Rotateller Rotary Club of Owego, NY
Tuesday, November 13, 2007 Gary Williams, Editor

Mati and Joao thanked us for the NYC trip. Joao has been mentoring in the elementary school which he really enjoys. He is playing indoor soccer and is very pleased at the success of the cross-country team. Joao will miss the next two meetings because his host family is taking him to Florida.

INTERACT:

Leah Ayers reported that the Club is deciding on their next project. One consideration is helping to paint the Apalachin Library.

PROGRAM:

Steve has been bringing us excellent programs each week. Scott Brown is the General Manager of the Binghamton Mets and appears to be a man who really enjoys his work. Most of us could not believe that the stadium is starting its 17th season. This is the time of year when they come out of hibernation. They view the team and stadium as a community center. They work hard to attract people to the stadium and games.

(As an aside, one of my patients this afternoon said that his father fought with Bill Veeck in WW II. There probably aren’t too many who remember him, but he was the first to bring fireworks – and midgets – to baseball and fancy scoreboards.)

There will be fireworks at 24 of the 71 home games this season in addition to the video score board which was installed last year. Ann said that she liked the $1.00 hot dogs. Scott shared that the hot dogs were $1.75 in 2000 and they sold 20,000 that year. Now that they have lowered the cost to $1.00, they sold 65,000 last year. Scott shared that the double A players make $2,000 to $3,000 per month during the five months of the season and get $20 meal money per day when they are on the road. He shared that this is 90% Yankee Country, but that doesn’t mean that fans can’t enjoy their local team. He shares with his staff that nobody needs us, but they work to create a desire for people to make the B Mets part of their leisure activities. Like the Press & Sun Bulletin, the B Mets are a significant part of our community.

For those of you who have not read it, I recommend Moneyball by Michael Lewis. Besides being a very interesting book about baseball and personalities, it is an interesting read on decision-making in general.

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