Hagerstown Suns

Where were you Sunday afternoon? I know there are more than 979 baseball fans in this region. For a change, great weather adorned the area and the Suns were at home on Guaranteed Win Day. One must be careful in choosing his words when he is new to the area without knowing the exact history of an individual or organization. I don't know what the Suns have been like in the past. I only care to know what the present and future has in store. Covering the Suns Sunday was my first venture inside Municipal Stadium.

All season long, when the Hagerstown Suns struck out a player on the visiting team, they were helping to secure the future for area students with Susquehanna Bank's Strikeouts for Straight A's Scholarship Program. Since April, Susquehanna Bank has made a donation for each Suns home game strikeout to a scholarship fund for students pursuing higher education. After months of racking up strikeouts, a $1,000 scholarship was awarded to each of the following students: Jeremiah Cress, Jacquelyn Gallo, Esaite Lakew and Taryn Shank, all students of Washington County schools.

It was a "play ball" kickoff Friday night for the United Way of Washington County as the 2008 fundraising campaign was launched at Municipal Stadium. "We're blowing up balloons and getting ready for a fun evening," campaign director Addie Staebler said Friday afternoon. The United Way hopes to raise a record $2 million during the 2008 campaign. Volunteers, donors, agencies and other community partners gathered for a pregame picnic co-sponsored by Centra Bank, Keller-Stonebraker Insurance and Greg and Ruth Anne Snook.

Hagerstown Suns majority owner Bruce Quinn finally spoke publicly Tuesday about his intentions, outlining a concept proposal for a stadium facility that would keep the ball club in Hagerstown for decades to come. Speaking to Mayor David S. Gysberts and the Hagerstown City Council during a work session at City Hall, Quinn's $25 million stadium concept included $3 million in upfront money for naming rights as well as an annual rent payment of $105,000 over 30 years to fund a large portion of the private-sector share of financing.

Longtime Hagerstown resident Robert Stone, 62, who has been a fan of the Hagerstown Suns since they began play in 1981, said the city of Hagerstown and Washington County should do whatever it takes to keep the minor league baseball team in town. “I'd be sorry to see them go,” he said. “We should do some kind of long-term deal to keep them here.” Stone was among area residents who talked Wednesday about the possibility of the city and  county authorizing a study on the economic benefits of a new or renovated baseball stadium in Hagerstown.

Decked out in a sharp, blue uniform with an expression of battle-ready determination, the bobblehead figure of Capt. Ulric Dahlgren was officially unveiled Wednesday at the Hagerstown Visitor Welcome Center. The figurine, designed in the likeness of the “hero of the Battle of Hagerstown,” is the sixth annual bobblehead sponsored by The Hagerstown Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Hagerstown Suns. The two groups collaborate each year to celebrate Hagerstown history by giving away bobblehead collectibles of important local figures.

HAGERSTOWN - Life's leftovers - the "Booty Sculpt" exercise video, the Big George Foreman rotisserie oven, an electric mosquito swatter with the missing battery cover among them - crowded folding tables in the parking lot of Municipal Stadium on Saturday for a yard sale sponsored by Horizon Goodwill Industries and the Hagerstown Suns. For the vendors, it was an opportunity to clear out a closet or free up a corner of the basement of the outdated, the outmoded and the unused. "I would love to sell my clothes because I've lost a lot of weight," said Jessica Banzhoff of Hagerstown.

Sawyer Dill of Boonsboro Middle School threw the honorary first pitch to Hagerstown Suns infielder Anthony Manuel at Tuesday's Education Day at Municipal Stadium in Hagerstown.

Chamber of Commerce night at Municipal Stadium is Tuesday, Aug. 27, at 7:05 p.m. The Hagerstown Suns host the Lakewood Blue Claws. Tickets will be discounted to $2 each; food coupons good for a hot dog, bag of chips and regular soft drink will be available for an additional $3. The deadline to order and pay for tickets is Monday, Aug. 19. Make checks payable to Hagerstown Suns, adding $2 for postage and handling, and mail to Hagerstown Suns, Municipal...

Recent South Hagerstown High School graduate Dustin Carr holds his very own Hagerstown Suns baseball card presented to him prior to Friday night's game at Municipal Stadium.