the 6th inning ended, we went down the aisle to the dugout, climbed on top, and played while Jason sang.  It was fun, and afterwards we happily went back to our seats and asked our friends how we had sounded.  They told us they couldn't hear us at all.  Jason had the only mike, so the crowd heard only him.  Argh!

After we played last year, enthusiastic Rubber Ducks staffers congratulated us and encouraged us to come back again, but this year there were crickets.  I don't know what sort of problems the mix-up caused, but I got the idea that perhaps we were Fleas-non-grata.  I ran into Christina and Jenna later, and they were good sports about posing with Sal, but neither one expressed an interest in having us back. 

Jenna, ticket provider extraordinaire, and Christina, who ironed out the confusion and got it done!

Looking on the bright side, most of the experience was fun.  It was a beautiful evening.  We performed for a sell-out crowd of 6000+.  (Of course nobody heard us, but oh well...)  We had beer and saw fireworks.  We got to hang out with our Flea buddies.  Overall, a pretty good night.