From the very first Blue Wahoos game you could buy hot dogs and cold beer and souvenir jerseys at the ballpark. But for the first time ever, you can now buy playoff tickets.
Pensacola Blue Wahoos principal owner Quint Studer is not quite counting his chickens while talking about the team’s very first pennant race. He pretty much said he'll believe it when it happens. The team is completing its fourth season in Pensacola and, as of Thursday afternoon with 5 games left to play, leads its division by a half game.
UPDATE: Both the Blue Wahoos and the Mississippi Braves lost on Thursday, so the Wahoos still lead the division by a half game with 4 games left to play.
The Blue Wahoos are a double A baseball team whose goal is to develop players in major leaguers. Many Blue Wahoos players from past years have gone on to the major leagues, the most famous probably being Billy Hamilton, who broke the record for the most stolen bases in a season back in 2012. But first year manager Pat Kelly says winning doesn’t need to take a back seat to player development.
After having a losing first half of the season, the second half has seen more winning than in any of the previous three Blue Wahoos seasons. Here’s a quick primer: The Blue Wahoos play in the southern division of the Southern League, which breaks its season up into two halves. After the regular season ends, the division winner of the first half plays the winner of the second half. In match up the northern division has already been decided, Chattanooga will play Montgomery. In the southern division, the new Biloxi Shuckers won the first half, but the second half is still too close to call.
Donna Kirby, the Blue Wahoos Director of Community Relations and Guest Services says the team’s season ticket holders were offered the first chance to buy tickets to playoff games. The playoff tickets are now being offered to the general public. Of course if the team does not make the playoffs the tickets can be returned for a refund. As for the players, any extra games means a few more days of their meal money per diem. If the Wahoos do get into the playoffs, the first home game would be Saturday, September 12.
