Greg Galiette is back and the Louisville Bats are close behind

Friday night is Opening Night at Slugger Field for the Louisville Bats and President Greg Galiette joins us to preview the festivities, what the Bats roster may look like, and what other events might be coming to the ballpark...

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Mister president, mister president, welcomeback to our studios. He's president of
the Louisville Bats. His name isGreg Gelliet. Welcome back, Terry.
It's good to be back in Gosh. Opening days only a couple of days
away. Do they play Hail tothe Chief when you walk in in the
one usually his air raid sirens.Watch out, he's coming in the building.

(00:20):
You've been with a team a longtime. This will be year number
forty. So nineteen eighty four,the fall of eighty four, a Ray
Smith of the Redbirds hired me.That's right. We had a great run
and I used to Yeah, wehad great time out in their hr A
lot back at the old Redbirds.Now you have one of the most cherished
stadium sites in America. We doa slugger field and Friday night is opening

(00:42):
night, and it looks like mothernature is going to help us. So
upper sixties for a high on Friday, and we'll open the doors of six
o'clock game time. Seven to fifteendollar twelve ounce canned Miller Lite Cores light
products. Oh nice. Yeah,it's kind of in celebration of throwback to
being our twenty fifth season of openingour doors at Lowis Slugger Field. We
want to celebrate our twenty fifth anniversaryabout the rolling back the beer prices.

(01:06):
That's Friday night only, Friday Night. Good Friday is Friday Nights. We're
having a fish fry six dollars,margaritas from number one to quila. We'll
have entertainment throughout the game provided bythe Zuper Stars, which is one of
the most popular entertainment acts we havevisit us each year, and then after
the game Human is going to provideus with a big fireworks show. So
we got a lot going on Fridaynight. It's on night schedule because I

(01:27):
bought the Buddy pack or yes youdid, and we'll be giving away that
night. The first night, we'llbe giving away the Ellie Dala Cruz Bibbleheads.
Two folks like you who bought thefive game or any kind of full
season package. Awesome. So that'sfantastic, all right. So now that
the season is just launching for theReds, we don't really know how things

(01:49):
gel until they decide, right,So well, I just got I just
got back from spring training. I'mthere Game one, watching in Goodyear,
Arizona and playing the Mariners. Ithink it's a second in I'm watching TJ.
Friedel, to start outfielder for theReds, make a diving attempt to
catch and fracture his wrist. No, so I go great, And then
the next day a couple more guysget hurt. So it's just been already

(02:10):
we having played one game yet Maorithe walking wounded. So it is what
it is. It's one hundred andfifty games for us, it's one hundred
and sixty two for the Reds.So it's a long season. We'll get
through it and get her Bay healthy. I know they have those games in
South Korea, wouldn't The official openingday is a Thursday. It'll be Thursday
for everybody in Measure League baseball.Then we crank it up one day later.
And that's the big change. Nowthat Major League Baseball is now running

(02:31):
the minor leagues, we're basically walkingwith them almost step and step as far
as our schedules, all right,and Slugger Field, as we know,
it still looks fantastic. You know, you guys really do good work just
keeping that place looking fresh. Andthe neat thing is terry. We're getting
all these besides baseball, now,all these auxiliary events that we're now doing
in the ballpark, both outside onthe field and also inside in our auxiliary

(02:54):
areas. So we're finding creative waysto utilize the ballpark. But you're right,
it's hard to believe it's twenty fiveyears old. It still looks like
it was opened just a couple ofdays ago, and we're excited to get
things underway and get the season rolling. I've been there for Christmas tree shows
you have and those events where theybring in all the food from the different

(03:15):
restaurants. It's so great, andyou remember my days with Dale Owens back
at the Redbirds. One thing I'mtrying to do right now is start bringing
some concerts back. Oh good call. We're hoping maybe doing nounce something here
to have a big show sometime thiscalendar year. But that is as we're
now part of the Diamond Baseball Holdingsfamily as they purchased our team back in
December. They have strong ties toLive Nation, So that's one of the

(03:38):
things we want to try to doas a franchise going forward, to have
more concerts. I think you setme up to get on stage with the
Temptations. Yes, I did theFairgrounds and I remember when I drove Willie
Nelson in from left field. Williehad no clue what city he was in.
How'd he smell? I'd rather notsay. You can imagine he's proud

(03:58):
of that, though. And Iremember when I was ticket manure the Red
Birds and the Grateful Dead. Wehad them in a concert. They camped
out for ten days in front ofour office in our parking lot, and
my office reeked of marijuana for likethree weeks. Oh that's so great.
Well, you guys have had alot of great shows, and here comes
the baseball season. It's Friday night. Weather's perfect. You already said dollar
beer. Yes, that's just agreat phrase. And we're home Saturday afternoon

(04:20):
at two five. Okay, Sofolks are looking for something to do,
especially the folks that didn't get togo to Destin, Florida for spring break
and you had to stay behind.Come see us, and we'll also be
home Easter Sunday at one o five. Go to bats baseball dot com for
all the information on all the promotionswe got going on all year long,
and also your ability to buy ticketsthere. You bet it's just a great

(04:41):
experience. The food's good. Ilike the concession food at your part.
We've got a brand new concession companycomes along with our new ownership group.
It's called the Oakview Group OVG.Their big thing is efficiency, so fans
should find it going through the lineswill be quicker, more efficient, and
a little more streamlined menu, butstill the same great fun food. We

(05:02):
got four pegs in the ballpark,great barbecue. We've got our friend Gustavo's
Mexican Grill. He's got two locationsin our ballpark, the Great Greater's ice
Cream. So besides the traditional ballparkfair, we've got lots of other really
cool treats. And then comes thunderover Louisville. There's no baseball this year,
the first time ever. Yeah,we don't have a baseball game,
but Slugger Field will be opening andas everybody knows, it's the best place

(05:24):
to view thunder. We have threereally fantastic bands, The Juice Box Heroes,
JD. Shelburne and his band andthe Crashers will be performing mid afternoon
till the evening until about eight o'clock. You've got the air show, the
band's performing in the outfield grass andof course the Great Fireworks Show. At
nine thirty, so and we stillwriskband everybody, so you can come and

(05:44):
go as you please throughout the day. If you want to go down to
the waterfront take in the sites andsounds of down there, you can.
But when you've got to use arestroom, no need to use one of
those thunder porta potties. Come backto Sluggerfield, use a real restroom.
And if you have kids, ofcourse, we have the giant playground that
families love on thundered Yeah, andthen exactly, and then you're in the
ballpark so you're not having to worryabout it. And you've been there on
thunder day. That ballpark will shakeduring the thunder five, so that's how

(06:09):
close you are. Okay. Soanyway, you can find at Bass Baseball
for everything you need this season,and we've got some great promotions coming up
later this year. I think fansare going to be really excited about,
including a tribute to Harry Potter inSeptember, so we're gonna have some fun
with that. We have our Marvel'sNight coming up, our Star Wars Night,
we have a Halloween night coming upin Mace. All the kids can

(06:30):
put their Halloween costumes on come toa Bats game, trick or treatment around
the concourse before the game. We'llhave lots of fun that night. So
I mean, it's what you expectfrom the Louisville Bats. It's gonna be
a lots of great entertainment. Websitebats baseball dot com. Great see again,
Greg. Great to see you comingright back on news radio waight forty whas