We are moving people from their seats at Bush Stadium to Victory Field. I remember Max phrased it that it's the challenge of a lifetime. The Indianapolis Indians are most closely related to the Green Bay Packers, both being community owned teams. That's wild. And I say, "Get back behind the plate." He thinks it's the guy from the radio station in between innings, so he throws him out of the game.
The radio broadcast host. Yeah. What are you the most proud of when you look back at the last 30 years of Victory Field? From South Bend to Evansville and everywhere in between, this is Get In, the show focused on the Hooser State and the incredible stories happening here today. I'm Nate Spangle, founder of Get Indiana, and I will be your host for today's conversation. Today's episode is powered by the Kelly Evening MBA program.
As we talk to Hoosiers like you across the state, we're inspired by the professionals shaping Indiana's business landscape. If you've reached a point in your career where you're asking what's next, but you've worked too hard to put a pause on your current success, this program was built for you. It was ranked the number one part-time NBA in Indiana by US News and World Report in 2026. The Kelly Evening MBA program is based right in the heart of downtown Indie. Here, you won't spend 2 years just learning business. You'll spend two years doing it better.
You'll study alongside ambitious local peers, learning from faculty who bring the boardroom to the classroom so you can apply new strategies at work the very next day. Whether you're aiming for the executive level or ready to navigate a new industry, the Kelly Evening MBA ensures you keep your momentum while building your future. Learn more at go. iu. edu/kelly evening MBA. That's go.
iu. edu/kelly eveningmbba. Now, let's get into today's episode. My guest today is back and better than ever. We are at Victory Field and we're talking all things 30th anniversary of the Vic in downtown Indianapolis on site for anyone who's watching at home. Uh we're super excited that this weekend on July 11th they are celebrating their 30th year 30th 30-year anniversary here at Victory Field.
They're going to have a pregame concert with Myella Rick Shaw in Centerfield Plaza. And the biggest fireworks show of the season is happening this Saturday night to celebrate 30 years of Victory Field. I'm really excited to have Randy Lewandowski back on the podcast to talk all things Victory Field, how the stadium ended up coming together and how important Victory Field is in this development of that that corridor of downtown Indianapolis. And I I will say we haven't have many repeat guests. Randy was, I believe, our first episode that we recorded that Robert edited that like kind of got everything going. So, we're really pumped to have you back on the show.
Randy, welcome back. Thanks for having me, Nate. Looking forward to it. Man, I am super excited uh to tell this story a little bit today. Uh last time we covered, oh my gosh, maybe like a hund something years of Indians baseball in the state of Indiana. But for this episode, we're really honing in on what Victory Field means to the city of Indianapolis.
And you know, this these past 30 years in which you have seen all of them. I uh I believe if anyone listened to the last episode, Randy started with the Indianapolis Indians in 1994 as an intern. As an intern. Wow. And so you did two and a half seasons at Old Bush Stadium and then ended up uh coming over here. I believe the what the door opened July 11th, 1996, correct?
Wow. So, when you first started in 1994, obviously you're the intern, so they're probably not letting you in like the CEO conversations, but you know, 2 and a half years later, was the conversation around building a new stadium, like was that already planned out? And had that already been set in stone? It wasn't set in stone. I think it was aspirational in '94. There was some talk of it.
Uh, there were some facility standards that came out for Major League Baseball. There were new ADA guidelines and Bush Stadium struggled to meet any of those. It was built in the 30s, wasn't uh maintained very well over the years. And uh I believe there was a cost study done and it was 16 million to refurb Bush Stadium and $18 million to build a brand new stadium. I think when you're looking at that, I think our city leaders and our leadership thought, well, you ought to build something new for $18 million. Yeah.
And was the capital improvement board already a thing at that point? They were. Yes. Okay. Yeah. So that is like what was putting together it would have been Market Square Arena at that time and the Hooser Dome kind of like and for anyone we did uh there have been several episodes we've done in the past like learning about the capital improvement board and how I believe it's the city county like they own the stadiums and lease it to teams.
Yes. Is that kind of how that works? We're even a little more unique because we're on state land a part of White River State Park. So the state is involved from that perspective. They lease it to the CIB who then subleasases it to the Indianapolis Indians. Wow.
really weird, but it's you you as you go around Indiana, what you see in Indianapolis is that cooperation, right, between all these government agencies and Victory Fields is a perfect example. We have state, city, and then a private entity involved. Yeah. How many employees did the the team have when you started in '94? There were seven full-time employees and I think we had three interns and we all worked in the box office. And when we say box office and ticket office, I mean, we answered the phones, voicemail didn't exist, we handwrote messages, we sold some tickets, we did a little bit of everything.
Wow. What was like what was average attendance like those seasons you were at uh the old Bush Stadium? I if I had to remember, probably 300,000 total. Uh so think 4,000 a game, 3,500 a game. Um but we didn't sell a lot of tickets. There were a lot of corporate buyouts and giveaways and those kinds of things.
So, uh, we had to we had to evolve our business model when we moved to Victory Field. What was the reputation like when when people thought of the Indianapolis Indians and going to Bush Stadium, was it like how did the the community perceive going to a game? You talked about the the stadium had kind of fallen into disrepair in some places. Like, was it kind of like, oh, you know, I don't know. What was just the public perception? Oh, people loved Bush Stadium.
Really? It's a miniature Wrigley field and actually Bush might have been I don't know exactly which one was built first but they stole the ivy idea from from Bush. We talked about this the the Chicago Cubs came down someone came down and saw that there was ivy on the walls of Bush Stadium in Indianapolis and the Chicago Cubs stole the ivy from the Indianapolis Indians. That is true. Um that's so so crazy. But but back to your question, I mean, there was a reverence for Bush Stadium.
And a lot of people don't like change. I mean, when you think about that, and there were so many generational memories, which baseball tends to do anyway, in and around Bush Stadium. And there was some concern and, oh my gosh, we're going to go downtown and parking and traffic and congestion. It's going to be more expensive. Uh, there were all those hurdles that we had to overcome as an organization. There was excitement from um a good portion of the fan base, but there was another large portion that uh there was a lot of trepidation.
Well, and that's interesting because the Indianapolis Indians organization is a a a staple to the city of Indianapolis. I mean, the oldest home team, right? I know you guys talk about that 1902. And also the ownership like at one point everyone had to basically crowdfund to save the Indianapolis Indians in the franchise. There's like stock options that local people held, right? Can you take me through how did that happen?
Well, it still continues. So yeah, in the 50s uh 6,672 shares were sold to save the team. Uh and it was looked at mostly as a community donation and there was a lot of things that happened in the interim, but in the 80s there was a big reverse stock split brought things under control. narrowed uh the amount of shareholders, but yeah, we're community, right? I we're community owned. We've been a community asset, but it's just evolved over the years.
And and you asked, how were we perceived? I I wouldn't say we were an afterthought when we were on West 16th Street, but we weren't as top of mind as what we are now. and being uh the first new sports facility built in Indianapolis um you know in 96 since 1984 when the dome was was built and completed um that was that's a 12 years is a long time uh and just to have suites was a big deal. The way the ballpark opened up to downtown there were so many things that I think just turned it around and uh helped make us become uh part of the fabric of the community that we are now. But the interesting piece about all of that, building a new stadium 12 years later, uh, after the dome was that this part, this corridor of downtown Indianapolis was largely under undeveloped, right? When you think about Diamond Chain across the street, you think this was, if you go back and look at it, you can still find it on Google Earth in 1995, 199 maybe 1984, this was a gravel parking lot.
Yeah. So, where did a location like you again? You're there's 10 employees at roughly at the time as you're coming through, where did the idea that this was actually going to happen come from? And how did they pick this location? It ultimately ended up at this location because in the rule book, while it's not an absolute, it is a guideline for a ballpark to open up to the northeast. Uh just the way the sun sets and and just uh shadows and batters eyes, all those other kinds of things, the way the sun sets.
Um, and as you sit and you look northeast from this site, the city of Indianapolis unfolds in front of your eyes. So, um, I think the site where Lucas Oil uh, ended up was considered as well, but it would have been a little bit of an off-center view. Uh, I think there was another site somewhere else in the city that was being considered, but um, I know Max Schumacher and Bruce Schumacher really felt like this is the spot where we needed to be and really focused in on the corner of Western Maryland. By that point, how many different shareholders were there? like who got to sit at the table or and like who really from the Indians perspective who got to say that we're going to move to a new stadium? Max Schumacher would have headed that up.
He's our chairman of Mmeritus. Max is still alive. Uh though he's in his early 90s and doesn't get out to the ballpark very much. Uh Max was the driver. We have a board of directors and and the the board of directors back at that time were certainly going to be heavily involved. Um as was Bruce and then also Cal Burlson who at the time was our assistant GM.
That was really it. the rest of us on staff, we heard about it. We got little nuggets. I remember we went down to the city council uh meeting to show support for Victory Field because it wasn't a slam dunk, Nate. Uh there were some people that didn't want a minor league ballpark in downtown Indianapolis, right? We just lured the Colts.
We're a new NFL city. Uh there was some of that thought. Uh could we manage it? Would there be enough demand? And I mean there there were some questions in the mid '90s and we did have to prove ourselves as an organization when we moved in uh to show that we could maintain the facility that we could market the facility and fill the facility which as people as you look back did it work well I think so because Victory Field uh resonates not only in Indianapolis and in central Indiana but throughout the state and probably throughout the country from a minor league baseball perspective. Well, I mean, in even at the 25 year mark, was it Victory Field named the best minor league ballpark in America by Sports Illustrated?
Yeah, we've been uh there various honors over the years. I think what usually newer ballparks are going to win those kinds of awards, but for a ballpark that was 25 or 30 years old to be in the top two, top three, top five, I think is a testament to how it was designed, how it was built, how it's been managed, how it's been maintained. So, Capital Improvement Board, how many venues do they own around the city? They've got the convention center, Lucas Oil, Gainbridge, the Virginia Avenue parking garage, I think Hudnut Commons, which is the park right across the street, and then Victory Field. So, for you all, you know, you think about the Pacers and you think about the Fever now and you think about, you know, Lucas Stadium in the Colts, like being the I'll say being the minor league team of that. How I don't know how did that relationship go as you know obviously they decided to build the stadium but you're you are the minor league team how do you start to be like this is essential and if you look around this area like the west side of you know the mile square is that what they call yeah the mile square it's like this is a a pillar of that part and the development that's happened around here the JW Marriott ends up coming there like how did you and the team and the staff like navigate going from being thought of as the minor league ballpark to Indy's oldest home team and and you know build that respect around the Indianapolis community.
I think you just do it year by year. You make sure you take care of your fans. You've put together good plans and you execute them. Now, it's not that simple. Uh but I think people have come to know what to expect when they come to Victory Field. And uh it's going to be clean, it's going to be safe, um it's going to be affordable.
And we built our message around affordable family fund. That has been our mantra. It used to be our main slogan that we would lead with every year, but uh that is still paramount to what we do with our mission and our vision is affordable family fund and that is our niche amongst all those other things that you mentioned in the marketplace and that's what sets us apart. But the ballpark does have a bit of a major league feel to it. It's one of the largest minor league facilities. Um and we had to work really hard to build that.
Uh but I think that's what we've focused on over the last 30 years and we've been successful doing it. Yeah, absolutely. And I do I don't know if you're going to know the numbers, so I'm going to put this question out there and and if we have to we can uh we can go past it, but Colts games, Pacers games, fever games, and games home games at Victory Field for the Indianapolis Indians, where do you rank in visitors that come through the door? All about the Well, the Fever are a little less because they play less home games. Yeah. Um, off the top of my head, I mean, our quick math is we play 75 home games and we average about 8,000 fans a game.
So, say anywhere between 550 and 600,000. That our goal every year is to make sure we eclipse 600,000. We haven't done that in the last couple of years. But, um, when you add in the Colts, think 60,000 plus their 10 home games, that's 600,000, right? The 10 home games. That varies with preseason and now the extra home game and all that.
Pacers at 15 or 17,000 times the 41 home games, those kind. So, as far as total volume, yeah, uh it's about the same. Now, we need it. We need 75 dates to get there. Uh but what we provide for downtown Indianapolis in the Southwest Quad and White River State Park, what we call home, is a constant churn. Um that's 7 or 8,000, 75 dates from April through midepptember.
And that's important to the city. Uh we're not a Colts game where 60,000 descend on a Sunday. It's a 9,000 crowd that we had in our previous home stand on a Tuesday night. Uh that's great. We 99300 on a Wednesday afternoon day game. Yes, we mess up traffic in downtown Indianapolis when we do that.
Uh but we have to hit different audiences at different times and uh that's what I think success is called and and we've been able to figure that out over the course of of the seasons and us season uh to have that constant churn through downtown Indianapolis. Yeah. Now, one of the interesting pieces is clearly if you were going to build a new stadium and open it up, you would do it in the off season. You would get to the beginning and the first pitch that would be thrown out in a new stadium would be, you know, sometime in April when the first game happens. But that is not what happened with Victory Field. Can you talk to me about the timeline and how you ended up?
Again, we just said July 11th marks 30 years of Victory Field. That is smack dab in the middle of the season. You lally like one day the like the bats are being swung at Bush Stadium and then couple weeks later, is that how it went? Like you're now playing here as a home team? Yeah, we finished July 3rd, uh, 1996. Again, there were delays.
We were supposed to start the the 96 season um at Victory Field. There were just construction delays. I don't know what all those details were. Uh but we pivoted and it was important that we did get some of the season um from a financial perspective in 1996. And I mean I remember Max phrased it to our staff that it's the challenge of a lifetime. I look back on that some 33 seasons later.
Um it was a challenge, maybe not of a lifetime. we did have a pandemic when we didn't play a season. That might have been my challenge of a lifetime. Uh but that evolves I think as you go through the generations but yes to to move there wasn't Nate we didn't have technology back then. I mean I worked in the box office and as we were moving people from their seats at Bush Stadium to Victory Field we had this big map and we use map ts to move people in their seats like for their uh for like their season for their season lo for their seat locations. I mean, it was silly things, but that's what we had back then.
And you had to make it work. And um it was crazy. And um but it it was an incredible learning experience. And you were thrown into the fire. And we just had to figure it out. And we had to come together as a group and as a staff to to figure that out.
I'm just like imagining like that one random family that, you know, came down in May from South Ben. They're like, "Oh yeah, you're going to love Bush Stadium." And they get there, it's supposed to be a game. And they're like, "Wait, where is everybody?" This is like, oh, it's now July. And so, talk to me about the last game at Bush Stadium and the first game at Victory Field.
Yeah. So, big send off at Bush Stadium. Again, we'd played there for 60ome years. Um, what I remember um is we dug up home plate, put it in a limousine, and drove it to the site after the game. Had a big postgame ceremony and everything else. And that's what I remember the most.
Um was digging up home plate and then we transported via limousine. I remember for me whether this is a claim to fame or not, I don't know, but I took the last available shift at Bush Stadium from for an Indians employee. I worked in the box office and we still had to operate both box offices just because of what you just said. Is there confusion about where do I go or what do I do? So we wanted to make sure we kept Bush Stadium open. Well, on on the morning of July 11th, I worked till noon at Bush and then walked out, locked the door, and I'm not sure anybody ever went back to conduct official business because we'd moved into Victory Field.
Now, Victory Field wasn't completely done. For instance, the suite that we're in right now, uh, uh, doing this podcast, uh, this was Max Schumacher's office cuz our office level was not done. Um, and as the story goes, back then, Max used a typewriter. I talk about technology. Computers were not really in I mean they were around but they weren't they weren't ubiquitous through our office. Didn't Max use a typewriter like yes seven years ago or something like like I mean when he when did he retire or when did he 2016?
Okay. But I I hear stories that he was still using a typewriter like well into the Microsoft Office era. He never he he would have tried to learn to use a computer but we never quite got there with him. So and that was okay. Uh he was a really good typer by the way. Um, but I mean, so, but it was those kinds of things and like our centerfield gates weren't quite done.
Uh, there were lots of things that to the general public when you came in to watch a game, uh, you didn't know, uh, the park could operate, but it wasn't completely done even July 11th. Uh, so we worked really hard to make sure that we finished it up, uh, that following off season with the the centerfield gate entry and some of those other things, the office space. Uh but yeah, it was a challenge uh at the time of the lifetime and then you know the things evolved but it was it was it was great. Okay, so July 11th, 1996, you're over at working at Old Bush Stadium, but was there a moment where it's just staff members talking about how you're opening the doors for the first time? Like there's only one grand opening of Victory Field. Did Max give uh you know his like rallying cry or like was there a moment where you just felt like oh my gosh we're we're opening a brand new stadium like this is this is wild this is so cool.
Max is not a rahrrah guy. He is a nose to the grindstoneed and we're just going to get to work kind of a guy. Uh what I do remember um at the time was the CIB executive director was Barney Levengood. Um and I've come to have over the years developed a really good relationship with Barney. I would tell you back then um I don't know how let's just say they were helping build a stadium and it was built on a very tight budget. So that caused some some friction and some tough decisions.
I remember Barney uh addressing our staff. We all assembled behind the third base dugout and by then in 96 we had we doubled our staff from seven to 14 full-timers and maybe had four or five interns. So, let's just say we had 20 people and we're assembled behind uh the first or the third base dugout and I'm looking I'm like, who's this guy telling us what to do and how to run this ballpark? But it was there was just as I mentioned earlier, how were how were we going to do it? Could we do it? And so that was our that was our rahrra speech, but I remember looking at some of my my buddies that I worked on, who's this guy?
Uh but that was our fire up speech. Who owned Bush Stadium? The parks department. Oh, and so they were So that was totally different. Yes. And and and I can take you through the quick lesson on that, too.
Um is that with the parks department, when something went wrong or ary physically with the with the facility, we submitted it to the parks department and it just became another work order. And some things had higher priorities than others, like if you had a flooded bathroom or but if a light bulb was out or other things, it just got put into the normal work order system. And you do that over a period of 60 years, it's just not going to be maintained as well. Yeah, it's like, yeah, we got to go down to Military Park and, you know, spray paint and like cover up some graffiti and then we got to go over we got to fix some light bulbs and do some other things. So, one of the things that was so smart with Max and and a gentleman by the name of Michael Browning who put together the lease for uh the ballpark on our behalf is that we wanted to take on that responsibility of repair and maintenance. And it was a genius move.
Uh it cost us a lot of money. Uh, we spend as much money as anybody in minor league baseball on what I would just call R&M, repairs and maintenance around the ballpark. But that's become our rallying cry is the ballpark. And the best compliment, Nate, that we get in this day and age is people walk in and say, "I can't believe that place is 30 years old. It looks like it's brand new." And that that's that warms my heart and everybody else's because we made that decision as an organization back in the mid '90s that we wanted to take that on.
We also get to keep the revenues that helps pay those expenses. Um, but that piece was so important to the longevity of this ballpark. Yeah. And you talk about being a good steward of this space, you know, like uh that the capital improve the city and like the locals own, right? Like is that like you know taxpayers would be what's behind the CIB, correct? Yes.
And it's like you coming in there and say, "Hey, no, no, we want to own this and we want to make sure we're taking good care of this so that yeah, you can last 30 years." And that when people come in, they're not like, "Oh, that's old Victory Field." It's like, "No, this place, I mean, again, you guys have done upgrades over the time, which I am curious about because what was the capacity when you first opened in 1996?" Yeah, it was uh 15,500 and now we're down to about 13750. Talk me through that. where you would think with the rise of like popularity and activities and things like that like uh stadiums want to be bigger and you know put more tickets in there but like even with I just saw um the University of Memphis did you see that they're like cutting out maybe like 10,000 seats to create different experiences on game day.
It is about premium social different kind of spaces. You still need to have just a regular box seat or a reserve seat or what have you. Uh but it's that experience food and beverage attached or to be able to stand or move around extra space and that's what we've done over the years whether it's uh with the Yingling Landing with the Corona Premier patio with the Elements Financial Club. All of those things are a premium experience that have some sort of food and beverage and social space um attachment to them. That's what people want. That's what market research tells you.
If you look at any new facility that's being built, that is paramount. Size doesn't matter as much. quality does and those are the things we've had to do over the years to um keep the ballpark relevant uh keep us relevant and to be able to compete uh with other venues. So, what did it look like in 96 when it opened from like a seating perspective? Like what what would it have looked like and what would have been different? Where the Corona Premier patio was a 1,000 seat um think high school metal bleacher.
Um there was there was some impetus somewhere along the way during the design process to get over 15,000. How, why, where, I'm not quite sure. Um, and that thousand seat metal, it sat on a big concrete pad back there and it was like a monolith. And if you ever sat in it, I and we we back then we probably used it four or six times a year where we needed it. Some people would gravitate up there. I'm not sure why cuz in the summertime they're metal alum they're aluminum bleachers and they face right into the sun.
So it was never going to be a very good experience uh for the fan. My like the bottom of my thighs already burned from thinking about that. Exactly. Right. and then you'd lean back to the back and then then you'd fry your back. Um, so that was and so we decided again, you think about fan amenities.
Well, that's when we put in our first iteration of a picnic area. We had one back behind the bleachers. It was dark, it was it was dingy. Um, somewhere in the early 2000s into the 2006 seasons when we removed the bleacher, uh, put in a nicer picnic deck and then have since replaced that here in the last year or so with what you now see as the Corona Premier battery. That that is a prime example of taking a forested area or an underutilized area and turning into something that you can activate uh that becomes a social space. Yeah, cuz you did the same thing over here in left field with the Yingling Landing Correct, which is now like a a spectacular place.
I'm not saying it wasn't before. I don't know what was that just open. Uh if you look at it closely, the old sections 101 and 102, we had regular seats in those areas and we had to change the seating rakes to put in the tables and the drink rails that we have in there. Uh and then the bar was built on what was just the big concrete pad that was back there. We had just a lot of unused open space and um to smartly think about how best to utilize that. I think we've done that.
I think the best thing we've done with all those improve all these improvements, the landing, the the patio, the club, is that when you look at them now, you'd be hardressed to know they were add-ons. They fit the architecture, the style, u the color scheme, everything about the ballpark. And that was that's always been very important to us when we do that is as we contemplate those and future improvements is to make sure that it always looks like it fits the ballpark. and what Victory Field was meant to be. Yeah. I mean, truthfully, you walk in, I feel like it was it last when did the Corona premiere patio go in?
Last June. Was it okay last June? So, maybe early in the season, were they still like finishing it up? Yes. And so, it's like now I look out there and I'm like, "Oh, yeah. That's how it's always been."
And it's like, "Wait, no, no, it hasn't. It's new." as as we've gotten into this whole victory field 30 uh and and talking about the anniversary, you forget about a lot of things and and just like what you said, you envision and look at things and you forget about things and this is it's been very refreshing for me to think back to times were much simpler in the mid '90s when we moved in. Uh but they still were hard. They're just it's just different, right? And just to think about some of the stories and the anecdotes and uh the mistakes and the successes.
It's been fun to to to take a look back. Yeah. When you talk about this corridor of the downtown city of Indianapolis, how has the building of Victory Field fueled growth on the west side of downtown over the last 30 years? Yeah, I I would say the Southwest Quad, but also downtown Indianapolis. I mean, the whole thought process in the mid '90s was let's revitalize downtown. Give me Okay, so as someone who was not alive until 97, talk to me about what downtown Indianapolis was like in the mid '90s.
There was some activity during the day, but in most cases, if there wasn't um a convention or a Pacers or a Colts game, I think people would classify it as tumble weeds through downtown. Um you know, at 5:00 things shut shut down and people went home. Uh Circle Center Mall, you remember Circle Center Mall? I do. opened in '95. Victory Fields outlasted it.
Um, you mentioned MSA, uh, Market Square Arena and the RCA Dome. Uh, both, even though they were built in the early '7s and and early 80s, Victory Fields older than either one of those buildings were before they were closed. They both lasted about 25 years. We're in our 30th year. Think that when I think about that, that that amazes me. Yeah.
What do you Why do you think that is? I mean, a lot of stadiums have about a 20 to 30 year life cycle because of all the things we talked about earlier about the amenities and the social spaces and maybe they thought they should build it downtown, then they went to the suburbs or vice versa. I mean, there's always that cycle that happens. Um, I think our leaders in Indianapolis still are bullish on downtown Indianapolis. It cycles up and down. We all know that.
Um, but how do we cycle it back up? I don't know. But, um, that's something that we're all working hard on, you know, within the city. But I think um driving that people downtown 95 Circle Center Mall 96 Victory Field 99 uh the Fieldhouse all those things came together. NCA moved in in the early 2000s that really spawned some more development at White River State Park with the Indiana State Museum. The Idol Jorg uh Museum had already been there.
They were there first and the zoo was across the river. So you start piecing that together. But then I think the biggest catalyst for us was the JW Marriott. West Street was almost like a barrier or a moat around Victory Field. And once the JW the construction was painful, uh, but once it got done, um, it really opened up just foot traffic, the sky bridge, it just seemed to drop a drawbridge across West Street. It's still a tough road to get across, but I think that was probably the biggest thing that helped open it up and why you're starting to see even more development um, on the west side of Indianapolis.
For sure. Well, I mean, over 30 years, not only has this side of of downtown, the Southwest Corridor, the, you know, West Street, the whole nine yards, uh, really become, you know, revitalized and and refreshed, but the brand of the Indianapolis Indians also has been refreshed over the last 30 years. And that was a a huge campaign I know that you and your team worked on for years, like literally years. Talk to me about going through the process. Uh, I mean, I don't think Yeah, absolutely. I am 100% certain the first time we talked a brand refresh had not happened uh for the Indianapolis Indians and now here we are two and some changes later and we got you know fun new logos and marks and the whole nine yards.
Well, it all started with our team name to be candid coming out of the pandemic and some of the the social unrest and things of that. It made us look inward and our board of directors that I mentioned earlier formed a committee and went on a listening and learning tour about our team name and what that meant and how we were positioned and and all those kinds of things. Uh learned a lot and learned quickly that you weren't going to get 100% um agreement one way or the other. Stay the Indians, change the team name. Uh the decision was made after lots of good conversations with the Miami Nation of Indians and of Indiana. uh we'll just call them the Miamiis or MNI from here on out.
Um we've built a great partnership and relationship with them. And as that started to sprout, um yeah, you learn a little bit about old logos and marks that they were outdated. There's no doubt about that. They were from the early '9s. Uh and candidly, they also were were inaccurate. Yeah.
It had a more of a southwestern motif and it didn't represent the eastern woodland tribes that had resided in the Indiana area. And those were the things uh that maybe we knew but we didn't know. I mean if that makes sense. And we really learned that it was really brought to the forefront. And so it's a culmination of a lot of things and that was it. Um and with that relationship we went through gosh more listening and learning then specific to our marks once we announced the partnership with MNI and that we were going to continue uh to be the Indianapolis Indians.
And it was a three or four year process to get started. Um and there were uh twists, turns, hoops, hurdles, uh a great creative team both internally. We used a lot of great agencies to help us guide through that. Um and ultimately ended up in what we think has been a really really good spot. But uh it was a long three or four years, but uh we announced it last fall at our charity event swing in late September of 20 uh 25. And uh we've been off and running with the new marks and new look that um I think we would say has been a resounding success.
Success. Yeah. And I mean you talk about uh the challenge of a lifetime. Again, you're talking moving a stadium in the middle of the season. You were here for that about I mean I'm sure there's we're we're going to skip over a few years, but I'm sure there were plenty of other hurdles to to grow. A Super Bowl comes to town, stuff like that.
and a global pandemic and a resounding like, hey, we have to do some introspection and and figure out what to do about the brand, the name, the whole nine yards. And I don't know, I I've like seen it where one going out and doing this listening tour and finding a great partner in the Miami Miami Nation of Indians and also like uh we're doing a whole thing on the White River right now and and I'm actually going to spend five days canoeing the entire thing. I'm going from Muny down, not the entire thing I should say, from Muny to Indianapolis, 84 miles. And a big piece is I don't know, nodding and and knowing and understanding the indigenous people of Indiana. And I I totally love that you're saying, hey, we looked at, you know, the representation and it was inaccurate. And it's like, how do you, you know, pay homage to people that were here that were named after as a state and as a city?
I think that is uh it is something that when people sit down there and listen and it can be you it can be a great thing that hey we refreshed stuff we took a look we listen and you know and we have a great brand that is I mean has the team been the Indians since 1902. Yes. Like that's that's wild. That's why we're Indy's original home team. Like literally 1902 to 2026 124 years of Indianapolis Indians baseball. You know what that means?
We got 125th year to plan for next year. I don't know how you I don't I don't know what you call that, but it's gonna have some cisentennial something like that like one quarter something like that. We're going to we're going to learn that once we get through Victory Field 30. When you think of Victory Field 30 and and you know your time here, your entire career has been spent with this organization. Your entire I mean almost all of your career has been spent at this ballpark. What are you the most proud of when you look back at the last 30 years of Victory Field?
I'm probably surprised at the the the overall community impact we've been able to have. Um, I mean, there's lots of things you can talk about leading minor league baseball in attendance and uh winning championships and doing all those other kinds of things, but at the end of the day, Victory Field has become, I think, Indianapolis's largest outdoor community gathering place. That's 600,000 people in any given year. And then beyond that, we host a myriad of other extra events, whether they're not for-p profofit walks and runs, uh private rentals, uh other public events like banana ball or cosmic baseball, uh the high school state finals, uh which have been held in this ballpark every year but one in our 30-year history. So all those things that just bring people together and invariably when people walk through our gates both in and out they tend to be smiling and uh that's what a a baseball game or an entertainment venue is supposed to do is to let people escape and bring people together and we've been able to do that for 17 million people for Indians games over the course of 30 years.
In 30 years, 17 million people have attended Indianapolis Indians baseball games. And and and people say, "Well, did Victory Field work?" Well, I think that's a testament that it has, that we're still here. We're still going strong. And this is a great opportunity for us to look back and where we are now, but that doesn't mean we're not thinking about what we want to do in the future, too. We're not we're not just stopping at Victory Field 30.
As I mentioned, we've got 125th year for our franchise next year. Uh we've got some master planning on some exciting things for the ballpark that we're not ready uh to unveil. Though we are putting all new stadium seats in next year. That is that is probably Are they going to be green? They're going to be most of them are going to be green. Wow.
There we go. And it'll be a very I mean these are 30-year-old seats. That's a faded green out there, Nate. It's going to be a very bright green next year at the start of the season. Here's my question. The one thing that with the stadium, are we getting a cup holder upgrade?
because we get the cocktails in the little baseball glasses and they don't fit in the cup holders. Well, I don't know if that's a cup holder upgrade or a different vessel that we serve you your drink in, but it's duly noted. We'll take that as a fan suggestion. We call them suggestions, not complaints, and we'll see if we can do something about that. I mean, because my my beverage of choice at Victory Field either comes in a plastic bat or it comes in the little baseball and the cup holder game is is tough for that fan suggestion. It is.
Thank you for that. Well, duly noted. I love it. Okay, we're going to take a quick pause in the action cuz we have a special guest in the building. Today's episode is brought to you by our friends at Bloom Rank. They told us to tell you that Chat GBT is likely recommending your business's competitors.
Test it out and if you don't see chat recommending you, it's time to call Bloom Rank. They've helped dozens of Indiana businesses like yours. Make sure they're the business AI recommends when someone needs what you sell. Forget in listeners only, they're offering a free website rebuild within your first month of working with them. This is only for Shopify store owners and local home service contractors. Find out if you qualify by going to getbloomrank.
com/get-in. That's getblooank. com/get-in. Now, let's get back to the show. And we're back and we have a special guest here in our victory field studio. We're joined by Bruce Schumacher who is the chairman of the board for the Indianapolis Indians.
You and your family have been, I mean, just incredible members of the Indianapolis community and are, I mean, instrumental in this organization and your impact on the city of Indianapolis. Bruce, welcome to Get In. This is your first time being in here. We've had Randy for his second episode, so this is the first time getting to meet you and it's a pleasure. Good to be on your podcast. Bruce, what I want to know is from your perspective when we talk about moving from Bush Stadium here to Victory Field, what were the conversations that you were you and your family were a part of?
And what was the ultimate decision that coming down to Victory Field was going to be the right move versus repairing and trying to stay at Bush Stadium? Well, my father Max had had a vision for a downtown ballpark for a long time. And in addition to the fact that Bush Stadium was crumbling and we were cocking and painting and doing what we could to keep it together, uh it was never going to be like being in downtown Indianapolis. So he had been trying to get the city interested for a long time in a downtown ballpark. And when Steve Goldsmith was elected, he approached him and said, "Steve, I think not only this be good for the Indians, but I think it'd be a economic positive for downtown Indianapolis." And fortunately, Mayor Goldsmith shared the vision.
and he and Evan B ended up working together to make it happen. Yeah. Which I mean now here we are 30 years later. We talked about what been around longer than the dome was around and in years. How long was Market Square Arena around? 25 years.
25 years. So outlasting both of those which I think is uh is a testament to the care that you guys have put into this place. when you think about it and we're talking through, you know, obviously conversations with your dad, having a vision and having a dream and being able to bring that to life as you look over 30 years of Victory Field, what are you the most proud of? I guess I'm the most proud of the way the ballpark still looks today that that it's actually a better ballpark with more amenities than it was when we moved in in 1996. And so many people uh visit here from other places and they go, "How long's this been here?" Like, well, almost 30 years.
They're very surprised because of the condition that it's in. And that was something that was a lesson that we learned at Bush Stadium because Bush Stadium was supposed to be maintained by the Indianapolis Parks Department. Well, they didn't didn't even have enough resources to take care of all their parks, let alone a ballpark that was built in the early 1930s. That was welcoming tons of guests that, you know, you have a few beers and you might miss the trash can every now and again, you know. Well, talk to me about how did your family get so intertwined with the Indianapolis Indians? Well, my dad started working here in January of 1957 when he got out of the army.
He he had actually kept his Indianapolis Star subscription, and there was a a oneline note. This is funny now because we really there's not that much that appears in the Star anyway, but it it mentioned that the woman who had been the Indians ticket manager the previous year would not be returning for the 57 season. So, my dad, although he was still at Fort Sheran, Illinois, reached out and got said, "Hey, can I get an interview?" So, he did. He ended up getting hired and he started as ticket manager uh in January of 57. Now, one of the ticket office employees uh was a lady named Judy Wy and uh she had worked there the year before and actually had been really good friends with the lady ticket manager.
They do stuff together and so so she was not inclined to like anybody who ca who took her place, but uh she warmed up to to Max. Uh they ended up getting married and uh so you you couldn't really be much more intertwined than that. Yeah. Wow. So he your dad replaces her friend and she's like I don't know about this new guy and then ends up getting married. And then how big how many siblings do you have?
I have uh two brothers and one sister. Two brothers, one sister, all involved with the with the ball club. You could say two of them are. U my brother Mark is here full-time. He runs all our our merchandise operation. That's a great job.
I'll remind him of that next time. He's lugging boxes around on a busy night. Uh, and uh, my brother Brian uh, helps run our scoreboard on game days. Oh, also a great job. Now, I mean, it would be way more fun if it was one of the old school ones where you were out there, you know, putting up the old school, like the chalk or the hanging them up there? I I I did that growing up.
No way. Okay. So, did you know from the beginning that you wanted to be a part of the Indianapolis Indians organization? Like growing up, you're like, baseball is what I want to be a part of. I knew I wanted to work in baseball. I wasn't sure if it would be here or maybe it'd be someplace else.
You know, back then we had a four or five person staff. It's kind of amazing when you think about it. We got 55 people now. Yeah. You joined when it was huge at seven. It grew to seven in the 90s.
In the 80s it was four to five. So So growth, baby. So there wasn't even any particular indication there'd even be openings really. So uh but I caught a little bit of a break. The guy who had been the Indians ticket manager uh left to take a job working for Senator Luger right at the time I was graduating from college. Yeah.
So, my dad and wanting everybody to sign off of it and I know Randy with Sam, you you can identify with this a little bit. Uh had me interviewed by the entire rest of the staff, which actually other than him was three other people. The whole company had to interview him and he had the board of directors approved me, which we've never done. So, I I started as ticket manager in January of of 1983. So, you can walk around you're saying, "Hey, I had a I had the most strenuous interview process out of anybody here." What I do want to know, how did you guys end up becoming more intertwined?
You go from ticket manager. Um, your mom and your dad get married, but then how did you guys become shareholders of the Indianapolis Indians? In 1955, Cleveland had owned the team and they and they didn't want to own it anymore. So, they sold they were going to sell it and maybe the team leaves town in Indianapolis. Okay. So, this was different in the terms of like the farm system.
So like your affiliate because the Pittsburgh Pirates don't technically own you guys, do they? You're just an affiliate. It's a working agreement. Yes. So but they own that, but they physically own the franchise back then. Okay.
So they're like, "Okay, we're losing money at this. This isn't the business we should be in." And if they sold it to somebody who moved it halfway across the country, that was okay with them, too. They just want to get their money out of it. Well, Indianapolis apparently in in 1955 was had some of the same characteristics that Indianapolis does today. And people stepped up and said, "Well, we're not going to let that happen."
So, somebody said, "Well, what about a stock sale?" So, they conceived the idea of having uh selling $10 shares and you could buy as few as one, and if you were really wealthy in 1955, you could spend $1,000 and buy 100 shares. And so 6,672 different people bought close to 20,000 shares. We were able to to buy the team from Cleveland and then uh also throw a little money into the old ballpark. Now over time, a lot of the people who don't who bought those original shares had thought of it more as a donation than investment. And and and they and they get bad advice from people.
They go their accountant or their lawyer. Oh, that's not worth anything. and and there were times it probably wasn't worth anything, but my dad always believed it would be worth something. So he, you know, people wanted to get, well, I just want to get rid I'm going to give this away. Dad goes, well, let me I'll pay you something for it. So he bought a few shares here and there and over time he he accumulated quite a few and uh so uh in 1985 we had a reverse stock split so we could kind of rein in some of the people once again they thought it was more of a donation.
So if they moved they didn't always tell us. If a family member passed away, they didn't always tell us. So, we weren't getting the majority quorum you need to every year before stockholders. So, we so we did a reverse split to kind of tighten the list up a little bit. Wow. And and by believing in the ball club early on when people are like, "Oh, I don't I don't want this thing isn't worth anything."
Your dad and your family ends up saying, "Hey, we'll take that. We'll we'll buy that from you. We'll we believe in the Indianapolis Indians." And today, oh my gosh, talk about betting on a winner. He had to fight his way through the 60s and 70s. Uh, and as things started to get better, excuse me, in the 80s and early 90s, but he knew if we could get down here with a brand new ballpark.
He had studied what it had done with in other communities and he was confident that it would lift lift us even farther. And so that is how the Indianapolis Indians are most closely related to the Green Bay Packers, both being community- owned teams. That's wild because I know like the list to be like a a Packer stockholder or whatever. It's like, you know, there's however many shareholders there. I don't know if a lot of people know that that like today, how many different uh individuals or families are shareholders of the Indianapolis Indians. I'd say about 180.
That's still so cool. Like to have different people that, you know, believed in the team and held on and, you know, like believed that this would one day be something. Now, if you were, let's say, if I'm uh the the most minority shareholder of the Indianapolis Indians, like is there a market where people are trading trading like ownership value of the Indianapolis Indians? There really isn't. But we some shareholders will sell to each other. I I end up fielding most of the calls about our stock.
And usually people choose to keep it in the family. They don't necessarily every once in a while they'll be looking for somebody to sell it to, but uh usually they've earmarked children or someone that they want to get it. Wow. I mean, that would be wild. It's just like going out there. Hey, I'm going to I'm going to go on a mission to buy a share of the Indianapolis Indians.
That'd be pretty fun. Are there employees that still have like similar to your dad? We did an employee stock option program. So, if you were with us for was it 15 years? Yes. And they I am in that minority shareholder that I have won.
Hey. Hey, one share of it. Randy, let's go. Come on. No, but that was a great thing that uh Max and Cal introduced 15 20 years ago, I don't know. Uh if you if you work here for 15 years, you are uh granted a share and uh you get a dividend every year and um if and when the ball club ever sells or passes on, there'll be an opportunity there.
But that's not anything that we're contemplating right now. Heck yeah. I love that. Now, uh you did say Max, that's your dad. He is in his early 90s, you know. Uh, and we're we're pumped to have you on the podcast speaking on behalf of the Shoeacher family.
For you, for your dad, when you look at 30 years of Victory Field, what are you what are you just blown away by? What do you look at and say, "I can't believe that it's 2026. The Indianapolis Indians have been playing baseball for 124 years. We're 30 years into Victory Field." Like, what do you think your dad would say? And what would he be proud of?
is satisfied and happy that it turned out at least as well as he thought it was going to. I I think for me what I'm maybe the most proud about and I'm certainly I'm proud about the team and the job we do here, but but the the part we played in in reviving particularly this part of downtown Indianapolis and what it did to White River State Park and hotels and the convention centers expanded four or five times and you know all this that's grown up around us. uh because this area had kind of spun its wheels for a while and uh like I said earlier, we knew that coming down here would be good for us and it indeed has been good for Indianapolis, too. Now, uh as we're going to kind of pivot into some more fun questions here to wrap up the episode, I do want to ask, what are you guys most excited about for the 30 years victory field celebration? Uh Saturday, July 11th, fireworks, my yellow rickshaw, having good baseball.
Like, what what are you guys excited about? We didn't get into this, Nate, but we had to fund raise to move into the ballpark. Um, yes, the CIB contributed about half of the 18 million and the Indianapolis Indian cities were responsible for the other half. Uh, and half of that half was through our rent and lease payments through the first 20 years that we were in the ballpark. But that other half, that $4. 5 million needed to be privately fundraised.
And Max uh, in his wisdom tapped Jim Morris and Dr. Jean Cease to be the lead fundraisers. So, we're going to bring back the Morris and Case families. Uh, it's unfortunate that Jim and and Dr. Jean aren't with us any longer, but uh they've both passed here in the last couple of years, but to bring their families out to highlight them along with some of the other uh uh large donors and and founding members of that philanthropy group. Uh that's really what we're going to focus on pregame um on on Saturday the 11th.
Uh and then bringing back former ST some of those seven that were with us back in uh the early 90s are coming back. That's going to be really cool. Um, and then we've just got a lot of other VIPs and other things we want to do, but more than I think it's then going to celebrate it with our fans because we're not we're not as we're not successful without our fans and uh to be able to celebrate that day and and to to give Victory Field a 30th toast is something that we're all looking forward to. Yeah. And how cool is it? So, obviously Jim Morris is like one of the original just like visionaries of the sports culture in Indianapolis.
And just a stones throw not too far from here will be the James T. arena that opens this winter. I mean fall winter timeline. Like talk about just an awesome tribute for him at IU Indianapolis. So it's cool to see that and like have obviously bringing their families back into the mix. What I do want to know, okay, this is a little fun question.
So we talked a little bit uh Bruce before you got here about the Savannah Bananas, Banana Ball, Cosmic Baseball, things like that. One thing Victory Field is known for and a lot of minor league baseball is known for is wacky promos. some of the like crazy wild fun for you guys. What has been your favorite promo night at Victory Field over the last 30 years? You mean like an act we brought in or something we do in game? Could be an act you brought in.
Could be your favorite game on the field. Could be, you know, you guys just did uh what was it? Victory Field Paper Night or something like that was kind of like uh themed off a very popular TV show that people might know about. Like what I did there? Yes, I like that. Yeah.
You like that? Come on now. Yeah. What's been your favorite promo? We brought some of the history of Bush Stadium with us early on. Um the one that we were most known for at both places.
I think it was called Win a Car Night. Uh we we tried to revive it for uh Saturday the 11th. It was just too hard to do and that's one reason why we ended up getting rid of it. But we literally used to give away nine used cars, one an inning. And Wait, what? Yeah.
If you showed up to the Wait, tell me what year. What year is this? Oh, at Bush Stadium. It was every year in the late 80s and early 90s. So, one game a season. It's called Win a Car Night.
Win a car night. And typically in July at some point, it was like a July Saturday for whatever reason. Um, and we would hit up nine different car dealers and they would, it had to be like a 5,000 or $3,000 valued car. I don't know what it was. It just got harder and harder to do. Um, mostly from what we were getting and displaying and all that.
But, I mean, think you came to a minor league baseball game, the car had to run. They were decent. Uh, but you could walk out with a a a brand new used car. A brand new used car. That would be so wild. This is back in the day when we used to have paper tickets and we'd run around to the gates and dump them into this big hopper and and pull them out.
And when people would win, they'd go crazy. And I'll never forget one year we had a dealer bring in an old Porsche and everybody thought, man, that was the greatest thing ever. That thing dropped so much oil on the warning track and we drove it around uh and everything else. But it was a Porsche. Um, but just I mean we don't do that kind of crazy. There's too many rules and regulations now with uh with run and the world's more complicated, but that's when it was a little more lowbrow and fun and you can give away nine used cars during a course of a baseball game and we would get a radio station to help us with it and and uh they would have somebody out here.
So I I remember one where uh WFMs was the was a station. I forget who they sent out. Might have been JD Cannon. I'm not sure. But so that we're spinning the wheel in the dugout. Well, we had an umpire that night who was going at it with a player in our dugout and uh I was public address announcer.
So I don't realize my mic is on and I and I say, "Get back behind the plate." And he thinks it's the guy from the radio station in between innings who's saying because it's been in between innings. So he throws him out of the game. The radio broadcast host. The guy from FMS. You got him thrown out.
Yeah. So, uh, so Kurt Hunt, who was our PA announcer, was sitting down low that night and so we just had him do it for the rest of the game. He was he was a PA announcer when we, uh, back when I first started. That's hilarious. Yeah. So, so what what Cal was very concerned that this would ruin our relationship with WFMS and this and that.
So, on the morning show the next day, they're they're they think it's the funniest thing ever. They're they're talking about it and Bruce's like going home that night like, "What have I done? No way." Nine used cars, one per inning. That's a pretty fun promo night. Um, today in 2026, what's your favorite menu item here at Victory Field, Nate?
This goes back to our first podcast and it blew up. It's a hot dog, man. I mean, we I mean, we went back I I remember when I did that and that's when I knew you were a big deal because I did this podcast and we talked I I don't even remember but it was hot dogs and I was getting texts and random things from saying about that hot dogs. So, it's going to be I mean, you can't beat a hot dog. No, it's a ballpark and it's a hot and our hot dogs are great here and everything else. What is the Because it the theme Yeah, there's a hot dog of the home stand and it depends.
Sometimes it's themed after who we're playing and um we had a Pittsburgh one that had like and I'm a Polish guy. We had perogis on them and it was it was so good. It was delicious. It was great. Um but what's the one for for Saturday? If Bruce and I are in those kind of weeds, we're in trouble to to know it.
That's fair. We just go by we buy it. We eat it. We tell them we like it. Fair. What about you, Bruce?
What's your favorite menu item? I I really like the the hot dog. It's it's an Eisenberg hot dog out of Chicago. It's an all beef hot dog. And I find that when I go other places, rarely is the hot dog as good. Hey, and it's not just because of a ball game.
That's part of it, but uh the the our Eisenberg hot dogs are outanding. Well, you got a view of the beautiful city of Indianapolis. Baseball's on. I mean, what what more could you want? Okay, now here's a question for you. Imagine you walk in through the door as a spectator.
Where's the best seat in Victory Field? The Elements Financial Club. All inclusive. You can be airond conditioned. Um you can sit outside. You're directly behind home plate.
Um but you know, that's our highest end ticket. I still I still think sitting behind the Indians dugout. I mean, I I remembered growing up as a kid going to games, you always want to sit behind the home team dugout, watching the players to be able to be up close, watching them go in and out of the dugout and be able to see their facial reactions and all those other kinds of things. So for me, it's always going to be as low as I can near preferably the home team dugout. Yeah. I I like to sit behind home plate.
I I grew up that way. Kind of like you grew up the other way. And uh my dad would sit with the scouts and we I I like being looking over the umpire's shoulder and being able to kind of learn what a curveball looked like and a slider and all this. And uh and I still like to, you know, and sometimes the umpire might need a little help. Yeah. That's why you have the PA announcers back behind the plate.
Oh, okay. Uh, final kind of baseball question I have. When you think about all of the greats that have come through Victory Field, and I'm talking about I mean up the Paul Skins recently, but also Tim Tibo has been on opposing teams and played here. Is there a specific night that you remember that you're just like, "Wow, I can't believe this person played in Victory Field." Kurt Schilling was on rehab and he he pitched against us and we beat him. Yeah.
It was the first game of the season after the Red Sox broke their curse. Remember when he had the bloody sock? Yeah. In the game he had the bloody sock and he was hurt, had to have surgery. He his then next professional outing was at Victory Field. It was our first year with the Pirates.
Yeah. Um in ' 05 against Zack Duke, who was their top prospect. So it was Zack Duke against Kurt Schilling. And Zack Duke out pitched him in 2005. So Schilling um that's a good one. Yeah.
I remember Verlander did a rehab assignment here. Verlanders played here. Yeah. He was with the he was with the Tigers when Toledo came through. That was we had a we had a major league crowd just the way our our crowd gets up and moves whenever they want. That was a crowd that they waited till he got his three outs and then they all went to the restroom in the concession stand and then they made sure they're back in their seats for when he came back out.
So when you get those Noar Garcia Parara came through here and this was really before maybe this was in the late 90s. This is social media didn't exist. you still needed to rely on word of mouth, uh, radio stations, terrestrial radio. And I remember that was a midweek series, I believe, with Pucket at the time. He played for the Red Sox. And how that crowd slowly built.
It was a four- game series from the first game where maybe I'm making up the numbers here, Nate, but we had 6,000. Then on the second night, we had eight, then we had 10, and then we sold the place out because word got out that Garcia Parr was in town. And he was awesome. He st stuck around after the game, went down the whole first baseline and signed every autograph he could. And so when you when you remember those kinds of things, that's when you get those major league rehab guys. It's so hard to tell with our guys on our current roster where a guy can be a prospect, but you just never know on their way up.
But it's when they've been established and they come here on, you know, if it's an injury, rehab, or whatever else, and you get that lightning in a bottle is really cool. Yeah, absolutely. Aaron Judge played here. There's my example about a guy coming up with Scranton in 2018 and 19, right? but nobody really knew who Aaron Judge was. Now I remember seeing him in the visiting clubhouse.
I've never seen a guy 6'7 play baseball very well. Um and I remember seeing him in the visiting clubhouse but didn't really know who he was and the next thing you know three or four years later Aaron Judge is the best player in the game. So that's the beauty of this that you never know who you're going to see but then there's other times where it's planned and you you might see a a superstar. Didn't Judge hit one off the Marriott? Well I don't know but Adam Dunn back that was my other thing I was going to mention. Adam Dunn, who was uh he played for the Reds, uh but he was here for the AAA all-star game.
I mean, West Street was his home. He had so many baseballs in batting practice and during the home run contest out onto West Street, it was unbelievable. That's wild. What's crazy is if you think about all of that, Aaron Judge, you think about all of the greats that have played here, the most famous people that have been here have actually been up in the sweets. Talk about having Caitlyn Clark in the building, having uh Livby Dunn when Paul Ske was playing here and everyone's like I remember seeing the tweets where it was like uh Livby Dunn is somewhere in the building like Paul Ske's girlfriend is here like you got to find her and it's like that would have to be like stressful from a side of like hey how do we give a great fan and patron experience to these famous people who want to come and see a game at Victory Field. Yeah, that's just a part of being in the business and you learn how to handle that and uh she was gracious as uh have been most of the celebrities and famous people that we've had in the ballpark.
Caitlyn was as well. Um and it's just yeah, that's kind of the neat thing you get to do is you get to meet some of those people during the course of those things, but uh you just try to treat them as normal as you can and give the best experience that you can. Uh you and I just may for whatever reason Roger Clemens was here to see his son play and the first night he just wandered around the ballpark and some people recognized him but really a lot of people didn't and then the second day he said hey my wife's going to be here Cody's girlfriend's going to be here uh do you have an empty suite we can be in and I end up talking to him for three or four innings in fact his son hit a home run and he and he reached out to fist bump me and I said now you know him for the other team it's all right though come on now uh That is that is wild. Yeah. When you think about it just the greats that come and and they're just like people too and they like to hang out because everybody loves a hot dog and loves a home baseball game.
And that's this Saturday. Yeah. Yeah. July 11th at Victory Field. We're celebrating 30 years of Victory Field be here. The largest fireworks show of the season because this is the first time you guys haven't got had a Fourth of July game.
First season there hasn't been a Fourth of July game at Victory Field. But they knew it. I'm calling it. You guys all knew it that you were going to celebrate the anniversary on July 11th instead of July 4th. Thanks for giving us credit. Yeah, absolutely.
Okay, as we round it out, I ask every guest that comes on the show these same three questions. Uh, first off, this is your opportunity to shed some light on a part of the state that more people need to be talking about. It could be a restaurant, it could be a park, it could be a place, but I want to know what is a hidden gem in Indiana. I like to watch high school basketball when I can in the offseason. And and my favorite place in central Indiana to see a game is at Southport High School Fieldhouse. Yes, that is a fantastic venue.
It It's like a a scaledown version of an old school type of fieldhouse. Maybe it's not that hidden, but I think if No, that's a great one. If you like high school basketball, you ought to go see a game. Everybody talks about Everybody talks about Newcastle, and it is immaculate out there, but Southport's a good one. All right, Randy, we're back for round two. What do we got?
So, I was born in Chicago but grew up in Fort Wayne and I live in Indie. So, with the Fort Wayne aspect, the old fort, I mean, you took field trips there. Um, the history of that, you got my history lessons there. I got to be honest, I think it's still open. I don't get up to Fort Wayne a whole heck of a lot, but that history of Fort Wayne and uh everything else about with Matt Anthony is is very important. I love that.
Okay, next. This is how we source new guest ideas and learn about other people that are doing great things. Who's a hooer? We need to keep on our radar. Someone who's doing big things. Fortunately, I knew this was coming, so I had a little chance to think about it.
I'm going to go with Max Clark. Oh, yeah. Of the Toledto Money. We didn't talk. You took my You took my thunder. I didn't Well, I I was with my wife last night.
I go, I don't know what I'm going to say for Hooser to watch. She goes, "Will the Indians have any players from Indiana?" And I go, "No." I go, "But Toledo does." So, Max Clark, Franklin, Indiana, uh was a first round draft pick of the Tigers a couple years ago. Saw him play out here in a Victory Field Classic game.
Tripled first time up. They didn't pitch to him after that. Wow. The hometown kid. Yeah. So, he's he's having a pretty good season for Toledo last time I looked.
And at some point, he's going to play in the big leagues for the Tigers. And he's from Franklin. That's so cool. Yeah. And he's I mean, and he's in town. I mean, we play Toledo.
Yeah. Oh, on Saturday this Thursday. So, so we're here. We're obviously rooting for the home team, but you can also like when you see a hometown kid that's coming back through town, that's pretty cool. Oh, and and Indiana high school baseball or youth baseball has gotten so much better. It started with Scott Rolland was kind of the one that got things going from Jasper.
Yeah. But the amount of talent that Indiana's pumping out into professional baseball, um we we outpunch uh um our competition in regards to per cap and all that. Indiana's got great youth programs and lots of great talent. And uh Max Clark was going to be on my answer cuz I I pinned it with Toledo being in town during the the home. I love that. So come out, celebrate 30 years of Victory Field, see the the kid from Franklin coming back through, who's going to be he's on his way to the big leagues.
I think that's awesome. Okay, my final question, Bruce, this one is is going to just be for you. Okay. 30 years from now, you know, when we're celebrating 60 years of Victory Field and people are thinking about your dad, about you, your family's contribution, what do you hope people say about the Shoeacher family when they think about Indians baseball in the future? Well, I don't know if it's so much about the Scheacher family, but I, you know, long after Randy and I aren't doing this anymore, I hope this is the same kind of experience for people. I I feel, you know, yes, we're very intertwined, but in some ways, we're the caretakers of this place, this experience, and and I if I'm still kicking 30 years from now, uh whether somebody will wheel me out here to watch a game, uh uh I hope I hope it still feels the same.
I hope the fans are still enjoying it the same way. And and I'll look forward to the what the next generation uh does to make this ballpark even better because we plan to be here. I love that. I think that's a great cap on 30 years of Victory Field. Just an institution on on this corridor of downtown. I mean, you talk about 124 years of Indianapolis Indians baseball.
I'm so excited to come out and celebrate. Last time I'm going to say it, July 11th, be out here. We've got pregame concert. We've got the biggest fireworks display of the season. We've got hot dogs. We've got the hometown kid.
It's just going to be a heck of a day. Heck of a Saturday. Celebrating 30 years at Victory Field. Appreciate you guys and we will see you all at Victory Field. This show is made possible by our friends up at Sweetwater. Whether you're looking to start a podcast or take your content to the next level, click the link in the description to see all my gear recommendations at Sweetwater.
If you want a behind-the-scenes look at everything we're doing across the state, make sure you follow me on Instagram and Tik Tok, Nate Spangle. Thank you so much for listening and being a part of what makes the Hooer State great. We'll see you next time here on Get
