ABC-7 Xtra: Chihuahuas Edition

>>> live where news comes first, this is “abc-7 xtra. >>> hello, everybody. it’s sunday, march 27th, 2016. welcome to “abc-7 xtra. i’m bob harp filling in for maria garcia. tonight, it’s all about the dogs from downtown el paso. who would have thought a scrappy little dog could have such an impact on this city? well, mountain star sports did when bringing triple a baseball to el paso. and city council from a few years back. the city is booming like never before, economically and socially. we’re watching new highways, homes, and businesses pop up right before our very eyes. socially, we’re riding a wave of socially, we’re riding a wave of to el paso’s chihuahuas. they’re doing it again by putting el paso on the national spotlight. the el paso chihuahuas are playing host to their parent team, the san diego padres. that is happening this thursday, march 31st, at southwest university park. first pitch is at 6:35. we knew this game was going to be very popular, not many tickets remaining or it is a sellout i believe yes. that is why we’re bringing it to you in your own home. we are broadcasting the game on the cw. there’s a listing of the channels right there, that is digital 7.2, comcast and dish and direct tv, you can find the cw. so don’t miss out on all of the action. now that is going to kick off what is sure to be a very exciting third season. as we know the el paso chihuahuas did very well last season. it is the third time. tonight, my guests in the studio we have the general manager of the el paso [ cheering and applause ] brad taylor and, of course, steve kaplowitz, you are a legend in the sports world. you’ve been covering the chihuahuas from the get-go. thanks for being with us. >> good to be here. >> let’s start with you, brad. season three, before we get to that, lead us up to it. season two ended with a bang. >> we were very fortunate from the continued love the city continues to show us in support all the time. they fill that place up and they make it electric. our guys feel it. we won 11 of our last 13 or something crazy to clinch the division and we did it on the road, and then to come home and host our first playoff game, probably the most electric atmosphere i’ve ever been a part of in my 22 years of minor league baseball. >> i had a friend of mine describe that game, in an arena, you hear the echos. it’s an outside stadium, you still heard the echos. steve, you being in the state, watching the team, talk about the last two years going into the third, how el paso really stands behind it. >> you know the great thing is you think there’s going to be a honeymoon period the first year or so and then things will start to change after that. it really hasn’t. if anything, it’s improved from your one — year one to two, and the game leading off our season i think it’s phenomenal. the fans are into it. they’ve embraced triple a baseball, as good as you could possibly expect. they’re knowledgeable. that’s the one thing the players talk about is how much the fans understand the game and know the team. and that’s one of the beauties about really what makes el paso so much fun for baseball. >> and not even just a sports fan. it’s something to do in el paso. how many people have said there’s nothing to do in el paso? this franchise has really changed that downtown. >> it has. and instead of having to travel to phoenix or dallas around the country to watch major league baseball you can go to albuquerque to watch minor league baseball, you’ve got it in your own backyard and without a doubt the nicest stadium in the minor leagues. even with the new ballpark in nashville, el paso was the nicest ballpark in minor league baseball. >> nice segue to the major layings. this thursday, let’s talk about the big games going on. it’s not very often that el paso has major league baseball playing in the heart of downtown. it’s a big game. >> yeah, we’re really thrilled that our affiliate, the padres, they see the value of coming here. they know how important el paso is in their system and to their organization. and their president mike dee, they know the kind of crowd that we get in el paso and what they’re like and they’re looking forward to coming here. i was just in peoria last week and the people that haven’t been here yet have her nothing but great things. the manager of the padres, andy green, was a diablo in 2003. he’s looking forward to coming home and seeing what was cohen stadium versus southwest university park. so it’s awesome to be able to bring major league baseball to el paso and for a night, thanks to you guys being on the big stage and be a shining night for el paso. >> yeah, because there are so many people who want to go to the game but a sellout is a sellout. >> we have standing room only tickets available and if you grab those and get there early and if you’re a knowledgeable fan there are nooks and crannies that you can find a stool or place to lean. >> i have heard that from several people, you’ve got to find the right spot. >> it should be an electric atmosphere, and i think that our crowd is going to show up, be strong and i think the padres are going to leave here saying everything we heard was true. >> brad, talk about, they’ve been on national television before, the el paso chihuahuas but this is the first local broadcast. >> this is the first game that’s really being carried through a network locally, and you guys are great partners for that, and we had an opportunity to be on cbs sports once before and also, the american sports network and that was through some minor league deals but yeah, this is a game that’s kind of our own so it’s neat to be on locally and it’s good that there’s options for people that maybe can’t attend the game or can watch part of it. or like me are going to record it and watch it later. >> exactly. >> maybe even keep it because it’s a great three hour commercial for our city. >> yeah, sure. and talking about the players, good practice for them playing with a bunch of guys in the bigger league if you will. what a great way to start the third season, hopefully getting to the championship. >> if you think about it most of the time the padres are playing other major league clubs. the best part is that you’re going to probably see padres in padre uniforms who could be coming back to el paso on injury rehab or some other transactions during the season like you could see chihuahuas heading up to san diego to play during the year. it’s going to be a great event. we’re going to be actually kind of excited about this, our radio station, 600 espn el paso is going to be broadcasting the game with tim hagerty, actually joing the padres radio crew and he’s going to get to call three innings of the game and they’re going to work together. so it’s going to be nice for tim and nice for the radio station to have that combined padres chihuahuas feel to it, as well. >> it exceeds the playing field for a guy like tim to be able to call that game, that’s what he’s reaching for, as well. it’s fun for all of us to work that kind of game. >> we’re all excited. our end as well to bring it to you at home. grab your smart phone, e-mail us, tweet us, facebook us, you name it, if you have any questions for the el paso chihuahuas general manager or steve kaplowitz, we are live on the air. also, we want to talk about the food. if you haven’t been to a chihuahuas game yet. also, a lot of excitement. i guess i could turn the ringer off, that is you. we’ll get to those coming up right after the break. stay with us. this is “abc-7 xtra.” >>> welcome back to “abc-7 xtra everybody, i’m bob harp filling in for maria garcia. it’s all about the el paso chihuahuas tonight, season three is about to get underway and what a way we are starting this third season. the san diego padres coming to town on thursday, if you didn’t know. if you don’t have tickets to the game we will broadcast it on the el paso cw. we’re going to talk about some food. i’m sure you guys have the menu memorized. there’s the padres luncheon and tickets are still available and it benefits a good cause. >> the local ymca, that all stays right here in el paso and then the el paso chihuahuas foundation which we use to help various entities and charities throughout town but a lot of it is going to the ymca locally and that’s a deserving group and auditing chance to come in, buy a table of nine and have a chance to sit with a chihuahua or padre player or an individual ticket, and it’s a great chance to sit in a room with people like andy green, the manager of the padres and rod barajas. >> what a good guy. >> he might talk to everybody that’s there. fits right in, in el paso. >> i’ve been watching a lot of videos that you all post of him and team members on your website, just a cool, laid back but focused individual. >> i think that’s a great description of him. he knows what’s important and what is at hand in the priority queue but somewhere in that is having fun every day and making sure that you know what we’re in baseball, we can learn, we can teach but at some point we’ve got to have fun playing a game too, and i think that keeps guys on our toes, too. >> what changes is he bringing? >> we went — there was definitely a difference. quirk was a little bit more regimented and i think that helped our guys when we came in and i think that’s what kind of got us on that run. i think rod coming in is going to allow guys to play loose, free and easy a little bit. but definitely a lot to offer because he played 14 years in the big leagues. he can give them real experience life stuff to help them get there themselves. >> there’s also a lot of el pasoans who rember him from his days with the diablos. he was a good capture, coming up the system with the diamondbacks, went to the big leagues that year and rembers cohen stadium, the fans in el paso. so it’s really nice to now have that, you know — we’re starting to see that next-generation almost, former diablo player turned manager with the chihuahuas. >> now, we have randy from east el paso on the phone with a question tonight. randy go ahead. >> i’ve got a quick question, relative to the ballpark. we were told as voters that if we build it, they will come. they being national companies. how many national companies as a result of the ballpark have entertained commerce or anyone else that they would like to relocate to el paso? that was the sales hook that it was sold on. thank you. and i look forward to your response. >> if i heard his question is you build a downtown ballpark and adds other businesses. here’s the way i can answer it, and it’s probably common information that other people know. over $30 million of development is taking place aside from the stadium since the stadium was built. i know that there’s medical enties and others that now are recruiting surgeons they weren’t getting before because there’s a quality of life addition that wasn’t here before. there are professors that are coming here now that may not have before because there’s things happening in our city and it’s not just the ballpark, it’s the other cultural advantages we have that have sprung up around it. good things are happening in el paso, and i think we’re all growing together. >> when companies come to town, they take their employees to the game. >> absolutely. >> more importantly they’re bringing bodies to our city and that helps the economy. >> absolutely. all right, steve, you’re a fan of food, right? everybody comes back and says the menu. any big changes that you’re aware of? >> here’s the thing. what brad has not said is the media has no knowledge of what food has actually changed for the upcoming season so all we know is what we had last year and the year before, so what are we dealing with? >> i will give you a clue. i’ll give you a hint, two of my favorite additions. a turkey burger and we’re going to have some hand dipped ice cream. >> oh, yeah. >> we’ve had a lot of other frozen goodies and treats. we’re going to have a hand dipped ice cream that you can probably get in a bowl or a cone and who don’t lover that on a summer night? >> a churro dog, that was in the news, too. it was like a hotdog. >> we have not done that yet but sometimes, when you mash them together you could make it — >> as long as you keep the memphis meats dog for another year we’re in good shape. >> all the staples and the favorites will be there including those big old dog bowl nachos. >>> we’ve got another e-mail from harold in northeast el paso telling us to talk about the ticket prices. $1, $2, $3, they went up a little bit. the reaction on why they went up, is that a lot compared to other venues? >> i think what needs to be understood is what maybe people have heard that was reported. you’ve got to take in all factors. we are still the only triple a team that has tickets starting at $5. okay. we have 11 options under $15 on saturdays, our most premium day of the week. we continue to have something for everyone as we promised out of the gate. we’ve got everything from the grass and the outfield seats and the chairs up on the upper swings and the clubs behind home plate and that’s one thing we offered at the very beginning. we have something for everyone and we continue to have that. >> very good. all right, we’ve got much more to come right here on “abc- xtra.” we’re still talking about chihuahuas, almost said diablos for a second. we’ll be right back. if you have any questions, tweet us, facebook us, give us a call. >>> welcome back, everybody. we are talking about the el paso chihuahuas, the big game against the san diego padres. if you didn’t here we will broadcast that on the el paso cw. there’s some standing room only seats. also, a very busy week at southland university park. steve, you’ve got the sports expo, coming up. that’s on sunday. >> a week from today and we’re bringing in yvonne pudge rodriguez, next year we’ll be talking about for the hall of fame and he’s going to be joined by travis frederick, a two time patrol center for the dallas cowboys. a very nice mix between the two. >> it’s free. >> absolutely right. free to get in and fans can come out from 11:00 to 4:00 next sunday. it’s going to be a beautiful day. i saw the forecast just now, 73 degrees and sunny. you can’t beat it. >> you cannot beat that. theme nights, that’s what a lot of el paso chihuahuas fans have been used to. we actually asked people to send pictures. it was crazy. >> you know, it’s part of the fun we have in the off-season and literally like the day the last game happens we start thinking about all the stuff for next year. and going in as you get older you’ve got to continue to be creative. you’ve got to continue to make fun so that people come in and go what did i miss if i wasn’t there last night? so we continue to — we have these theme nights in and out steve and his group are are helping sponsor t-shirt tuesdays, that’s a new thing, first 2,000 fans on tuesday nights get a free t-shirt. military mondays. fireworks on saturdays. some of the other fun things we have happening. there’s a couple we’re going to keep up our sleeves but one of the ones i like, a kiss tribute night, the first minor league team. >> the band. >> i thought you meant making out. >> you can imagine the fun we’re going to have with the music and makeup on that night. but for us it’s about staying relevant, continuing to entertain between the breaks and those nine innings games because there’s 72 games and always having something different. every night is a different party. >> when you all brought the team to el paso you said it’s a family fun event. and there’s something going on. >> it’s all about the entertainment and the fun and the experience. >> we have a tweet right now from daniel popcorn. how about you all do me a solscud let me throw out the first pitch? >> i can make that happen for him. >> you heard it here. you heard it here. and that is the power of technology with twitter. throw a first pitch out. any big names going to be throwing out the first pitch this season? or did you guys do that? >> it depends on what’s happening locally in town and what’s relevant and who might be in and out of here. there’s certain people that we want to make sure are involved. usual suspects, we always want to get the mayor of our city out. we want to get the commanding generals out from fort bliss and honor those men and women that are local but i think as the season goes on you’ll see some other folks in there. hopefully, we’ll get jennifer han on april 29th to come back and throw a first pitch again but we also like to let regular people come out that are having parties or just something special and they want to throw a first pitch, do it. >> the sports expo on april 3rd is on a sunday. a lot of other events like the movies at the ballpark, it’s not just baseball happening in the heart of gillespie you look at all the events that’s non-baseball. southwest university had their graduation there two years in a row, 6,000 plus in attendance. we’ve done 5k’s, the marathon there, the high school baseball series is in full swing right now. we’ve already had three or four games this year. we started with six last year. we have 11 games this year. so that’s grown exponentially from year one to year two. and then we continue to have other things where we bring in spouses of military members to come in and check out something new in our community to show them what they can do while they’re stationed here. there’s always something goi on at that ballpark. it’s never quiet there. >> let’s get back to baseball itself. steve looking ahead at season three, good team? >> i think so. i think the offense is going to be really good. it’s one of my favorite outfields in minor league baseball because the padres have accumulated some good prospects they’ve stocked up on and there’s a young outfielder named margot who came from the boston red sox and he’s got an unbelievable glove. we’re talking about somebody that’s going to be a future fixture in san diego. he’s going to be starting in triple a along with hunter renfor me who spent part of last year here and then you look at the way that a veteran infield could combine with some guys that have been around the majors and the minors. i think the chihuahuas are going to score a ton of runs this year and i’m excited to see just how the pitching will stack up with the offense. >> same question, looking good, right? >> it’s funny. we were in phoenix the past week at spring traing and that’s the word on the street, they’re starting to develop some depth at the upper levels and not everyone can make the major league roster. the ones that can are going to be here with us. hopefully, we’re the beneficiaries of that with the padres and we should be good as steve said certainly on a positions level. >> a couple of minutes left, my voice will hold up here, talk about thursday, if anybody is just joining us, how big of a deal is it that the padres are here? major leaguers, are they eating at the restaurants? >> they probably got to catch a plane back because they’ve got opening day coming up themselves real quickly but, you know, think about how often a major league event happens in el paso. >> not very often! >> 2003 was the last time we’ve had a major league exhibition in el paso and that was when the diamondbacks came in to play the diablos, 13 years now, it’s been a long time since then. and the exciting thing is if the padres are as impressive as we know they will be, the facility, the atmosphere, this could become something where you see this every few years in el paso and that would be fantastic for the fans. >> well, i think also what it does for san diego is when there’s these six year free agent guys in minor league baseball that have a chance to be between triple and the majors they want to play here because it’s the best fans and the best ballpark. >> and real quick, the attendance records. just every year! i think halfway through season two it was already beating all of the full season? >> we sold out 72% of our games the first two seasons and that is a complete credit to this city and the region, man. they’ve latched on to this, they’ve made it fun for us to be there every night and the people deserve the credit for coming out. >> gentlemen, thank you both very much for joining us tonight. a lot of people are excited about season three, coming up. so don’t forget about the luncheon on thursday again, 242-2008. the money benefits the ymca. thank you very much. go chihuahuas and, of course, if you have any questions you can still send them our way, we’ll pass them on, find us on twitter and on facebook. thanks for joining us tonight, everybody. we’ll see you tomorrow. don’t forget, that game on thursday will be broadcast on the el paso cw and shameless plug here, followed by “abc- xtra” at 9:00 with me an nicole.