Mascots, Fans & Atmosphere

Mascots: Cagey Canary (1995-) and Jorge (1999-2003)

"Cagey" Canary (1995-)

The New Improved Cagey (1999)

According to his '95 baseball card

Bats:

Distant Cousins

Throws:

Wings it

Height:

Tall

Weight:

Feather Weight

(Original) Hatch Date:

June 2, 1995

Resides:

"The Bird Cage"

... Cagey enjoys taking bird baths and making Canaries fans smile. Cagey's favorite foods include Whiskey Jacks and Goldeyes. ..., Cagey is a registered ornithologist. Cagey spends the off-season with his family in the Canary Islands.

Cagey strolls his bird cage throughout the game making mischief like polishing bald men's heads or dumping ice down the shirts of (somewhat) unsuspecting fans. He also leads the "Little Birds" on Sundays, and takes part in some of the between inning festivities like the tortilla toss.

For '99 he had a make over and a new look -- and again in 2003, but does much the same mischief he always has.

Jorge (1999-2003)

Jorge (pronounced "Hoar Hey" not "George") continues to patrol the park. Originally a "fan gone wild" he has found a home at the ballpark leading many of the contests between inning as well as leading cheers. Whatever Cagey doesn't do, Jorge does.

In 2004, Jorge was succeeded by another MC.

The Bird Cage

Main concourse area with new skyboxes (2000)

This could be called the "Gilded Cage!"

For the first few years this park lacked some necessities like a visitor's locker room. Over time the city has spent money to turn a simple city ballpark into a wonderful, friendly place to visit. The main concession area still has its turnstile maze, but now it's under a the new skyboxes (remember that for shelter from rain).

Dakota Golf Putt Putt: Just ONE part of the Kid's Zone

The am entities are numerous from the Fun Zone, (free) miniature golf course, family berm, new right field seating, huge BBQ area, hot tub seat in left, skyboxes, new scoreboard with video screen, and still much, much more.

These changes have done turned this from a somewhat frumpy little community ballpark to one of the BEST in the league. Details such as the new brick exterior fence to the new press box have added considerable character previously lacking in earlier incarnations.

Fans

Catch the Canary Fans

Other than cheering for the "Beer Batter" (equivalent to the Saints K-man, except for 1/2 price beer) this is a good crowd. We had the good fortune to be there for the Sports Illustrated photo shoot in '95--so the crowd was in an even better mood for the picture too.

Some of my visits there included meeting some of the locals (like Brian) who kept web pages there. Even if you haven't contacted them, it's a very friendly place to visit.