Altoona's trash could be a lucky fan's treasure

When fans attend a ballgame, there’s not much better than catching a foul ball in the stands. For whoever grabs it, that ball becomes a cherished souvenir.

But what if you attended a game and went home with a 55-gallon trash can used two seasons ago, would that become a prized possession?

On Wednesday, the Double-A Altoona Curve are taking field cleanup to the next level with "Redd Up Night" at Peoples Natural Gas Field.

"Redd up" is a term used in central Pennsylvania that means to tidy up or clean up. With Altoona located right in that region, the Curve's director of marketing, promotions and special events Mike Kessling always tries to intertwine the local slang with the club's promo nights.

“We try to have a lot of fun with different things about the community in central and western Pa.,” Kessling said. “One of the biggest things about living here is the vernacular way people use words, hence why we’re using the term 'Yinzers' (Pittsburgh natives) on Sundays, it is based on that same thing.”

It's Redd Up Night, not Red Up Night, @party_with_loco!

See you for our doubleheader on June 21 as we give away old stuff from around the ballpark! Gates open at 3:30 p.m., game 1 will begin at 4:30 p.m. And reminder, your ticket is good for BOTH games.

— Altoona Curve (@AltoonaCurve) June 13, 2023

Redd Up Night was one of many "crazy" ideas Kessling and his staff conjure up over the course of the season. In his mind, the weirder the better.

“It’s one of those that people look at, and they’re like, ‘What in the heck is this about?’” Kessling said. “That’s one thing we try to do in Altoona is we take these promotions, and we really try to go overboard and do the best we can with it.”

Going overboard is an understatement. Redd Up Night will feature cleaning-related elements from the games in between innings. But instead of the classic mascot race or musical chairs, there will be household chores like a vacuum cleaner race and room cleaning competition.

“We try to match the on-field games with the promotion, but we try to do it as strange as we possibly can,” Kessling said. “As the on-field host, I really try to get into the games as much as possible and dress up for each promotion. … Altoona fans come to expect the best we can give, so if that means me putting on a Big Bird outfit for 'Salute to Famous Birds Night,' that’s what I’m going to do.”

As you can expect, the on-field games won’t be the only wacky part of the night, the prizes will be too. One might expect the giveaways to be a bottle on Windex or some Mr. Clean Magic Erasers, but that would be wrong, the prizes are on the complete opposite side of the spectrum.

“The other added element to make it really Minor League Baseball is why don’t we go around and find some old things,” Kessling said. “So old giveaways, old things around the ballpark like old trash cans, things we just don’t really use and just give them to the people when they come into the gates like, ‘Hey, we redd up the ballpark and this is what we found.’”

The Curve also plan to give away old TV boxes that they have in the storage room, mascot gloves, an old chair from the bullpen, Pirates baseball pants worn by the players, and if Kessling gets his wish, they will even give away old turnstiles from the team’s previous stadium. Who could turn that last one down?