Todd “Parney” Parnell holding the bat that will be awarded to the winner of the home run derby on Tuesday. (Josh Cozine)
A minor league baseball all-star game hasn’t made a stop in Richmond since 1992, back in the days when The Diamond wasn’t considered aged and the city’s baseball team was the Triple-A Richmond Braves.
So when the decision was made to bring it back to town this summer, Richmond Flying Squirrels COO Todd “Parney” Parnell decided to go big.
Normally, minor league all-star games are two-day affairs with a homerun derby on the first day and the all-star game the next.
Parney had other ideas in mind, and the result is a four-day slate of events that goes beyond baseball and is aimed at showing off Richmond and creating new ways for the Squirrels sponsors to get in front of crowds.
“It would have been extremely easy to just have a home run derby at The Diamond and a game at The Diamond and that’s it, but people will miss 95 percent of Richmond, Virginia, if they just come to The Diamond. There’s so much for them to see,” Parney said.
All-Star lineup
The four-day all-star festivities will begin Sunday with an address from Mayor Levar Stoney at Brown’s Island with free live entertainment, food trucks from local vendors and samplings of local beers.
On Monday, celebrations will continue with an “All-Star Country Music Jam,” featuring country music stars Big and Rich at Richmond Raceway’s Virginia Credit Union Live! Amphitheater.
Tuesday, a pep rally will be held downtown from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., with music, prizes and the chance to visit baseball stars and mascots from the Eastern League. Later in the day, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., a celebrity home run derby will be held at The Diamond, featuring major league sports celebrities like former major leaguer Will Clark and former NFL running back Tim Hightower and local Flying Squirrels greats. Following the derby, local tribute band Three Sheets to the Wind will stage a performance.
Wednesday, gates will open for the all-star game at 4 p.m. Autograph sessions will be held from 4:15 p.m. to 6 p.m., and the ceremonial first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ending in fireworks after the game and wrapping up the week.
The effort is aimed at offering what Parney calls “the full Richmond experience.”
Parney wouldn’t provide numbers related to the cost of putting on such a show or how much in extra sponsorships the team was able to sell as a result of the extended event. But the business community is getting behind the effort, as the Squirrels secured sponsorship packages from some of the bigger companies in town.
Henrico-based insurer Genworth signed on as title sponsor for the all-star festivities. Other existing Squirrels sponsors upped their buy to be a part of the four-day event, including Pepsi (which put out 2 million all-star, Squirrels branded cans around Richmond), Anthem, Dominion Energy, Segra, Elephant Insurance, CarMax, TowneBank, Performance Food Group and Hunton Andrews Kurth.
‘The Full Richmond Experience’
In addition to the events planned by the league for the public, special outings are being planned for players and coaches, league executives and their families, coordinated in large part by a partnership with Richmond Region Tourism.
Matt Robinette, director of convention and sports services at Richmond Region Tourism, said the outings include whitewater rafting, a King’s Dominion excursion, bicycle tours by Richmond Rides, food tours by Real Richmond Food Tours and River City Food Tours, a visit to Henricus Historical Park, canal cruises through Riverfront Canal Cruises, golf outings to Magnolia Green and Independence Golf Club, and more.
“Everybody has jumped on board with the all-star week,” Robinette said.
“We want to give the attendees the most authentic Richmond experience possible,” he said. “We want to get them out into all our communities and jurisdictions: Henrico, Chesterfield, Powhatan, Hanover, Ashland. We try to highlight attractions in each of those.”
Outings are planned around the week’s schedule of events so no one risks missing out on any of them. Transportation to and from the excursions are provided, and blocks of hotel rooms have also been reserved for players, managers, league executives and all their families at below average daily rates from Homewood Suites, Hampton Inn & Suites and Holiday Inn Express.
Setting the standard
Joe McEacharn, president of the Minor League’s Eastern Division, said the celebration being cooked up in Richmond is unlike any all-star event he’s seen in his 22 years in the league.
“For the last 15 years or so, traditionally it is usually a two-day event. Players and guests arrive Monday night or Tuesday early on in the day, and there’s maybe a couple of other events, but it’s kinda just a two-day thing,” McEacharn said.
McEacharn plans to attend all four days of events planned around the 2019 all-star game, and says he’s excited to get to see more of Richmond while he’s here.
“They really have taken it to a new level here. What they’ve done is turn it from a celebration of the Eastern League All-Star Game and turned it into a celebration of the city and all it has to offer,” McEacharn said. “I think the Richmond Flying Squirrels are going set the standard (for all-star events) going forward.”
Todd “Parney” Parnell holding the bat that will be awarded to the winner of the home run derby on Tuesday. (Josh Cozine)
A minor league baseball all-star game hasn’t made a stop in Richmond since 1992, back in the days when The Diamond wasn’t considered aged and the city’s baseball team was the Triple-A Richmond Braves.
So when the decision was made to bring it back to town this summer, Richmond Flying Squirrels COO Todd “Parney” Parnell decided to go big.
Normally, minor league all-star games are two-day affairs with a homerun derby on the first day and the all-star game the next.
Parney had other ideas in mind, and the result is a four-day slate of events that goes beyond baseball and is aimed at showing off Richmond and creating new ways for the Squirrels sponsors to get in front of crowds.
“It would have been extremely easy to just have a home run derby at The Diamond and a game at The Diamond and that’s it, but people will miss 95 percent of Richmond, Virginia, if they just come to The Diamond. There’s so much for them to see,” Parney said.
All-Star lineup
The four-day all-star festivities will begin Sunday with an address from Mayor Levar Stoney at Brown’s Island with free live entertainment, food trucks from local vendors and samplings of local beers.
On Monday, celebrations will continue with an “All-Star Country Music Jam,” featuring country music stars Big and Rich at Richmond Raceway’s Virginia Credit Union Live! Amphitheater.
Tuesday, a pep rally will be held downtown from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., with music, prizes and the chance to visit baseball stars and mascots from the Eastern League. Later in the day, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., a celebrity home run derby will be held at The Diamond, featuring major league sports celebrities like former major leaguer Will Clark and former NFL running back Tim Hightower and local Flying Squirrels greats. Following the derby, local tribute band Three Sheets to the Wind will stage a performance.
Wednesday, gates will open for the all-star game at 4 p.m. Autograph sessions will be held from 4:15 p.m. to 6 p.m., and the ceremonial first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ending in fireworks after the game and wrapping up the week.
The effort is aimed at offering what Parney calls “the full Richmond experience.”
Parney wouldn’t provide numbers related to the cost of putting on such a show or how much in extra sponsorships the team was able to sell as a result of the extended event. But the business community is getting behind the effort, as the Squirrels secured sponsorship packages from some of the bigger companies in town.
Henrico-based insurer Genworth signed on as title sponsor for the all-star festivities. Other existing Squirrels sponsors upped their buy to be a part of the four-day event, including Pepsi (which put out 2 million all-star, Squirrels branded cans around Richmond), Anthem, Dominion Energy, Segra, Elephant Insurance, CarMax, TowneBank, Performance Food Group and Hunton Andrews Kurth.
‘The Full Richmond Experience’
In addition to the events planned by the league for the public, special outings are being planned for players and coaches, league executives and their families, coordinated in large part by a partnership with Richmond Region Tourism.
Matt Robinette, director of convention and sports services at Richmond Region Tourism, said the outings include whitewater rafting, a King’s Dominion excursion, bicycle tours by Richmond Rides, food tours by Real Richmond Food Tours and River City Food Tours, a visit to Henricus Historical Park, canal cruises through Riverfront Canal Cruises, golf outings to Magnolia Green and Independence Golf Club, and more.
“Everybody has jumped on board with the all-star week,” Robinette said.
“We want to give the attendees the most authentic Richmond experience possible,” he said. “We want to get them out into all our communities and jurisdictions: Henrico, Chesterfield, Powhatan, Hanover, Ashland. We try to highlight attractions in each of those.”
Outings are planned around the week’s schedule of events so no one risks missing out on any of them. Transportation to and from the excursions are provided, and blocks of hotel rooms have also been reserved for players, managers, league executives and all their families at below average daily rates from Homewood Suites, Hampton Inn & Suites and Holiday Inn Express.
Setting the standard
Joe McEacharn, president of the Minor League’s Eastern Division, said the celebration being cooked up in Richmond is unlike any all-star event he’s seen in his 22 years in the league.
“For the last 15 years or so, traditionally it is usually a two-day event. Players and guests arrive Monday night or Tuesday early on in the day, and there’s maybe a couple of other events, but it’s kinda just a two-day thing,” McEacharn said.
McEacharn plans to attend all four days of events planned around the 2019 all-star game, and says he’s excited to get to see more of Richmond while he’s here.
“They really have taken it to a new level here. What they’ve done is turn it from a celebration of the Eastern League All-Star Game and turned it into a celebration of the city and all it has to offer,” McEacharn said. “I think the Richmond Flying Squirrels are going set the standard (for all-star events) going forward.”
The full Richmond experience includes sitting a stadium that should have been replaced 15 years ago for another team and still have no firm plans thanks to 10 years of POOR city leadership. The Squirrels and their leadership continue to impress in-spite of City Hall, Parney for Mayor!