Anthony Wright, "Tony the Peanut Man," To Be Recognized with RiverDogs Humanitarian Award

CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Charleston RiverDogs will recognize Anthony Wright, AKA "Tony the Peanut Man," as they present the RiverDogs Humanitarian Award posthumously to the Charleston icon and ballpark vendor at The Joe who passed away this past offseason.
Wright will be honored between innings on Saturday, June 17 as part of the Larry Doby Weekend festivities presented by MUSC Health as the RiverDogs take on the Columbia Fireflies starting at 6:05 pm at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park. The recognition of the beloved ballpark figure will be part of the night's featured events showcasing the coming together of the Charleston community throughout the weekend.

The Charleston RiverDogs' Humanitarian Award was created to recognize outstanding individuals who dedicate their time to fighting indifference, intolerance and social injustice and whose approaches and accomplishments are consistent with the club's goals and mission to better the community. The club most recently awarded Chris Singleton with the honor in 2016 for the Charleston Southern outfielder's help in strengthening the Charleston community with his resolve in the face of tragedy after his mother was one of the nine victims of the Mother Emmanuel AME tragedy in June of 2015.
As a season-long tribute to Wright, the RiverDogs toss out bags of Tony's famous boiled peanuts to the crowd during the seventh inning stretch for all 70 home games. In addition, a portion of all peanut sale proceeds throughout the course of the 2017 season go towards the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) of which Wright was a big supporter.
Larry Doby Weekend presented by MUSC Health continues Sunday evening as the RiverDogs wrap up the first-half against Columbia. Per tradition, the RiverDogs will don the uniforms of the Newark Eagles, the Negro League club that the Hall-of-Famer Doby played with for five seasons before becoming the first African-American player to sign with an American League team. The Fireflies will wear the Negro League uniforms of the Homestead Grays on Sunday's 1:05pm start.
Signed by Hall-of-Fame owner Bill Veeck to the Indians, the Camden, S.C. native was a seven-time All-Star over a 13-year Big League career where he was a trailblazer as the second player to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball. Doby's No. 14 is retired by the RiverDogs and their sister clubs under the Goldklang Group's ties with the Veeck family.
RiverDogs tickets, including options for the all-new Riley Park Club, are now available and can be secured by contacting the box office at (843) 577-DOGS (3647) or online at www.riverdogs.com. Those that can't make it to the park can follow every pitch of the RiverDogs season on WTMA 1250 AM in the tri-county area or by streaming online at riverdogs.com and the TuneIn Radio App by searching "RiverDogs."
--RIVERDOGS--