A doggone good time By Skip Maloney
The SwampDogs are celebrating 10 years of baseball at J.P. Riddle Stadium, affectionately known around these parts as “The Swamp.” And for the father and son owners, that means another year of ensuring that “every
fan entering the ball park has a fun, memorable experience.” Or at least that’s the official job description of Lew Handelsman i.e. “Instigator of Fun.” His son, Darrell Handelsman, is the team’s director of operations and manager of the 23-man roster hailing, this 2010 season alone, from 15 different states. Together, this father-son team has been at the helm of the Coastal Plains League
team for six of the team’s 10 years, and if attendance is any measure, Dad’s been doing his job. Attendance has increased nearly every season and in 2009, the stadium hosted more than 65,000 fans. Son Darrell’s been doing his job, too. As the 2010 season got underway, he had
compiled a 171-99 record in six years, which, loosely translated, means that since Handelsman has been on board, the SwampDogs have won just shy of two out of every three games they’ve played. Both father and son have invested another $35,000 to further improve The Swamp
and the entire baseball experience, not just the game. “We take the approach that we have 31 games (at home) and we want to blow every one of them out,” Darrell said. “One of the reasons for our success is that while we don’t take ourselves too seriously, we take the organization and the business very seriously.”
PORTFOLIO Accents
Want more?
Catch the SwampDogs every summer, May through August. A complete list of the roughly 60 home and away games may be found at www.goswampdogs.com or by calling 910.426.5900. Tickets at “The Swamp” are $6 for general admission and $8 for box seats.
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