The world’s best bread? Maybe. JerseyMan sent me to write a piece about Sarcone’s, the fifth-generation Philadelphia bakery. A lot of fun to write, and an iconic place to visit and pick up some truly amazing bread. You can view the PDF of the magazine article here.

Bread worth waiting in line for.

It’s All About The Bread

Sarcone’s Bakery is in its fifth generation of baking bread for Philadelphians.

If you’re wondering just how good the bread is from Sarcone’s Bakery, consider that the winner of the Travel Channel’s “Best Sandwich in America” changed their rolls to Sarcone’s…after taking the prize.

In 2012 Adam Richman’s popular show spent ten episodes—with several elimination rounds—deciding which offering of meat on bread was the best in the nation. DiNic’s Roast Pork in the Reading Terminal Market won the hotly contested honor.

“The day after he got that trophy,” says Louis Sarcone Jr., the fourth generation owner of the venerable bakery, “the first thing he did was switch his bread to Sarcone’s.”

A bold move, to say the least.

“People were blown away by it,” Sarcone remembers. “You just won best sandwich in America. Not Philly, America! His answer was, we want to stay the best. How do you improve our sandwich? We improved our bread.”

To those familiar with Sarcone’s Bakery on South 9th Street, though, DiNic’s switch isn’t as earthshaking as it appears. The irony is that in changing a national award-winning formula, DiNic’s turned to an institution that hasn’t changed anything in 96 years.

At least they went with someone who has the technique down.

Three generations of bread-making Sarcones.

Sarcone’s has survived two World Wars, the Great Depression and every recession since. But perhaps more remarkably, it has survived what can be the toughest challenge several times…the next generation.

Sitting relaxed on the store’s window ledge, Lou Jr. shares the secrets of the family’s continued success. His son, Louis Sarcone III, stands patiently nearby, occasionally offering his own thoughts but seemingly more to learn the art of the interview from Dad…who is clearly versed in giving them.

“If you don’t listen to the generation before you, something gets lost,” Lou Jr. says. “You have to pay attention, and that’s the hardest thing for generational businesses, listening to the one before you. Even if you disagree with that person, you can really screw up a family business if you don’t listen.

“My grandfather, the first thing he told me was, if you put too much food in your mouth, you can’t chew. The younger generation sees a business, they see financial, they see money, they see an opportunity for the brand. If you try to expand too much, you lose something. You lose control of a business, you may lose a recipe, you may lose the quality of the product.

“But if you keep your product the same and keep trucking along, your customers will always come in because you make a great product.”

If you’re going to expand, do it next door.

This isn’t to say that there’s never been attempts to expand the name, or even ill-advised ones. Sarcone’s Deli just up the street uses the bakery’s bread, and they are doing just fine. But opening delicatessens elsewhere proved a challenge. Possibly with his grandfather’s words in the back of his mind, Lou Jr. pulled back the reins.

“My first cousin, Anthony Bucci, was an executive chef for the Wyndham Plaza. He got tired of working for big companies. He opened his own deli in Limerick; he’s been there 28 years. We opened the deli about 12 years ago. I let him run it. The only thing I’m involved in is paperwork and making bread.

“We expanded; we had five delis not including our own. My father had gotten sick at the bakery, and my cousin had a heart attack and was out for a year and a half. I couldn’t do day-to-day operations for two businesses. We put too much food in our mouth, I did.”

The younger Sarcone adds: “You have to keep an eye on the franchises, because you want everything to be the same. They’ll start adding things that don’t belong.”

Lou Jr. agrees. “We use Di Bruno cheese. They might go to the supermarket and get it a dollar cheaper. Stuff like that happens. You don’t want it to happen, but it could happen. So before we had that black eye, we closed the deli.”

The key ingredient. Actually pretty much the only ingredient.

So while Cherry Hill residents may have been disappointed, Lou Jr. was content to go back to running the bakery. No reason to change what worked for four generations, be it the nature of the business or the recipe for the bread.

“I’ve never changed the recipe,” he notes. “Sometimes the quality of the flour may change, maybe protein levels aren’t there and you have to add a little bit of protein. We do have to adjust for that. But as far as changing the recipe, no. It’s water, flour, salt and yeast.”

But lest anyone think they can bake bread as good as Sarcone’s once they know the ingredients, Lou describes the craftsmanship of the baking process. The real secret? Time.

“It’s a six hour process. We have a guy that comes in at 12:00 every night. The dough sits for two hours. The bakers start coming in at 2:00 AM, processing the dough, the various shapes, sizes, and measures. It takes two hours to do that, so that’s four hours. Then they have to turn it into a loaf of bread, turn it into a roll, so by the time the bread is mixed and comes out of the oven, it’s six hours.

“No commercial bakery shop is going to wait six hours; they’re going to put in preservatives and meet the demand.”

Ovens made before “planned obsolescence” was a thing.

Brick ovens make a difference too, as the younger Sarcone points out: “What also makes us unique is our ovens. They were built in 1920; you can’t find them anywhere anymore.”

Dad continues. “The alternative is metal, an oven that revolves. The only thing that revolves in a brick oven is our bakers. We go in with 15-foot sticks and move the bread around ourselves, to the hot spot in the oven.

“Ever see trucks that say ‘hearth-baked bread’? That’s baloney, because nobody uses brick, especially in a commercial bakery. Ours is hearth baked, there’s no metal in between the bread, the dough, and the hearth.

“It’s an art. There’s no timer, no thermostat on the oven. Well, there is, but they’re untrue. So it’s all knowing the dough, how loose it was or how cold it was or how warm it is out, how long it’s gonna take. And the sound; you pull a loaf of bread out and tap the bottom, you hear a certain sound, you know it’s done.”

It takes time to master the craft, so Sarcone keeps people around that do. “Bakers have been here at least ten years or more. They like what they’re doing, so they stay. I treat everybody like we’re family. Morale is good here, considering people are getting up at 2:00 in the morning.”

As Lou Jr. freely shares, the secret isn’t an ingredient or brand of yeast…it’s taking the time, sticking with what works, and not putting so much food in your mouth that you can’t chew. That’s the family formula that has kept the store in Philadelphia for nearly a century.

There have been plenty of awards and gushing press through the years, but Lou Jr.’s proudest moment was the locals’ response to a debilitating fire.

Beloved enough to inspire civic pride.

In October of 2000, a Molotov cocktail was thrown through the window, burning the front of the store down. The culprit was never captured nor the motive revealed—“there’s a million stories out there, pick one,” Lou says—but the city came together to literally lift the bakery from the ashes as quickly as possible.

“The fire department, the city council, the mayor, they came here to help us get open because they didn’t want to see us leave. Contractors, electricians, inspectors, zoning people, they were all here the next day. We didn’t have to wait. They were waiting for us.

“We were open a week next door. We moved our storefront into the packing area. It wasn’t pretty, but people actually liked that better. They saw men work, they saw the flour, they saw everything. We spent thousands to replace the store; they wanted the old way!

“That was something I’ll never forget, the way the neighbors and the city came together to help us.”

The first Sarcone, still overseeing the bread tradition.

Fourteen years later, Sarcone’s remains a beloved institution in Philadelphia—and a must-visit for tourists. Customers gather daily outside like music fans once waited for concert tickets before the Internet. Lines begin forming at six in the morning and sometimes extend for blocks.

To Louis Sarcone Jr., it’s the definition of success.

“Remember Springdale Road and Route 70 in Cherry Hill, used to be called the Point View Inn?,” he asks. “A little house. That guy had lines for years back in the 70s. He turned it into what it looks like now. Because he got massively big, he closed within a year, then it was Pizzeria Uno, now it’s a PJ Whelihan’s. That place, I could always remember, it was the longest lines ever for a family restaurant.

“You want lines. You want people to have a hard time getting in. Why is that line two blocks long? We gotta try it!”

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Chugging along since 1918.

Sarcone’s Bakery has been a Philly institution longer than…

…the Flyers, Eagles, and 76ers
…the Ben Franklin Bridge
…the 215 area code
…the Daily News
…WIP, WFIL, and WCAU radio
…the PSFS Building
…30th Street Station
…SEPTA
…the Schuylkill Expressway
…Pat’s and Geno’s cheesesteaks (and all of their successors)

Their Bestness probably reaches beyond Philadelphia.

Accolades for Sarcone’s from Yelp Nation:

In 64 Yelp reviews, Sarcone’s averages four and a half stars out of five. Some quotes from the bakery’s fans:

“In footie pajamas I offer night time prayers thankful that Sarcone’s exists and it’s so close to my house…’cause good bread they got…you seriously could put just about anything on that seeded Italian bread and it would be glorious.” – Kathleen D., Philadelphia

“It’s that alluring smell that makes you just want to rip off a piece and eat it. It doesn’t need butter, it’s perfect as is.” – Vinny P., Philadelphia

“My local farmer’s market has a small place in it that sells sandwiches. My Dad found out they were using rolls from Sarcone’s and asked to buy whatever they had leftover at the end of the night, and offered over triple what they originally paid for them. The Best Bread. Period.” Michelle M., Wilmington, DE

“You, along with many others, will line up to hopefully buy a long seeded roll, sandwich rolls, or anything else that comes fresh from their ovens. It’s a work of delicious, crispy crunchiness that cannot and will not be denied.” – Tyler R., Philadelphia

“Dear Sarcone’s – I miss you dreadfully. Whether I ate your bread fresh as I walked home, turned it into a hoagie or slathered it with garlic butter and baked it to soft yet crispy perfection, it always made the meal. There is no way to express the sadness I feel in my heart and in my mouth at now living so many states away…Love, Amelia” – Amelia L., Brighton, MA

“This place is why Philly can make a case for being the sandwich capital of the world.” – Chris W. Philadelphia

“I don’t even consider a Hoagie a Hoagie unless it’s made in a Sarcone Roll.” – Bruce B., Philadelphia

Yes, you can get some fine pizza here too. With a great crust.

Staples of Sarcone’s:

Seeded Italian Bread – “We’re known for putting seeded Italian bread on the map,” Lou Sarcone Jr. says. “If I stop making seeded bread, if I only made plain bread, Liscio’s would have to change their bread to plain bread. They couldn’t fake it out being Sarcone’s.” Primo’s Hoagies started out with Sarcone’s seeded Italian bread, until the expansion made it impossible for Sarcone’s to keep up the supply. “Once they establish their name they leave me,” Sarcone says.

Tomato Pies – Sarcone’s tomato pies on their garlicky baked Sicilian crust are actually a popular breakfast item with locals; as the Zagat website mention of Sarcone’s describes it: “The end result is almost like what you get when sweeping up leftover spaghetti sauce on your plate with the end of your bread.”

Pepperoni Bread – The pepperoni rolls (or sausage rolls, if you prefer), contain a generous amount of meat for such a delicacy, and the soft crust of the bread contains just the right amount of olive oil. If they’re out of pizza slices in your next visit, try one of these.

Bread Crumbs – There isn’t often leftovers in a bakery that usually sells out its products in the early afternoon, but Lou Sarcone knows what to do with them. “We let it get stale for four or five days, then grind it up and sell it as bread crumbs. Restaurants buy them by the hundred pounds; walk-in customers buy it by the pound,” Lou says.

I first met Baseball Joe Vogel on June 12, 2016, while meeting up with friend and fellow baseball road tripper Dan Davies and his group of traveling friends, who invited me to join them in Pittsburgh. He’s become a good friend and I always meet with him when I’m in Pittsburgh.

Baseball Joe (center), with Brazilian baseball fan Francisco Dornas (left), Dan Davies (lower right), and the traveling crew.

It was a picture-perfect day at stunning PNC Park, as the Pirates prepared to battle the Cardinals in a late afternoon matchup.

On this day, though, baseball isn’t the only thing on the mind of the Bucs faithful.

Sidney Crosby and the Penguins are in San Jose this evening, set to seal the deal on a fourth Stanley Cup for the city. Which they would, a few hours after the ballgame ends. Penguins jerseys, tees and caps can be seen in large numbers for a baseball crowd.

At one point during the game, a young fan brings out a mock, almost-life-size aluminum foil Stanley Cup and parades it proudly around a section in the right field corner. It gets a round of sustained applause from the excited fans sitting in the area.

But despite being a Pittsburgh native from birth, Joe Vogel is having none of this.

Without warning, as if duty calls him, he springs from his chair in the right field cove and disappears into the concourse. Seconds later he can be seen roaming the section where the Cup-carrying fan was. To the great amusement of his buddies in the cove, Vogel spends several minutes determinedly searching for the fan, who by this point is long gone.

The laughter in Vogel’s section grows louder as his determined search continues well beyond the amount of time one would think the situation warranted. Because after several innings of sitting with this character, they know exactly why he is seeking out the proud hockey fan.

It was to shame him. To frown on him. To educate the young lad on priorities.

Because as Baseball Joe Vogel will always let you know, only baseball matters. Every other sport is a waste of time.

The only fan that can throw a baseball around in a concourse and get away with it.

Baseball Joe is deaf and mute from three debilitating strokes. He communicates through gestures and hand signals, with a small keyboard, or on a folded piece of paper with the alphabet on it.

He lives in an apartment in downtown Pittsburgh, a short walk across the Clemente Bridge from PNC Park. Baseball, Pirates baseball, is his life. It has been since he was a young boy. He proclaims himself the “biggest baseball fan anywhere”, and thus far in my near half century of existence I haven’t met a bigger one…which, if you knew my father, is saying something.

The Pirates know him well. He occasionally plays catch with manager Clint Hurdle and even advises him at times via e-mail. Courtesy of a team that loves his dedication, he has season tickets and attends every game in the covered handicapped section in right field, underneath the right field bleachers. He can’t be in the sun for too long. He may be the only fan in PNC Park who doesn’t care about the picturesque city backdrop.

Sitting with him, it’s almost impossible to pay attention to the game, especially as opposing hitters tee off on Pirates pitching as the Cards would that night. Baseball Joe is every bit as entertaining as the action on the field…constantly having conversations with bystanders in his own way, patiently communicating with his keyboard or well-worn piece of paper when people have difficulty understanding his gestures.

He carries a baseball that he frequently tosses to passing ushers, who nonchalantly toss it back to him, knowing the routine. Throughout the game, other team employees stop to greet him. He constantly collects souvenirs and seems to have a never-ending supply of the large soda cups, one of which he shares with me.

Baseball Joe with his essential ballgame supplies.

Throughout the evening loud laughter is heard in the section at both his knowledge of baseball and his chastising of fellow fans for their comparatively insufficient reverence for the game.

At one point, he asks me if I like any other sports. Forgetting his disdain for the hockey fan, I tell him I like NASCAR too, and he shakes his head. He pretends to be driving a car, and then frowns at me and does the shame symbol with his fingers. He then holds up a baseball and makes a circular motion with his finger. By this point it’s understood. Baseball, year-round.

All night long, it never stops. With his keypad, he fires baseball trivia questions at his buddies…like “Name two players in the Hall of Fame that have the same first and middle names.” A wiseacre in the group replies, with great bombast as if he’s sure of the answer, “Ken Griffey Senior and Ken Griffey Junior!”

As the rest of the group laughs, Joe smiles, turns to me and informs me: Henry Louis Aaron and Henry Louis Gehrig, or Joseph Paul DiMaggio and Joseph Paul Torre.

Later Dan, who took Joe along with his group to several ballparks and the Hall of Fame, told me the story of his wiping up the floor with an interactive trivia game at the Hall. If there was a baseball edition of “Jeopardy”, Baseball Joe would be Ken Jennings.

Home of Baseball Joe.

Baseball Joe holds the distinction of being the first fan to ask for my autograph, at least as an author of baseball books.

At the Pirates game, he asked me to send him the PNC Park E-Guide…and to autograph it for him. He also gave me firm instructions…make sure I sign my full name, middle name included, and do it neatly, which I am not accustomed to doing with my usual chicken scratch of a signature. He’s a stickler, this one, especially when it comes to matters baseball.

Joe loved the E-Guide and raved about it to me in an e-mail…a badge of honor…but he also had a few suggestions: elaborate more on seating, include some photos in the whitespace, and maybe talk more about food and such. He is the first fan ever to complain to me that there isn’t enough information in a Ballpark E-Guide.

He has been repeatedly asking me to send him guides for Wrigley and for Busch in St. Louis, should I ever write that one. I will. I’m always happy to have an audience.

Citizens Bank Park from the west.

A few days after the Pittsburgh experience, I met up with Baseball Joe and the group again, this time in Citizens Bank Park in my hometown of Philly. I found them a free parking spot and sat with them in the upper level for the evening. Throughout the evening, Joe kept me entertained, once again more often than the action on the field.

I tell him I am an Orioles fan, and he holds up fingers…first seven and then one. I immediately get it. 1971 World Series. Pirates over the Birds in seven. I was three.

Then he makes a “7” and a “9” with his fingers. 1979. The Pirates, led by Pops Stargell and rallying around the passing of manager Chuck Tanner’s mother, come back from 3-1 to once again beat the O’s in seven games. My response is to hang my head and to pretend to rub tears from my eyes, illustrating the heartbreak of the 11-year-old Orioles fan that year. “I still NEVER dance to ‘We Are Family’”, I inform him.

He nods, understanding. He does the eye rub himself when he brings up the Pirates’ long stretch of down years.

He asks me who my favorite player is, and when I say Cal Ripken Jr., he quickly replies on his keyboard with a stat for me: “Lowest batting average of any player with 3,000 hits”. Sigh.

When I show Joe a picture of my daughter posing with baseball-themed stuffed animals that I’ve brought home for her from my travels, he briefly types on his keyboard and shows me. “You so blessed,” it reads. “Me haves no family.”

I instantly feel both sad for him and guilty about the occasional dissatisfaction I feel with my own life. He’s right. I am so blessed. I not only have two beautiful and healthy kids, I still have time for the only sport that matters.

Baseball’s #1 fan.

Long after the crowd has filed out of Citizens Bank Park that night, Baseball Joe manages to make a few ushers uncomfortable with his refusal to leave the seating bowl before collecting as many souvenir cups as he can. You can see clear agitation growing in the ushers’ eyes as they anticipate a confrontation. Joe seems oblivious to the approaching ballpark police, but he exits the seating bowl at what seems the exact moment before the ushers turn snooty. He’s a pro at this.

Back at the hotel where the traveling fans are staying, Baseball Joe and I pose for a picture, and he surprises me with a huge bear hug. Apparently I’ve made a good impression. I’m grateful that he’s not upset with me for showing him family photos.

Joe and I e-mail each other frequently. In his e-mails to me the subject line is almost always “Baseball 24 7 366”—making sure he’s covered in leap years. His e-mails are usually brief but always thoughtful…wishing my family a great holiday season, asking me to send along more E-Guides when I can, and sharing his thoughts on the Pirates’ fortunes. Shortly after the Pirates failed to make the playoffs in 2016, he sent me an e-mail with the words “Pirates eliminated – me cry” in it. For 33 years and counting, this Orioles fan has known the feeling.

I’m always grateful to hear from him. Because whenever I reflect on it, he’s right. Other sports are a waste of time.

And Baseball Joe knows as well as anyone that our time is too valuable to waste.

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When a magazine suggests you write a piece about blind baseball players, you have to take on the assignment just to see how in the wide world of sports such a thing is possible. But indeed it is, and I covered the Boston Renegades for the Summer 2019 issue of BostonMan. You can read the article on their website here, or see the magazine article PDF here.

Beepball Wizards

The Association of Blind Citizens Boston Renegades are a powerhouse in Beep Baseball, a form of baseball played by legally blind people.

On the website for the Association of Blind Citizens Boston Renegades, the local Beep Baseball team, you can find a short video trailer for their documentary.

In the video, mere seconds after one player tells his heart-wrenching story of being literally struck blind, coach Rob Weissman is seen reprimanding his team. “You guys are going to pay for this bad practice,” he informs them. In another scene he lectures to a player, “Life isn’t fair. I worked my ass off when I played ball. I got cut every friggin’ time.”

Imagine telling a blind person that their desire is questionable. Talk about tough love.

But that’s exactly the point. At the end of the video, that same coach is seen firing up his players before the game, reminding them what success on the field is about. It’s about respect.

Rob Weissman cares enough to take a team of blind baseball players at the bottom of their league and mold them into dominant yearly contenders. In the last three seasons, they’ve compiled a 40-8 record and played in a national title game.

As coach says of the endeavor, it’s about more than winning games. It’s creating a culture of working together to achieve goals.

Rob Weissman isn’t as rough as he appears to be. He’s just a good coach.

When asked about the video, Weissman chuckles knowingly, as if he’s fielded the question a few thousand times. He gets that it’s dramatization and that a viewer’s reaction is exactly the goal of the trailer, but he’s nowhere near that hard-nosed coach that comes across in a small few captured moments. “It’s a teaser,” he asserts for the record. “If I was that tough, no one would be with this team.”

As he explains, there was a desire to change the team culture at the time, and someone needed to take the bull by the horns and lead the way.

“They made a decision that they wanted to be competitive, but a lot of them had never been part of a competitive team. So a lot of learning needed to happen. It wasn’t going to be ‘let’s go get pounded by the top teams in the league, and everyone’s going to love us, because they’re going to beat the crap out of us and we’re going to pay for the beers afterwards, which is what it was early in the history of the team.

“I said, look, I’ll be able to get this team up and running and I’ll be able to bring in great volunteers, but we have to change the culture.”

It’s worked. Weissman and his staff…he is quick to credit team owner John Oliveira, coach and pitcher Peter Connolly, pitcher Ron Cochran and coach Bryan Grillo among others…have created a winning atmosphere in Boston beepball. All with home grown talent.

“I think that we are the only team in the history of the league to go from being the doormat of the league to making a title game, only using players from our roster,” Weissman notes. “A lot of other teams will bring in people from other cities. We’ve never done that. Every one of our players has grown up in our system. We’re really proud of that.”

Sometimes working your ass off is worth it.

Baserunning is equally important in Beep Baseball.

Baseball for the blind. The words invoke instant confusion. Of the senses most needed to play baseball, vision easily tops the list.

Before you ponder how it’s possible for a someone to play baseball without seeing, consider this: there is a nationwide league. The National Beep Baseball Association features teams not just in Boston, but also in Chicago, Vegas, even Anchorage. There are 35 NBBA teams in all, and yes, there is a World Series.

Beep Baseball works like this: all players except the pitcher and catcher are completely blindfolded, to play on the same vision level despite their degree of blindness. The ball is softball-sized and is built with a beeping device in it, so defensive players can field it by following the sound when the coach calls out the fielding formation.

Batters are given four strikes, and the pitcher plays for the offensive team. The pitcher calls out to the batter when the pitch is thrown, and attempts to put the ball in the batter’s swing zone. If the batter makes contact and manages to hit the ball at least 40 feet, the defensive team moves to field the beeping ball. A ball hit further than 180 feet is considered a home run.

There’s no baserunning in the traditional sense. After contact, the batter runs towards one of two pylons that serve as bases, whichever one is buzzing. If a batter reaches the pylon before the ball is fielded cleanly, a run is scored. If the ball is fielded cleanly before the batter makes the bag, the batter is out. Games last six innings, or more if needed.

A contact hitter.

It’s easy to argue that a professional ballplayer hitting .350 is one of the most impressive achievements in sports. But even with a pitcher grooving the ball in a batter’s swing zone, it’s pretty impressive to see a blindfolded batter put a ball in play. If someone claimed that the Force was strong in better hitters, it wouldn’t be difficult to believe.

Peter Connolly, a pitcher and coach for the Renegades, explains the mechanics, and how hitters learn and improve their skills.

“It’s a combination of knowing your swing, being consistent, just honing in on your consistency. Maybe getting a little more power, maybe being able to go the other way in certain situations.

“If you can pop the ball up in the air for four seconds, you have a really good chance of getting to the bag. That’s another thing that you can hone onto, base running and getting faster. If you watch the good teams in the World Series, they have such speed that if they hit the ball and you don’t field it perfectly, it’s too late.”

Weissman agrees that just as with any sport, the skills can be learned. “We’ve all learned a lot over time about how to coach the sport better. And we’re constantly working on hitting mechanics.

“Joe Yee hit like 400 points higher than his career batting average last year. Some of that was him learning how to improve his individual skills, and being coachable enough to learn about how to move his hands, to be more aware of his bat path, to learn how to transfer his weight.”

Yee, incidentally, is Connolly’s cousin, and it’s an impressive pitcher-hitter battery.

“I think he was batting like .600 or something off of me last year,” Connolly says.

Weissman leading a newly inspired Renegades club.

Despite that Rob Weissman disavows his appearance as a tough coach, he does point out that players on his team want to be treated like athletes, not disabled people.

He amusingly remembers the story of Steve Houston, a former college ballplayer who lost his sight to diabetes, growing visibly annoyed and chewing out a pitcher for “babying” him when he learned the pitcher was throwing underhand to him. It’s impossible not to admire the mental fortitude of a player who believes he can handle a high hard one while blindfolded.

That said, Weissman knows there are limits in some cases. The Renegades don’t cut players, and anyone who is willing to make the financial and time commitment can play.

“One of our players, Melissa Hoyt, has Mitochondrial disease. It makes it very hard for her to breathe at times. We have another player named Rob, doctors told him he’d never play competitive sports. He’s a diabetic, so they’ve got other issues. We can’t put them out and play them 18 innings in a day. I know that they’re not gonna make it through warmups without having to take a break.

“But they’re great teammates. They’re very supportive and everyone’s very supportive of them. One of the most memorable moments that we had last year was when Melissa, who’s been with the team for a very long time, scored her first run. Every single coach and player on the team was just fired up about that.

“One of the things that’s so cool and unique about this team is just how everyone supports each other. And that we get wins in various ways.”

Play hard. Represent your city.

Back in 2003, Rob Weissman, John Oliveira and company had a vision. To give blind citizens in the Boston area a chance to come together and achieve something special, through baseball of all things.

Mission accomplished.

“When we took the field in the championship game,” Rob reflects, “for me, I think that was one of the proudest moments. It was like the Red Sox winning in 2004. And we wouldn’t have gotten here without the help of every single coach and player, past and present.”

Does Rob Weissman see a World Series victory in the Renegades’ future?

“I’d love to sit with you and say, our goal is to win a championship. But I think our goal every year is to be the best that we can be.”

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The book of Beep baseball, by David Wanczyk.

The Book of Beep Baseball

David Wanczyk, an English professor at Ohio University, was enthralled enough by the idea of beep baseball that he wrote a book about it, Beep: Inside the Unseen World of Baseball for the Blind.

In it Wanczyk chronicles the history of the sport, and documents the adventures of beep baseball teams, including the Renegades and Weissman’s fanatical dedication to coaching and winning.

Here’s a passage from Wanczyk in the book about Weissman:

“Like any manager, he’s concerned about injuries, field conditions, the umpires, the draw. And like some, he’s battling precompetition butterflies, otherwise known as chronic indigestion. Weissman doesn’t really eat, and when he does, he eats Pop-Tarts, two or three a day, like a college-student gamer somehow gluing together his wild thoughts with hard frosting. But Lisa Klinkenborg, the Renegades’ resident trainer/nutritionist, has forgotten to buy his Pop-Tarts on her grocery run, unf***ingbelievable, and he’s not sure where his next meal is coming from. He’s really not sure anymore.”

Wanczyk tells BostonMan this about Weissman: “He certainly stresses about the game, let’s say that. He’ll probably tell you more. And if you have trouble getting him to tell you, you can mention that my book says something about this and that I make the connection between his efforts and his health. If he wants to dispute that connection, he’ll probably do it in a colorful way!”

But Weissman isn’t the only dedicated one, as Wanczyk and his book point out. Beep Baseball features all of the intense struggle of competition within limits.

“The action on the field is fast-paced, and you’re watching dare-devil sorts of diving and colliding. But once the inning is over and the players make their way back to the bench, they will often move pretty slowly, listening for the voices of their coaches, or even finger-snaps to help them get to the bench.

Wanczyk makes the interesting point that “beep ball is about pushing limits, but those limits are part of the game. If a player runs as hard as he wants to, he overruns the ball. Blind people can do a lot, but they still have to do it deliberately, and coincidentally, that patient speed is the best way to succeed in beep ball.

“In Boston, we’ve always liked baseball underdogs. The Renegades are an underdog, and they’re always rallying.”

If you’re interested in a copy of Beep: Inside the Unseen World of Baseball for the Blind, it’s available on Amazon or at www.davidwanczyk.com.

They play hard, like any Boston team.

Support The Renegades

The Association of Blind Citizens in Boston currently operates the Renegades, and being a non-profit, they are always looking for volunteers, players, and donations. Rob Weissman says they have some creative ways to fund and operate the team, but they can always use help.

“Some of our volunteers, they work for big name companies. Like myself, I work for IBM, one of our volunteers, Aaron Proctor works for JetBlue. JetBlue and IBM are also very big proponents of volunteerism, so they’ll support us and donate money to the team or in JetBlue’s case, they’ll donate plane tickets to the team.

“The Challenged Athletes Foundation is an amazing organization; they allow players to apply for grants and they have been extremely generous and supportive. About seven or eight of our players were able to get almost $750 each out of the challenge that so that gets them halfway there on their fundraising.

“Regionally we travel with between 20 and 30 people. That’s a lot of people to put into hotel rooms. If you’re willing to donate to a cause, our budget’s $20-25,000 a year and any little amount helps.”

In addition, Coach adds the most important thing the Renegades need…volunteers and players.

“We’re always looking for great volunteers, if people have baseball skills, or time or any skills that they could offer. We’re always looking for people. This team would not survive without volunteers.

“At the same time, if you know somebody who’s visually impaired, we’re the only team sport that exists in Massachusetts. Have them get in touch with us and come try it out. It’s amazing, so many of the guys get so much out of it other than just playing sports. This goes well beyond baseball.”

If you’d like to make a donation, volunteer, or get the Renegades in touch with a blind person interested in playing ball, you can visit the website at www.blindcitizens.org/renegades.

Christian Thaxton, with the sweet swing that brought his bat to Cooperstown.

Making Cooperstown

The Boston Renegades’ website includes their top ten moments of the 2018 season. At the top of the list is their visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame, to see the exhibit of Christian Thaxton’s bat. There is a video of Thaxton, the top hitter in the history of the league, being shown the exhibit.

A year later, Weissman’s voice still cracks a bit telling the story.

“Baseball was in his blood. He played high school ball, he ended up getting onto a junior college baseball team and then finding out that he couldn’t see the inside fastball anymore, and that was the pitch he crushed.”

Thaxton went to see an eye doctor and was informed he was going blind.

“He dusted himself off quickly. He made a decision that he was going to come to Boston to learn skills to be a blind person, to go into the Carroll Center for the Blind in Newton.”

At the Carroll Center, he heard about the Boston Renegades, and it turned out he could still hit a baseball pretty well. Enough to make him want to stay in Boston.

“When he set the record for the highest batting average in the history of the league, Cooperstown came calling and said, we’d like to put his bat in the Hall of Fame. And last year, being with Christian and seeing him see his bat in a display case in the Hall of Fame, after everything that he’s been through, was amazing.”

And well deserved.

“Christian isn’t the type of athlete who’s all about himself,” Weissman adds. “He has taught so many of his teammates proper mechanics to swing. He takes such great joy out of seeing his teammates succeed. That’s who he is as a person.

“To give him the opportunity to see his bat in Cooperstown was unbelievably heartwarming.”

(all photos for this piece are courtesy of Rob Weissman, Lisa Andrews, David Wanczyk, and John Lykowski Jr.)

This post contains affiliate links. If you click on the links and then make a purchase, the site owner earns a commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support.

Why don’t the Rays draw? Despite an AL championship in 2008, a division title in 2010, an exhilarating wild card win in 2011 and a playoff appearance in 2013, the Tampa Bay nine never seem to be playing to a full house, or often even a half-full house.

Even in the last game of the season in 2011, arguably the biggest regular season game in franchise history and with the Yankees in town bringing their own fans, only 27,000 people passed through the gates.

Chances of catching a foul ball? Excellent.

The Rays have been playing exciting baseball in recent years, and doing so with a fraction of the payroll (and ticket prices) of the Yankees and Red Sox. Yet they almost never sell out the Trop, and are consistently among the worst in team attendance. It’s a sad indictment of the market, unfortunately, because there’s nothing lacking in the dedication of existing Rays fans. Their TV numbers are as good as most teams.

I’ve read a few things about why the Rays don’t draw well and have my own opinions on it. I think it’s a combination of several factors.

First is the venue. Tropicana Field is not the most baseball-friendly place to see a ballgame. It’s indoors, concrete, has artificial turf and generally has a sterile feel to it. The Trop is the last non-retractable roof dome in baseball, and it’s one of only two with plastic turf (Rogers Centre in Toronto is the other, and even Rogers may have grass soon). Florida is the Sunshine State…who wants to go where there is no sunshine, for a ballgame of all things?

The sign should include “where most of the fans are”.

Second is the location of the ballpark. The Trop is in St. Petersburg, a fairly good distance through heavy traffic from Tampa, where a good portion of the population center of the market is.

Tampa residents do not particularly like the drive to the ballpark from what I’ve read, which can take a long time during rush hour…which, in theory, is when everyone would be going.

Third is the market in general. Many Florida residents are transplants, and as such are fans of the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies or another northeast team. The Rays are a relatively new team, and up until 2008 they were perennial cellar-dwellers in the American League East.

While the turnaround has been very impressive, a few competitive years don’t exactly make the Rays a storied franchise, and a local fan base still dedicated to other teams won’t grow so quickly.

Finally, not many people point this out, but no baseball venue in North America has so few options for getting to the ballpark.

It would be nice if they had one of these in Tampa.

The Trop is easily accessed by car, but there are few trains or buses to speak of that will take riders to the game on a nightly basis. There are some novelty options like the Brew Bus and Rally Bus, but nothing resembling the Red Line in Chicago or the Broad Street Line in Philly.

On top of that, many locals will tell you that the drive from Tampa and its suburbs to the Trop is brutal on weeknights.

The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority does currently have bus routes that stop at or near Tropicana Field; it is in the heart of downtown St. Petersburg so that isn’t difficult to do. The problem is that none of the bus routes can be used for night games; most buses have their last run from the area at around 10:30 or so, which might be doable but would certainly preclude seeing extra innings.

So the Rays have all of this going against them, and the last three reasons may have been why baseball was reluctant to encourage the Tampa Bay area government to build a stadium to lure a team back in 1990. They built the then-Suncoast Dome anyway, and were cruelly used as leverage for the Giants and White Sox before baseball awarded them the Devil Rays in 1998.

The big white dome.

So what can the Rays do? Perhaps the Rays could provide such a shuttle of their own for a reasonable fee, which would be much easier to market. (They do from from the nearby pier to add some parking options, but that’s it.)

If the Pinellas County government is in a good mood, they might even create a separate lane for the Rays bus on game nights. It could stop at several locations within the city and suburbs, and be available in case people need to leave early.

Or they could work with the PSTA on providing such a shuttle; they already have routes in place with a long reach in the area.

Then there is the venue. The Rays are rumored to be pushing for a new ballpark; but you never actually hear anything concrete from Rays management. They signed a lease when arriving in Tampa Bay, so presumably they’re at Tropicana Field until 2027. But we all know contracts don’t mean squat when there’s millions to be made for team owners and municipalities.

They should sell tickets for the catwalks.

Could the Rays afford to turn Tropicana Field into a retractable roof dome? I can’t say how hard that would be, but I imagine it could be done. A dome is great in Florida summer heat or the nasty thunderstorms, but no one wants to go inside to watch a ballgame on a beautiful 80-degree April day.

Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago, Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Angel Stadium in Anaheim and Fenway Park in Boston have all undergone significant changes, generally costing less than what a new ballpark would cost. I expect taking the roof off of the Trop would be much harder, but replacing it with a retractable roof and replacing the turf with grass would go a long way to making the Trop a much more appealing venue.

That, however, is a very long shot. The team may convince St. Petersburg to let them out of their lease, and get a new ballpark built in Tampa, but thus far that is a no go with St. Petersburg folks, and probably rightly so.

Regarding the market and the transplants, the Rays may not need more than a few more years of quality baseball to turn the tables in their favor. After all, if you can see a team capable of beating the Yankees and Red Sox for as little as $9 for a game and park for free, fans have incentive to take their children to the game.

It stands to reason that younger people especially may grow fond of this team over time, especially before they start to travel and see superior ballparks. The Rays’ ticket affordability should help with that…as more parents bring their kids to the game because they can, the Rays may be gradually building a future fan base.

Looks friendly enough, right?

Some cities just don’t do well as a baseball market. Atlanta does well enough, but you would think for all of the team’s success that they would draw better than they do. Miami hasn’t proven it wants a team yet, even with a shiny new retractable-roof ballpark.

There are a few answers to the question of “why don’t the Rays draw”. But I don’t yet accept that the Rays won’t ever fill their ballpark to capacity every night someday. If this team keeps playing competitive baseball and finds a way to bring the far-flung fans in, they may yet turn around their attendance problem.

I’d be cool with that. I like the team’s colors.

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Like most baseball fans, I didn’t know the full story of what happened to the Montreal Expos. When I read a bit about it, it turned out to be very different than what I thought.

In May of 2004 I took a long weekend and made a trip to Montreal, to see a game at Olympic Stadium before the Expos moved to Washington to become the Nationals.

I made it to the top before I realized there was an elevator.

I had a very enjoyable time in Montreal. First there was the very pleasant ride on I-87 through parts of New York state that people don’t know about, and the even more enjoyable ride home on 9N. And Montreal is a neat city—there is Mount Royal and its terrific view of the skyline, the smoked beef sandwich from Schwartz’s, the fine public transit system, and the incredible Notre Dame Basilica cathedral, a church so stunningly beautiful that I did not bother trying to do it justice with photos.

So being in a city that I held in fairly high regard, it was sad to see how interest in baseball was barely moving the needle. The game I attended was against the Cardinals, and it drew a crowd of about 5,000—probably 2,000 of which were Cards fans. The Expos won an exciting contest with the help of star shortstop Jose Vidro, and I remember hearing a radio show afterward with the host expressing hope against hope that the city could keep its baseball team.

When lower level sections are blocked off, there’s a problem.

The Expos’ departure from Montreal is often summarily dismissed as being the result of the city being obsessed with its hockey team and just not caring about baseball. I thought this myself before taking an interest in the subject recently, and not only was I completely wrong, I’m firmly of the opinion that the second largest city in Canada deserves a baseball team.

Baseball in Montreal drew some nice crowds once—the Expos even outdrew the Yankees for a couple of seasons in the 1980s. The team was competitive in those years, almost reaching the World Series in 1981 and falling a game or two short of winning the NL East in a couple of other campaigns. The Expos finished second in 1980 and in 1993 to Phillies teams that happened to be loaded.

In 1994, however, the Expos front office had assembled the best team that Montreal had seen yet. This team featured Larry Walker, Marquis Grissom, Moises Alou and Ken Hill, and they had some pretty good arms on the mound, too: names like John Wetteland, Jeff Fassero, and a guy by the name of Pedro Martinez. By August, the Expos were leading the National League East with a 74-40 record. And we all know what happened then.

The announcer was really good at both French and English.

The strike of 1994, that killed the rest of the season and the World Series, instilled great anger in baseball fans everywhere, and it showed in the attendance in 1995. But it was particularly hard on Expos fans, who had possibly been rooting for the best team that had ever been fielded in their city. (Larry Walker believes unequivocally to this day that the Expos would have won the World Series.)

The Expos were drawing 34,000 a game at the time, not spectacular for a contending team, but certainly better than any attendance average figure the Rays have ever managed. And this in Stade Olympique, one of the most unappealing venues in baseball.

The strike was the first of several blows that would eventually drive the Expos out of town.

After a season that had given more hope to Expos fans than any season ever had only to deprive them of an ending, Expos’ owner Claude Brochu ordered GM Kevin Malone to slash the payroll, and the Expos started their next season without Walker, Hill, Wetteland and Grissom.

Depleted and discouraged, the Expos finished last in 1995. Soon afterwards, Alou, Fassero and  Martinez would also be gone.

Paid attendance for this game: 5,332. They didn’t put that number on the scoreboard.

If you’ve ever been a fan of a team that has a fire sale after a winning season, you know what it does to attendance. Fans really, really hate that. For a team to lose two-thirds of its gate is not unusual. Imagine the effect on fans when the best team that the town had ever seen has been gutted. To add insult to injury, the fire sale happened in 1995…after the Blue Jays had won back-to-back titles, establishing them as Canada’s premier MLB team. It is something like the Red Sox having broken their long-standing curse a year after the Cubs fell just short of breaking theirs.

The Expos never recovered. Jeffrey Loria, arguably the most unpopular baseball team owner in history (and that’s saying something), purchased the team in 1999 and instantly became reviled with fans by not renewing the team’s television and English-speaking radio contracts. From what I’ve read, the terms of the deal Loria wanted were such that their broadcast stations walked away from the table without even bothering to negotiate.

As a result, if you were an English-speaking Expos fan, your options to find out what happened in last night’s game were to go to the ballpark or read about it on the Internet or the paper. This isn’t something fans today are willing to tolerate, and nor should they.

Following this, Loria had the nerve to try to secure funding from the city for a new ballpark. Labatt Park had some interesting innovations…it wasn’t designed by HOK, so there were some new ideas…and for a while the team looked like it could get its wish. But eventually the premier of the province of Quebec, Lucien Bouchard, decided that he couldn’t in good conscience spend taxpayer money to build a new stadium in a city where hospitals were closing.

In retrospect, if Montreal baseball had been revived, the tax revenues the team brought in could have saved some hospitals, but the Expos couldn’t justify that with the attendance at the time.

So who is the beer sponsor?

The death of the ballpark deal probably convinced Expos fans that baseball in Montreal was now on life support.

Animosity towards the ownership—which eventually became Major League Baseball, so that Loria could buy a team in a city that would gladly spend taxpayer money for a ballpark for him—reached the point that by 2004 they were showing up in record low numbers, and 3,000-5,000 per game was common.

After being insulted and taken for granted on so many levels, Montrealers may have been wishing the Expos and Major League Baseball good riddance by then, but one could hardly blame them.

They had endured greed destroying their most promising season, along with ownership that was willing to sell off the team’s biggest stars and not allow fans to watch games on television or listen on the radio, and refuse to even try to negotiate with a city on new ballpark financing, which might have been possible had Loria been willing.

The blame for the Expos’ departure belongs not on Montreal fans as a group or Montreal as a sports market. Not in the slightest. A combination of factors that would have destroyed fan support in any city conspired to victimize a market that, until August of 1994, had been building a strong baseball tradition.

The strike of 1994 angered a lot of baseball fans, but ultimately the biggest victims were the fans in Montreal. It set the wheels in motion for the sad, drawn out ending, the only upside of which has been the return of baseball to Washington, D.C.

The movement to bring the Nationals back to Montreal!

Perhaps baseball will have an opportunity to return to the great city of Montreal; I hope so. As I hope I’ve illustrated here, to say the market won’t support baseball isn’t true.

Did this post make your day a little bit?

I hope so. If it did, I would really appreciate your support.

When you use this link to shop on Amazon, you’ll help subsidize this great website…at no extra charge to you.

Thanks very much…come back soon!

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Even if you don’t live in Chicago, you probably have a few Cubs fans in your life. Rooting for the Cubs is a universal sentiment for millions of Americans everywhere. And for any Cubs fans are on your list, I’ve compiled this superb list of ideal gifts for Cubs fans – especially for when they’re headed to Wrigley Field for a ballgame.

Full disclosure here: Ballpark E-Guides is an Amazon affiliate, so if you use the links in this post to purchase an item, this website earns a commission…at no extra cost to you. So thanks for your support!

Gifts For Cubs Fans, Part 1: Staying Warm at Wrigley

No Chicago native needs to be told how chilly it can get in the Friendly Confines…there’s a reason (cool Wrigley tip coming!) that April games feature the cheapest tickets (that’s the tip!).

But more importantly, fans need to stay warm when this team is playing in October.

Did you bring your Cubs parka?

So here’s a few gift suggestions for comfort at the Friendly Confines…

First, let’s not take leg warmth for granted. They make some truly cool Cubs socks, so click here to see all of the styles available.

Ever have your feet get cold at a sporting event? All the time, right? I think sneaker slippers are a pretty cool idea! Great for keeping fan feet warm on those chilly October nights at Wrigley, and they actually look pretty cool too. Check them out here.

Next to leg warmth, neck warmth can be overlooked too…so check out this selection of Cubs scarves.

Finally!

The Cubs fan in your life will love this hooded sweatshirt. And this championship hoodie is pretty cool too. It’s only been a few years since the glorious triumph of 2016 for Cubs fans…short enough to still celebrate the ending of a century long drought, but also long enough that championship gear is available at a pretty nice price.

If we’re talking hoodies, I like this one too…a cubby bear flying a blue W flag with ivy. One simple logo capturing multiple elements of being a Cubs fan at the Friendly Confines.

Featuring plenty of shade for those occasionally warm Chicago afternoons.

You’ll need a windbreaker if you’re sitting in those shaded Terrace Reserved seats (I speak from experience), especially in the early months of the season when the stiff wind blows in from Lake Michigan. This nice looking one from Majestic includes fleece lining and it can even be financed!

And while we all wish cooler heads had prevailed when a fan reached for a foul ball, it’s still a smart thing to keep your head warm at Wrigley. Here’s a nice selection of a few knit hats for the Cubs fan in your life.

Nice stuff, but on Amazon there’s no need to haggle.

Gifts For Cubs Fans, Part 2: Showing Your Cubs Fan Allegiance

A sea of blue in the stands at Wrigley does not happen without each and every Cubs fan contributing that individual effort. When the Cubs fan in your life is visiting their favorite home for baseball, accessorizing is a must.

Let’s start with the obvious…caps, jerseys and T-shirts.

This here Cubs cap is my favorite style, and I own one myself…the big red C with the walking blue cub. In the interest of honesty, I will tell you that I found mine cheap from one of the ubiquitous outside vendors at Wrigley…but this version is still cheaper than what you’ll pay inside the ballpark.

Stop paying ballpark prices for your Cubs gear and souvenirs!

Order your essential Cubs items before you go at Amazon.com, pay far less than you would at the game, AND get free shipping on orders over $25…order your Cubs swag today!

As far as jerseys, Amazon’s prices are much better than the MLB shop…check out this away Cubs jersey here and here to see the price difference (Prices are subject to change, but the difference was close to $40 as I wrote this.)

That said, MLB Shop does have a far better selection regarding jerseys…so far be it for me to tell you to not check that out here.

But again, there’s considerable savings on these things on Amazon, and you can probably find a very cool jersey for the Cubs fan in your life here. I even checked the free shipping box for you!

For lady Cubs fans, what’s a better gift than jewelry? Maybe it’s just me, but MLB team earrings totally works for me. Check out this pair and this pair, equally cool.

This was a gift for my then three year old little lady.

Finally, there’s no better way to bring out the awww factor than bringing a tiny new Cubs fan to their first game at Wrigley Field…wearing a Cubs fan onesie of course. (You can tell I’m a dad, knowing what a “onesie” is.) And of course, be sure the baby is wearing a bib for their Old Style milk.

(Yes, I know Old Style doesn’t make milk. Do not think for a minute I’m suggesting filling a baby bottle with Old Style anything.)

Gifts For Cubs Fans, Part 3: Other Wrigley Accessories

The proper attire isn’t the only thing a Cubs fan needs to bring to Wrigley Field on game day. As regular readers of this site know, you can bring your own food and non-alcoholic drinks into Wrigley Field. (Read more about that here.)

Thus far, Subway has had no trouble with the Cubs for this sign…

Your favorite Cubs fan will need something to keep all that cheap grub in, right? Be sure to equip them…and let them know about that little loophole the Cubs offer if they weren’t aware already.

This cooler makes a great compartment, even though you can’t bring in alcohol. Store your Subway sandwich or El Burrito Mexicano carry out in it and keep it warm, or grab a couple of bottles of water and keep them cold.

This lunch bag is on the pricey side, but it’s ideal for storing sandwiches or drinks.

Or ladies can use this tote bag, to carry other stuff as well…like any souvenirs they’re buying at the game.

If none of those work for you, here’s a larger selection. But definitely consider a cooler bag for anyone who makes frequent trips to Wrigley. Nothing against the extremely impressive Wrigley Field food selection, but BYO is a big money saver.

Quite a few unprepared fans in the bleachers here.

OK, so now you’ve got your gear and your goody bag, just a couple more things…remember there’s no retractable roof at Wrigley, so if you’re in the bleachers especially, you could be scrambling in a rain delay to find a covered spot. Or you could sit under this fine umbrella. Sweet, huh?

Speaking of enjoying the Wrigley bleachers, this seat cushion can make life a little easier on the back of your favorite Cubs fan.

And needless to say, every Cubs fan needs to be prepared to wave the Blue W following a Cubs victory…so here’s a perfect stocking stuffer gift for a Cubs fan: a Blue W flag!

Gifts For Cubs Fans, Part 4: Winter Reading

OK, maybe it’s not something to take to Wrigley, but your favorite Cubs fan still needs to pass the time until baseball season. What better way to do it on a snowy Chicago day than some great Cubs reading? Here’s a few I recommend…

Rooftop tickets probably wouldn’t be a bad gift.

I confess to not yet having read The Chicago Cubs: Story of A Curse, but judging from the reviews it’s very good, and I would certainly get it for a Cubs fan in my life.

I did read the next two, and while Cubs fans are no longer waiting until next year for the end of the lifelong misery, they are still both great reads:

Waiting For The Cubs is from my friend Floyd Sullivan, an exemplary Cubs fan, about the promising and ultimately deflating 2008 season. (You can read my review of Waiting For The Cubs here.)

And The Cubs Fan’s Guide To Happiness is from the authors of The Heckler, a Cubs fan magazine. I lent this one to a Cubs fan friend of mine, and he handed it back to me with one word: “Hilarious!”

Gifts For Cubs Fans, Part 5: Because Neon.

Finally, not much to say about this one…nor is it something you bring to a ballgame, but I saw it and decided this sign would be an essential mancave item for a Cubs fan. It is just so…Christmas. (Not the sign in the picture below…if that was on Amazon I would own it!)

If they had this sign on Amazon, I’d let you know.

There you are my friend, a helpful list of gifts for Cubs fans, especially the ones you see in Wrigley Field from April through October.

By the way, I’m full of other great tips for Wrigley visitors and regulars…I’ve got 1*10^6 ways to save money and enjoy a better experience. Get some great tips for Wrigley and other ballparks by clicking here!

So you’ve got a Red Sox fan in your life, and you’re thinking about something that would make a super gift? As a ballpark guy, let me give you my best advice in gifts for Red Sox fans: give them something for their next game at Fenway.

Tickets obviously make a great gift, so here’s an excellent primer on how to find deals on Red Sox tickets for your loved one. But the Sox fan needs other equipment when visiting their favorite place on earth.

Stop paying ballpark prices for your Red Sox gear and souvenirs!

Order your essential Sox items before you go at Amazon.com, pay far less than you would at the game, AND get free shipping on orders over $25…order your Red Sox swag today!

Full disclosure: Ballpark E-Guides is an Amazon affiliate, so if you use these links to make a purchase, this website earns a commission at no extra cost to you. So you’re not just buying a super gift for a Red Sox fan, you’re helping baseball fans everywhere!

So thanks. Now then, Red Sox fans know about sitting in a chilly ballpark…

You did remember your leg warmers, right?

Gifts For Red Sox Fans, Part 1: Staying Warm at Fenway

Bundle up kids…Fenway Park can be a very cold place, especially in April…and October! So be sure that you look into some of these accessories as possible gifts:

This one is really really cool: sneaker slippers! I mentioned these in my gifts for Cubs fans post, but they’re made for Red Sox fans too: check these out here.

These footie slippers would look great on a lady Sox fan, and they’ll keep her feet comfortable and toasty on a cold game day.

There’s nothing like a knit cap to show your allegiance on a chilly evening at Fenway, and this particular edition is not only the nicest looking but also comes at the best price.

Amazon has a nice selection of hoodies and sweatshirts here…

(This one is my favorite, in case you’re thinking of getting one for me.)

And this sweater would be nice for the lady Sox fan in your life.

Scarves are underrated as necessary April/October baseball fan apparel at Fenway, and I think this decorated scarf makes a fantastic looking gift.

And a nice pair of gloves would go great with the scarf. (Are you starting to enjoy the image of your favorite Sox fan decked out like this?) This pair is Amazon’s choice and the price is great.

Finally, if you can manage to bring this fleece blanket into the ballpark on an April evening, you’ll be very glad.

Save the Red Sox fan in your life a trip to this more expensive spot.

Gifts For Red Sox Fans, Part 2: Essential Game Day Apparel

You’ll need a cap at a Red Sox game of course, and they’re much cheaper on Amazon than they’ll be at the ballpark (and that may even include the outside vendors). Here is their selection, including a cool green St. Patty’s Day cap.

As far as caps go, I prefer the red cap to the dark blue one, and this is likely a better deal than you’ll find inside the ballpark.

As I’ve stated on the Cubs fan gift post, there’s a much better selection of jerseys in the MLBShop.com store (maybe I should become an affiliate), but if you can find something on Amazon, it will probably be cheaper.

Now you know what to get for lady Sox fans.

There is a very cool selection of Red Sox earrings on Amazon…a great gift for the lady Sox fan. (or hey, a progressive guy Sox fan). Check out this pair, or this pair…they’re both great.

And what goes better with Red Sox earrings than a decorated bow? This one is surprisingly affordable…and you’re working it now, buddy.

You can find some really cool tees here (I even checked the free shipping box for you)…

But this one is amazing looking, and I say this as someone who’s not a big tie-dye or Grateful Dead fan.

Then there’s the Citgo logo tee, the reason for which is obvious to any Fenway dweller.

And of course, your tiny young new Red Sox fan needs to show his colors early.

As far as fandom and showing allegiance, do you want to be one of those really weird fans that stands out even in a Red Sox-apparel adorned crowd? Then this suit is for you…go for it! (I’m not sure I would give it as a gift though.)

Note the virtually complete absence of shade.

Gifts For Red Sox Fans, Part 3: Necessary Fenway Accessories

If the Red Sox fan in your life is going to Fenway and is planning to sit in the bleachers, listen up…they are going to need sunglasses! Take it from this Fenway Park expert…

Here’s a very cool pair of Red Sox branded sun frames for those bright bleacher afternoons.

Other essential Fenway visitor items include cooler bags, because as you may know, you can bring your own food and non-alcoholic drinks into Fenway. (Read more about that here.)

Seriously, share this knowledge when you hand the Red Sox fan in your life their Red Sox cooler bag.

Wrap up this beauty of a chicken teriyaki sandwich and sneak it into the ballpark!

You can easily fit your sandwich from the Sausage Connection into this thing…

And this cooler bag will just as easily store your sodas and bottled waters (and it’s cheaper).

Obstructed views aren’t the only problem with Fenway’s Grandstand seats. They’re also small and hard to sit on. A Red Sox seat cushion makes a great gift for anyone who likes the Grandstand seating.

If you’re out in the bleachers, or in the Green Monster seats, you’ll want to be prepared if the rains come. Check out this ultra-cool umbrella.

If you’re paying the considerable price for a beer at Fenway, keep it cold. This.

Membership includes a Red Sox fanny pack!

Gifts For Red Sox Fans, Part 4: Car Décor, Books, and the Best Yankee Hater Gift of All

If the Red Sox fan in your life is driving to the game, at least help him or her decorate the car accordingly, with championship accessories…here’s a particularly nice license plate holder, and here’s a car flag…two excellent and affordable stocking stuffers!

OK, maybe it’s not Fenway necessary gear, but while your lucky gift recipient is waiting for the baseball season, they will need some Red Sox reading material.

I confess to not having read all of these, but they are recommended in posts that I’ve read…

This is a best seller from the very popular Jerry Remy, currently a Red Sox broadcaster. I would check somehow and make sure your Red Sox fan doesn’t have it…you can’t go wrong with a Jerry Remy book for a Sox fan.

Stewart O’Nan is a terrific writer, and I don’t need to tell you who Stephen King is. They decided to chronicle an entire season of Red Sox baseball together. In 2004. Again, check and make sure your fan doesn’t already own this one…

Yes, this man is this beloved in this town.

Here’s another subject that’s always a winner with Red Sox fans.

Finally, I had to include this book just for the title. It’s almost worth the price for a Red Sox fan just to have it on display in your home.

And while I don’t know if you can buy it anymore, what Red Sox fan wouldn’t want to use this?

There you go my friend…some fantastic and useful gifts for Red Sox fans, especially for their next trip to see the Sox at baseball’s most historic and storied ballpark.

Speaking of, be sure to get the Red Sox fan in your life to check out some great Fenway Park tips…have them start here!

If you’re struggling to choose gifts for Yankees fans in your life, I’m here to help.

Well, at least with the part about what fans need visiting Yankee Stadium. Tickets make a great gift obviously, and I’ve written a short primer here about finding deals on Yankees tickets.

But fans need other stuff too. Check out the very cool gift ideas for Yankees fans below…especially the truly awesome Hawaiian shirt!

Stop paying ballpark prices for your Yankees gear and souvenirs!

Order your essential Bronx Bombers items before you go at Amazon.com, pay far less than you would at the game, AND get free shipping on orders over $25…order your Yankees swag today!

So you know, I’m including Amazon links here, and Amazon is an affiliate of mine. If you make a purchase using one of these links, this website earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. (Thanks for your support!)

So here we go…

Gifts For Yankees Fans, Part 1: Staying Warm in October

Just in case you were curious who plays here.

As every baseball fan knows, the Yankees play in October a lot, and cooler weather does hit the Big Apple. Make sure that your Yankees fan gift recipient is prepared for playoff events at the Stadium.

Hoodies make a great gift, and Amazon has a decent selection of them. This one is my favorite, but check out the rest of the selection here.

If you’re going formal, say, attending a game in a suite, you’ll stand out in this fine sweater…

Here is a pretty nice Yankees scarf, at a pretty nice price. Or try this one…(Amazon’s choice!)
I love these sneaker slippers, which have been featured on Shark Tank. (They have Cubs and Red Sox editions of these too)…

And these footie slippers would look great on a lady Yankees fan.

The Yankees fan in your life will need this knit cap if they’re headed to the Stadium for October baseball…it’s on the pricier side, but what the heck, it’s a gift. Actually this one is pretty nice too, and a little cheaper.

Stocking Stuffer Alert! Here is a pretty nice pair of gloves for a Yankee fan, because you thought of it!

Gifts For Yankees Fans, Part 2: Essential Stadium Items.

“We don’t hire marketing people to come up with a fancy deli name, and we pass the savings on to you!”

There are some tools you need when you visit Yankee Stadium…not just caps and tees and gear.
As I’ve noted here, you can bring your own food into Yankee Stadium…this is a perfect way to take advantage of that Stadium loophole and save mucho cash at the game!

If you’re going to pay ballpark prices for bottled beer, at least keep it cold with a sleeve. Try this fine set…

I’ve stated in my astoundingly helpful Yankee Stadium parking post that the Stadium isn’t very conducive to tailgating…but Yankees fans travel, right? So get this for your traveling Yankee fan’s next trip to Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago or Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay…

If your beloved Yankees fan is a Bleacher Creature, they’ll need an umbrella for rain delays, and this one is large and colorful.

Stocking Stuffer Alert! And of course, you’ll need a pen to keep score.

Gifts For Yankees Fans, Part 3: Gear + Accessories.

Who knows when the Yankees fan in your life will make it here?

The Yankees fan in your life needs to blend in with a sea of navy and white in the Stadium, and any extras are a bonus. Check this stuff out for gift ideas…

This outstanding Yankees Hawaiian shirt is on the pricey side, but if you’re willing to shell out a few bucks, it makes a killer gift for those warm summer afternoons at the Stadium.

If you’re looking for something for your Yankees fan dad, this tee is perfect.

Here’s a cool tee for Aaron Judge fans…

And Mariano Rivera fans will love this eye-catching tee.

Bringing a little one to the game? Would anything look more adorable on your little new Yankees fan gift recipient than these sneakers?

Here’s Amazon’s choice, an essential MLB ‘47 Yankees cap. Great price too.

But here’s a fine selection of other hats, including some nice white and pink ones. (I even checked off the free shipping box for you!)

Stocking Stuffer Alert! For the lady Yankees fan in your life, check out this selection of earrings! There’s so many great ones I can’t choose a favorite.

Gifts For Yankees Fans, Part 4: Car Items + Other Stuff.

Which man pictured here was most responsible for the Yankees’ success?

It’s not all about going to the Stadium…Yankees fans love good baseball reading, and reveling in rooting for the most successful team in sports.

Does your favorite Yankees fan drive to the Stadium? You can order a seat cover, a license plate frame, a car flag, and even seat belt shoulder pads!

Here’s the classic reason why people hate the Yankees.

Stocking Stuffer Alert! Yankees fans, of course, love to talk rings…and this ring makes a great accessory, especially at this unbelievable price.

For some off-season Yankees reading, here’s a great tome from my late friend Harvey Frommer. Perfect coffee table size.

Some trivia knowledge never hurts to start a conversation in the Stadium…

Even though this book is very dated, I’m adding it because I loved it myself so much…Sparky Lyle is a very funny guy and this fantasy novel is one of my all-time favorite baseball books.

Finally, you can’t bring this to a ballgame, but it makes an outstanding mancave addition.

There you go fans, some great gift ideas for the Yankees fans in your life. Be sure to send them to this blog for more great Yankee Stadium advice!

Tears For Fears’s Raoul and the Kings of Spain easily makes my list of Best Albums You Never Heard. It was their least successful studio album commercially, for a variety of reasons, yet it contains some of the finest work released under the TFF name, IMHO. Hope you enjoy my thoughts about it, and give the record a try if indeed you’ve never heard it.

Raoul And The Kings of Spain – The Best Tears For Fears Album You’ve Never Heard

So I did a search for “What’s the best Tears For Fears album?”, and apparently I’m in a very small minority in thinking Raoul and the Kings of Spain deserves the honor.

“Ranker” puts it dead last of the six official non-compilation releases, resulting from fan voting on the matter. Jeff Fiedler at “Discog Fever” gives it a D+, his lowest rating of all the Tears For Fears records. Fiedler even gives Saturnine, Martial and Lunatic, a mostly unmemorable collection of B-sides, a B- rating, so that’s how little he thinks of Raoul.

If you think album sales reflect public opinion, Raoul and the Kings of Spain is at the bottom of that food chain too. (There’s plenty of other factors involved in record sales, of course, which is pretty much why I’m writing this series of posts). The album topped out at #79 in America, and was the first Tears For Fears studio release to earn no metal-based certifications.

So you might be able to, as I did, find the CD cheaply at your nearest used record store. I may have bought it thinking something like, it’s four bucks, how bad could it be? I took a minimal risk and got a hell of a bang for my buck.

First, a bit of background on TFF’s history prior to this record, then I’ll share what I think makes it great.

After the enormous…and for once in this industry, well deserved…success of 1985’s Songs From The Big Chair, it was four long years before we heard a follow-up from Tears For Fears. That’s a long enough time to make adolescents who loved a few hit songs forget about an artist, but 1989’s The Seeds of Love was a solid effort, spawning quite a few of the band’s best known songs, including “Woman In Chains”, “Sowing The Seeds of Love”, and “Advice For The Young At Heart”. It went as high as #8 on the U.S. album charts and made it to platinum status.

However, while The Seeds of Love is a great record, it lacks the cohesiveness of Songs From The Big Chair, if you’ll permit me to sound like a music critic snob for a second. Several songs, like “Badman’s Song” and “Year of The Knife”, don’t seem to really fit into the record overall. This is a small criticism I have of otherwise excellent Elemental album too.

I have a point here, I think. It’s that Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith don’t seem to be quite in sync as a songwriting tandem on Seeds of Love, with a clear direction on where to take the album. And indeed, the two parted ways (that old “artistic differences” bit) after this record.

(By the way, I’m well aware of my namesake being a key member of the group. Curt with a “C” is far more talented than I am, however, so people rarely get us confused.)

Anyway, Orzabal, who owns most of the songwriting credit for TFF’s best known works, released two records under the Tears For Fears moniker, Elemental in 1993 and Raoul and the Kings of Spain in 1995. But again, there was another four year layoff before Elemental appeared, which is often too long for a pop artist especially to stay at least commercially successful.

This is another important point. Dark Side of The Moon would likely have been Pink Floyd’s apex had they not released The Wall. But had there been a four year layoff between Dark Side and Wish You Were Here, and then another four years before Animals, would The Wall have been so warmly received or even heard by many? It’s doubtful. They might not have even had a recording contract by that point, at least with a big money outfit willing to spend promotional dollars.

So by the time Raoul and the Kings of Spain was released, the music-buying masses had either forgotten about Tears For Fears, unjustifiably considered them in artistic decline, or possibly even considered the band to be an eighties flash in the pan. They weren’t, unfortunately, prolific enough to establish the type of following that results in every new release topping the charts. It had, after all, been a decade since Songs From The Big Chair, and we’d only heard two albums since.

Add to all of this the band’s record label switch (from Mercury to Sony) just before the release of Raoul, which will often disrupt promotional efforts, and the end result is one of the Best Albums You Never Heard.

Raoul and the Kings of Spain, according to Roland, isn’t technically a concept album. But it sounds very much like one, especially with the second half of the album starting with “Los Reyes Catolicos” and ending with the reprise of the same song. The songs reflect a similar theme of familial relationships, and they seamlessly blend into one another, more effectively than on most Tears For Fears albums.

In other words, in this writer’s opinion anyway, it’s the first TFF record since Songs From The Big Chair to feature that “cohesion” again…all of the songs seem to actually fit on the record. There isn’t any song on it that veers away wildly from the overall sound.

There are so many outstanding hooks on Raoul and the Kings of Spain. Every song has a grabber moment to me. But a few really stand out and make me think Roland Orzabal is one of Planet Earth’s great composers.

In “Falling Down”, there’s the wailing guitar backing as Roland sings “falling down, falling down” towards the end of the song. It grows increasingly chaotic and heavier before reaching a sustained, bending high note. The song then goes quiet, ending with the simple guitar riff that it started with. It’s Beatle-esque musical genius.

There’s the mellow guitar phrasing in “Secrets”, with a lead that, like most of the guitar solos on this record, blends beautifully back into the song. Roland made a video for this one, and it’s an obvious single, but for whatever reason it never picked up steam. Speaking of the Beatles, if someone told you it was Ringo playing the drums on this one, you’d easily believe it.

“Me and My Big Ideas” brings back the soulful voice of Oleta Adams, who graced us all with her vocals on The Seeds of Love. This is one of her better performances with Tears For Fears, and that isn’t a knock on her outstanding performance on Seeds. The mellow mood of “Me And My Big Ideas” works perfectly with the haunting “Los Reyes Catolicos” reprise closing the album.

That’s just a small few. But there are no weak cuts on this record.

It’s hard for me to pick a favorite song, but “I Choose You” might be it. It’s a highly emotional piece based around resounding piano chords and slow acoustic guitar. I have listened to Raoul dozens of times, and I still get chills at the piano part backing the second verse, and the increasing volume of the piano and violins as the song climaxes. Orzabal is so good at emotional music, and this one could have been another huge hit if TFF was at their 1985 level of popularity.

In addition to all of the musical hooks, there’s Orzabal’s powerful voice. He is underrated as a singer, not just because of the full impact he can bring to a vocal part, but also his versatility. I’m speaking for myself here, but as a “casual fan”, I literally didn’t know for years that this album didn’t feature Curt Smith. The changing vocal tones in “Falling Down” is a great example. It’s easy to think it’s two singers.

Roland sings passionately throughout the disc, starting with the opening title cut. He goes full boar deep in certain moments, and soft and gentle in others, often effortlessly making the transition in the same song. Many of the hooks on Raoul, such as his howling in the opening track, come from the vocals. The melody lines add just as much drama as the guitar hooks.

Last but not least, the musicianship on Raoul isn’t shabby either. The endings of “Falling Down” and “Don’t Drink The Water” are great examples…there’s some great work on all of the instruments going on, especially as the songs build up to a crescendo. Gail Ann Dorsey contributes superb bass lines, and Alan Griffiths performs marvelously sharing the guitar playing…and songwriting…duties with Roland. (More about Griffiths when I write about Tomcats Screaming Outside.) It’s a truly collaborative effort.

Without Curt Smith, Raoul and the Kings of Spain may not be an “official” Tears For Fears record in many fans’ eyes. I get that. But the album is Roland Orzabal at his songwriting, singing, and performing best, with a backing group that is more than equal to the task. Had Raoul been released in 1986, I’m certain it would have easily achieved multiple platinum status.

Before I lucked into finding this record…and I kid you not, the first I’d heard of it was seeing it in a used record store…I was a casual fan at best, who liked Tears For Fears enough to own Songs From The Big Chair and a greatest hits compilation. Raoul and the Kings of Spain made me a far more appreciative admirer of their work, and I now own and love every Tears For Fears studio record…including Roland’s Tomcats Screaming Outside solo effort. But Raoul is still my favorite. It’s that good.

If you are a Tears For Fears fan at any level, if you even liked them enough to own Songs From The Big Chair or The Seeds of Love or even a Greatest Hits compilation, get this record. You won’t be sorry.

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Photo credit: kellyv on Best Running / CC BY-ND
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Photo credit: Raph_PH on Best Running

My article about the amazing Duck Donuts and their history was published in the Summer 2018 issue of JerseyMan Magazine. Click here to see the article on their website, or click here to see the PDF magazine version. Thanks for reading.

A “duckzillion” combinations of donuts.

Duck Donuts began franchising just five years ago. Today they have sold more than 200 stores, including new openings in Marlton and Avalon. The donut-buying public is ecstatic.

We should all love our jobs as much as Ted Gill does.

It’s refreshing to hear a business professional, with franchise ownership aspirations, unashamedly spout three “really”s describing his product.

“People really, really, really love the idea of fresh, made-to-order donuts,” he says, when asked how business has been since the opening. “Business has been great.”

There’s no measured, calculated tone with Gill. His enthusiasm leads to unabashed exaggeration. “There is a little bit of a wait, but it’s definitely worth it. You get a warm donut, and it’s a million times different than if you got one just sitting around the shelf somewhere.”

Ted Gill is the general manager at one of the newest Duck Donuts locations. He runs the show in the recently opened Marlton store in the Marlton Crossing strip mall, as the rapidly expanding chain of made to order donut shops makes a splash in the Garden State.

A former owner of an East Brunswick pizzeria, Gill found the opening for the Duck Donuts position on Facebook. He spoke with the franchise owners, who probably had an easy time deciding to give him the job. In an age where one bad customer experience gets halfway around the world before a good one gets its pants on, Ted Gill gets it. “People want a fresh, delicious product, and customer service is key. We want everybody to leave here with a smile.”

He plugs his employer like a winning racecar driver. “That’s what we strive to do at Duck Donuts.”

Duck Donuts President Gary McAneney, who is overseeing the company’s ludicrous-speed expansion, shares Gill’s enthusiasm for customer happiness as part of the big picture.

“It is a detail-oriented business. You have to pay attention each and every day to the small stuff,” McAneney says. “I think that’s with any food business, but ours is a little different…we’re discretionary spend. People have choices on whether they’re gonna buy donuts or not. It’s not a must have, so we need to be on top of our game with each and every experience.

“Our franchisees have to understand that. They cannot take their success for granted. Even if the first month or so, lines are out the door and sales are going great, they can’t take their foot off the gas pedal delivering that customer experience.”

Because we all need a purpose.

During the interview with Gill, customers filter in and are greeted warmly by the staff. Employees behind the counter assist them in the challenging decision of how to coat their donuts, send the brand new donuts through the fryer, and carefully cover them with the requested toppings and drizzles, creating dazzling donut artwork that looks as great as it tastes. All in full view for customers…many of them excited children…to watch.

It’s fair to believe that the experience is rehearsed enough that it isn’t just a show for a writer of a popular magazine. It’s also fair to say the experience is different from well-known large donut chains, who have rested on “acceptable” customer service laurels for decades.

So yes, the quality of service at Duck Donuts is noteworthy. But let’s not discount the quality of the donuts as part of the business plan.

Sitting on the counter is a cake container filled with cinnamon sugar donut pieces, which patrons are welcome to try. Usually the taste results in approval for the complete, paid version, with any of a “duckzillion” combinations of coatings, toppings, and drizzles.

Your fresh and warm donut can be coated with strawberry frosting, Oreo crumbs and hot fudge drizzle. Or try peanut butter frosting, with shredded coconut and blackberry drizzle. And so on. Imagine choosing a dozen combinations like this for your team at work. Imagine your suddenly improved stature within the company as you open the box to display them at the meeting. Can’t think of the right combo? Duck Donuts suggests favorites: maple frosting with chopped bacon (bigger than bacon bits) is beloved of course, as is the Key lime frosting donut with graham cracker crumbs, which is only available in the spring.

When this writer’s arm is twisted enough to try one (resulting in a fairly easy “uncle”), he opts for a breakfast sandwich…a maple covered donut sliced in half, with egg and cheese inside and bacon pieces on top. After some thoughtful consideration of the additional bicycle miles required to work it off, I follow up with the aforementioned Key lime edition.

The verdict? Let’s just say that with Duck Donuts in Marlton now, you’re within an acceptable radius anywhere in South Jersey. Go try them. If you can find a better donut, contact me so I can ask Ken to let me do a story on them too.

The fresh coffee is no slouch either, in case one still thinks that’s a reason to frequent the “leading brand” donut stores.

Well worth a wait in a long line.

Duck Donuts founder and CEO Russ DiGilio simply wanted to make the world, or at least the Outer Banks of North Carolina, a better place.

DiGilio, who at the time owned several assisted living facilities, frequently spent vacations with his family in the resort town of Duck (you see where this is going, right?), which, according to Wikipedia, offers “outdoor recreational activities, summer events and concerts, watersports, fine dining, shopping, art galleries, and a nationally known jazz festival.”

The only thing missing from that list, DiGilio noticed, was a fresh donut shop. And so the first Duck Donuts was born.

Well, okay. Don’t quit your day job thinking it’s that simple. DiGilio and his family spent months developing the right combination of batter and shortening…“from absolute scratch”…and researching the market before opening the first store in 2007.

“There are a lot of different food options out there,” DiGilio notes, “and if someone wants to come up with something, they need a niche. They need something unique, a hook to bring people in. You can’t just be any Joe Schmoe hamburger shop. There’s just way too much competition.

“In our days as kids, going to boardwalks and hole in the wall places, we used to get donuts, and they were made to order. You walked up to the window, they made some donuts and you go on your way. Our reminiscing of times when we were on vacation prompted us to do this in a much different way.”

“Fortunately for us, made to order wasn’t very prevalent.”

Nor did it become prevalent in Duck for the first couple of years after the store’s opening. As every business owner knows, success doesn’t come without a struggle. It took some time.

“The first year out of the gate…nobody knew what we were about. On vacation you’ve got a lot of options. It took word of mouth. The third year was the first year we broke even, that’s when it kicked in and we said this has legs. By the fourth year, we knew we had something special.”

Waiting for spring is even harder than waiting in line, but it’s still worth the wait.

To say word of mouth has been an effective marketing tool for Duck Donuts would be quite the understatement.

It’s one thing to inform your soon to be vacationing friend about the amazeballs donut shop on Osprey Landing. It’s quite another level to repeatedly pester the founder about franchising. Duck Donuts gets so many such offers that there is a prominent page on their website about how to do just that.

“It was surprising to me how much a donut impacted people,” DiGilio recalls, “but when you think about it, the whole idea is family based. People were on vacation enjoying themselves, and it just elicited these memories of while people were on vacation of an enjoyable time.

“It was almost like we had a cult following. We had people write in all the time, telling us how much they love our concept, the donuts were out of this world, and they just loved it. They prompted us, year after year, to come to their hometown or teach them how to do what we do.

“Over time it became so overwhelming that we said, we’re gonna kick ourselves if we don’t test the waters and try to franchise this concept.”

Today Duck Donuts is operational in 13 states, with contracts to open in ten more. The actual number of stores is growing so rapidly that an exact number listed here would likely be inaccurate at press time. There have been 200 locations sold since 2013, with 30 stores likely to open this year alone.

Some pretty impressive numbers in just five years of franchising. But to DiGilio, that first franchise opening, in Williamsburg, VA, is still arguably the proudest moment.

“That couple dipped their toes in the water before anyone else and took a huge risk, which we’re eternally grateful for. But the fact that that store opened with such fanfare and has done so well and continues to this day, in the big picture, set us on our way.”

And if Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme aren’t looking over their shoulders yet, they ought to be.

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Helping families in more locations all the time.

Quack Gives Back

Duck Donuts didn’t invent the Chemo Duck, as is easy to believe when one initially views the Quack Gives Back page of their website. Which is why the two entities are a perfect fit for each other.

Chemo Duck is a program dedicated to helping children with cancer overcome their fear and anxiety through the inevitably trying therapy. Children are given a “Chemo Duck”, a stuffed yellow duck with hospital scrubs and a chemotherapy port. Parents can use the Chemo Duck to help their children see what their therapy entails and to help ease the child through treatments.

“Obviously what caught our attention was the duck,” DiGilio explains. “Their whole program is based on childhood cancer awareness and education. They’re not really working for a cure, but they are helping the families who are dealing with this type of illness, who need a lot of support and comfort and education.”

This last September (September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month), all of the Duck Donuts stores gathered together and raised $75,000 for Gabe’s Chemo Duck Program.

“We deal with families, they’re one of our primary customers, mothers with children. This was a nice tie-in, because it’s children dealing with an illness, and they have a duck as their mascot, so it just seemed like a natural relationship. And all families can benefit from what we have to offer and this is our way to give back to those struggling with illness.”

Duck Donuts strongly encourages franchisees to give back, which they are happy to do, through their Quack Gives Back program. The King of Prussia store alone raised over $4,000 for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “We challenge our franchisees to be connected with their local community,” DiGilio says. “We want our stores to be connected with whomever, nonprofits, baseball teams, high schools, churches, etc..”

If you’d like to learn more about Gabe’s Chemo Duck Program, you can find the website at chemoduck.org.

Ted Gill and crew, ready to share their favorite donut flavors.

The Staff’s Favorites

With all of the duckzillion combinations available to choose from, it’s difficult to choose a favorite. But the management team at Duck Donuts is willing to offer their opinions. It’s a testament to the Duck Donuts recipe how even the people running the show sometimes just love the naked cinnamon sugar Duck donut.

Russ DiGilio, Founder and CEO: Personally, when I’m on vacation, I get pretty basic. I like a cup of our coffee, a cinnamon sugar donut and a crossword puzzle. That’s what I do when I wake up in the morning. When I want some fun I’ll do vanilla icing with coconut shredding and raspberry drizzle. Or lemon icing with coconut shredding and raspberry drizzle, they’re my favorites.

Gary McAneney, President: I’m a little more traditional, I just like the lemon with the raspberry drizzle. When I am, on vacation I’ll do the chocolate just with the rainbow sprinkles are traditional. I think that’s one of our best, to be honest.

Kristin Kellum, PR Manager: It’s really simple, but it’s the cinnamon sugar with vanilla drizzle. That warm donut with the cinnamon sugar is just the perfect combination in my opinion.

Nora Branconi, Co-Owner of the Marlton Store: S’mores, which is chocolate icing, graham cracker crumbles and marshmallow drizzle.

Ted Gill, Marlton Store Manager: My favorite is the cinnamon sugar…it’s simple, there’s a million choices you could choose from, but when the warm donut comes out, and the cinnamon sugar sticks to it, it is absolutely delicious. Now, I like all the donuts. The bacon maple donut is delicious. What’s not to like about bacon?

The Jedi Mind Trick: “You can say you love Duck Donuts on Yelp.”

The Critics Rave!

Just a few months into the opening of the Marlton store, Yelp has 37 reviews as of this writing, averaging four stars. Here’s what a few of the customers are saying:

“They don’t make the cheapest donut or the fastest donut, so if you want that, Duck Donuts isn’t for you. But if you want the best donut you ever had, no doubt partially because you got to pick the topping and drizzle on it, Ducks is for you.” – Matt W., Williamstown, NJ

“Trust me when I say you are in for a treat when you come to Duck Donuts. The staff is friendly and the donuts are amazing! This is my favorite donut place in South Jersey!” Nicci G., Burlington, NJ

“I’m so glad you’re a part of the neighborhood. Really. Your donuts are made fresh, on the spot, and your staff is so nice…GREAT DONUTS. GREAT PEOPLE. Thank you!” – Ashley T., Philadelphia, PA

“I had the pleasure of first trying Duck Donuts but from their KOP location. Last year when I found out they were moving into a Marlton location I couldn’t control my excitement. I have been counting down the days to the grand opening and here it is.” – Abigail W., Evesham Township, NJ

“This is a hot new location that will be buzzing for months! Yelp will assist in blowing this up even more and bringing attention to these amazing holes of deliciousness!” – Jason D., Marlton, Evesham Township, NJ

“If you gave this place any less than 5 stars, I don’t think you actually went here. It was busy at 5pm, on a Thursday, in the rain! C’mon people, this place is off the hook. Come one, come all, put all the Dunkin Donuts in the area out of business!!!” – Christopher C., Marlton, NJ

Homesickness factor: zero.

Going Global

If you were apprehensive about a South American vacation because of the absence of Duck Donuts, that’s no longer a problem for you. As this article goes to press, Duck Donuts has recently announced an expansion into the Southern Hemisphere, with ten stores opening in Chile.

According to the official press release, Duck Donuts has signed an international franchise agreement with OBX Alimentos SpA. Their CEO, Marcial Dieguez-Acuna, is quoted as saying “We look forward to having Chileans adopt this new concept with open arms and for Duck Donuts to become a significant player in the sweets industry in Chile. We will offer a superior product to current market standards and with the highest level of quality service.”

Given that the business model is working pretty well in America, it’s not hard to imagine that Chileans will take to Duck Donuts just as quickly. Russ DiGilio says the company is pursuing more international franchising opportunities.

In a few years, you may be able to get a Duck Donut wherever your vacation plans take you.