· The Blue Wahoos had fantastic attendance for the third straight year, even topping last year’s total attendance. In 2014, the Wahoos total attendance was 311,687, which bested last year’s attendance by over 4,000 fans. That mark was good for second-best in the Southern League. The Blue Wahoos’ average attendance of 4,453 was the third best in the league.
· This season, Turnkey Intelligence surveyed season ticket holders from 17 Double-A and 25 Triple-A baseball teams, which included 3,000 Blue Wahoos season ticket holders and 30,000 single-game ticket holders. The Blue Wahoos ranked 1st out of the 42 participating teams in all survey categories. The team’s Net Promoter Score (NPS), a tool used to gauge customer satisfaction across a multitude of industries, is a solid 83 on a scale of 1-100. The average NPS score for the other minor league teams included on the survey came in at 34. 93% of fans rank a Blue Wahoos game as “outstanding†– the highest survey ranking possible. The Blue Wahoos scored a 9.4 out of 10 on “Overall Fan Satisfaction,†8.6 out of 10 on “Ideal Live Event Experience,†and an 83 out of 100 on Game Day experience. Those scores were all well above the minor league baseball average.
· The Blue Wahoos were proud to see seven former or current players recalled to the Major Leagues this season for their debut. RHP Carlos Contreras, RHP Daniel Corcino and OF Yorman Rodriguez were all recalled straight from Pensacola to the Cincinnati Reds this season. Former Wahoo Tucker Barnhart opened the season with the Reds and made his debut on 4/3. LHP Ryan Dennick began the season with Pensacola and just made his debut in the Majors with the Reds on 9/2. Former Blue Wahoo Miguel Rojas debuted for the Dodgers on 6/6 and Yohan Pino broke into the Majors with the Twins on 6/19. The Wahoos also had a number of players begin their year in Pensacola and end the season in Triple-A or the big leagues: Catcher Bryan Anderson (Triple-A Sacramento), Donald Lutz (Cincinnati Reds), Rey Navarro (Triple-A Louisville), Ross Perez (Triple-A Louisville), Steve Selsky (Triple-A Louisville), Jon Moscot (Triple-A Louisville) and Fabio Castillo (Triple-A Louisville).
· Pensacola battled against the top players in the Southern League and a few made their Major League debut in 2014 after facing the Blue Wahoos. Cubs’ outfielder Jorge Soler debuted in the Majors on 8/27 and hit four home runs during his first week of play. Catcher J.T. Realmuto made his big league debut with the Marlins on 6/5. Realmuto hit .356 with 3 HR and 19 RBI against the Blue Wahoos this season. RHP Shae Simmons debuted with the Braves on 5/31 shortly after notching his 11th save of the season over the Blue Wahoos. Third baseman Jake Lamb terrorized the Wahoos this season hitting .313 with 4 HR and 18 RBI. Lamb made his MLB debut with the Diamondbacks on 8/7.
· The Blue Wahoos reached an incredible milestone in just their third season at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium when they recorded their 100th sellout on July 25th against the Mobile BayBears. The Wahoos recorded their 100th sellout in just their 189th game at Bayfront Stadium.
· The Blue Wahoos recorded 33 sellouts this season over 70 home games at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium. The 33 sellouts were two better than 2013’s mark of 31.
· The Blue Wahoos received a Golden Bobblehead nomination for the “Wahoo Waddle,†our take on a pub-crawl inside the stadium. There were drink specials for each inning as fans moved along the concourse to various locations. The Wahoo Waddle came to a close in the 7th inning with a drink special on water. Attendance was fantastic for each of our five Wahoo Waddle events. The Wahoo Waddle will be presented at the Minor League Baseball Promotional Seminar.
· Blue Wahoos’ Director of Sports Turf Management, Ray Sayre, won this year’s Groundskeeper of the Year award, as selected by the league’s field managers and umpires. This is the second straight season that Sayre earned the honor of Groundskeeper of the Year. The Southern League will now forward Sayre’s name to the Sports Turf Managers Association for voting on their classification winners in Minor League Baseball. 45.91 inches of rain fell on Pensacola from April to August, which is almost 20 more inches than the average rainfall in Pensacola during that time. Despite the heavy rainfall, the Blue Wahoos did not have a single rainout and played all 70 home games.
· Pensacola Blue Wahoos right fielder Kyle Waldrop was named the Southern League Player of the Week from August 18-24. During that stellar week, Waldrop batted .533 (16-for-30) with 2 HR, 11 RBI and seven runs scored. Waldrop collected multiple hits in six out of the seven games and also drove in at least a run in each of the final six games of the week.
· The Blue Wahoos donated over $100,000 this season to the greater Pensacola area through various fundraisers, community partnerships, grants, events and donations.