LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Louisville Bats are preparing for the start of the 2022 season.
The Bats will take on the St. Paul Saints on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m.
Louisville Bats President Greg Galiette says they've been preparing for Tuesday night for the entire off-season.
"As I've been out speaking at various events and things I can just sense in the community, almost a two years worth of cabin fever. People have all this energy pent up and they just want to get outside and start getting back to doing things the way they were doing them back in 2019," said Galiette. "We're looking forward to hopefully a great season on the field, hopefully our team will be competitive, but if not, just like Bats baseball in year's past we will have lots and lots of fun."
Galiette says for opening night, there will be $1 hot dogs, popcorn, chips and Pepsi. There will also be $5 craft brews from Against the Grain, Atrium Brewing and Fall City Brewing.
Before opening night, Galiette says there are still plenty of job openings for people interested in joining the team.
Louisville Slugger Field prepares to welcome fans back for 2022 season.
"We're still looking for ushers during the games, ticket sellers and a couple college interns," said Galiette. "If you're in college and you have an interest in maybe getting into professional sports, be sure to give us a call."
After multiple seasons impacted by COVID-19, Galiette says staff and fans are ready to get back to the field for a more normal baseball season.
"Imagine if your company was basically shut down for an entire year, which is basically what happened to our industry of Minor League Baseball. We were closed for the entire 2020 season and we had about 3-4% of our normal revenue coming in and that was it. We went from a normal staff of around 40 people, all the way down to five individuals," said Galiette.
Those five that remained on the staff during the 2020 calendar year, including Galiette, all took a 50% pay cut.
"It had a dramatic effect on our business and we're so excited to be back opening up on our normal timeframe of April and getting a full season in and really just getting back to normal," said Galiette.
Galiette says he is also excited for fans to see the new amenities at the field after renovations were done during the off season.
Tuesday's game is the first of six straight between the Louisville Bats and the St. Paul Saints. Tickets for those games and the rest of the season can be purchased online here.
Copyright 2022 WDRB Media. All rights reserved.
