Mountain Man makes memories for Spikes fans

The State College Spikes welcomed a crowd of 5,256 fans, the largest since the 2011 home finale, out to the ballpark on Friday night to see Mountain Man from A&E's hit TV show Duck Dynasty, and the reality show star worked overtime to make sure that each fan came away with a memorable experience.

Mountain Man stayed after the game for nearly three hours to greet and sign autographs for every fan in line, finally concluding his evening at 12:15 a.m. In fact, the overtime autograph session lasted longer than the game, which went 2 hours and 19 minutes before ending at 9:24 p.m. with a 4-1 Spikes victory over Auburn. While Mountain Man's famously slow speech pattern may have lost even more speed as the night wore on, he continued to give fans a tremendous experience, signing over 2,000 total autographs.

"Whether fans chose to attend Friday's game because of Mountain Man, or for one of the many other reasons to enjoy the experience of Spikes Baseball, everyone recognized his generosity and sincerity in staying hours after his scheduled autograph time to make sure every last person had the opportunity to meet him," said Spikes Senior Vice President and General Manager Jason Dambach. "None of us who make our careers in this exciting business have ever witnessed a celebrity guest go above and beyond to make each of our fans feel so special. That combined with a Spikes win, fun ballpark atmosphere and perfect weather made it a night to remember forever."

The crowd of 5,256 fans on hand included the third-largest walk-up crowd in the history of Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, with just over 1,600 fans purchasing their tickets on the day of the game.

Mountain Man's involvement in the game was not just limited to meeting and greeting fans. The Duck Dynasty cast member also threw out a ceremonial first pitch and lent his own unique patter to the public address microphone in the first inning.

The atmosphere at the ballpark put Mountain Man right at home as well. Staff members and fans came dressed in camo with plenty of beards on display in the vein of Mountain Man and the Robertson family. Plus, the Medlar Field at Lubrano Park concession stands offered frog legs as a special ballpark delicacy, and the entire supply sold out over the course of the game.