Minister of Fun

READING — Scott Hunsicker is not your average baseball stadium employee.

His dad is a turtle.

His brother is a rubber duck.

And there have been times that Hunsicker himself has taken the shape of a giant green leprechaun, Blooper the Hound Dog, or the team's main mascot, Screwball.

In reality, Hunsicker is the assistant general manager of the Reading Phillies. His major role is designing and implementing the extensive and innovative promotional schedule that makes attending Reading Phillies home games so enjoyable.

Those attending R-Phils games at FirstEnergy Stadium can't miss the 34-year-old, 6-foot-5 Hunsicker, who directs the on- and off-field promotional events before, during and after the games.

Whether it's introducing the Little Leaguers who are that night's "Stars of Tomorrow," giving away prizes as the emcee of the Willow Hollow "Press Your Luck" game or dressing up in a white jumpsuit and colored wig and dancing around the infield as part of the "White Star Travel Drag", Hunsicker is a common face at R-Phils home games.

"It's a fun place to work," Hunsicker said last weekend while preparing the R-Phils homestand against the Akron Aeros. "It's a lot of hours, and you're away from your family a lot, but it's great. We have a lot of fun."

Hunsicker, in essence, is the Reading Phillies' "Minister of Fun."

A native of Conshohocken, a graduate of Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School and a former football and baseball player at Albright College, Hunsicker began working for the Reading Phillies in 1992 after graduating from college with a degree in marketing and psychology.

He's been the assistant general manager for the past seven years after serving the team in the tickets/concession department, as director of group sales and tickets, and as director of sales and marketing.

Called "Huntsville" by public address announcer Dave "Frenchy" Bauman, Hunsicker is responsible for planning the promotions, giveaways and special events for all 71 Reading Phillies home games.

That process begins in September following the conclusion of the Reading Phillies' season, and continues all the way through the actual date of the game.

In his FirstEnergy Stadium office, a giant blackboard that stretches across two walls details all 71 home games, what promotions will be done, the attendance for that game, last year's attendance and the weather.

The R-Phils promotions are broken down into two categories: Primary promotions, like fireworks or hat giveaways, that are underwritten by a corporate sponsor; and secondary promotions, which include special theme nights like Irish Night and the upcoming Elvis Tribute Night planned for Friday.

"Some promotions are stronger than others," Hunsicker said. "If we have fireworks or we're giving away a Yuengling coal barons hat, we know that night is going to be strong even if we didn't do anything else. But if we're giving away a pennant, it might not solicit the same attendance as a hat.

"So then we try to put in a secondary promotion, like Irish Night, or the Little Mr. and Little Miss Baseballtown competition. We try to underwrite the night with a secondary promotion, whatever we need to bring those other games up.

"We try to get every game up to maximum capacity. We try to build each day into a full promotion."

Hunsicker and his staff get their ideas from attending various seminars and checking out different teams' web sites. Their promotional schedule is usually filled by January, and they spend the rest of the year implementing those promotions, lining up the different personnel and elements needed for those games, and making sure everything is in place come game night.

"It's not just a matter of putting it on the schedule and it magically happens. We really have to work hard at it," Hunsicker said. "That's an on- going process."

On game days, Hunsicker will come in early in the morning and go over the script for that night's game with Ashley Forini, the director of group sales and fan development. The script is broken down into two parts, the minute-by-minute schedule, and the between-innings schedule.

Hunsicker takes care of the minute-by-minute part, planning what time the Little Leaguers take the field, what time the ceremonial first pitches are thrown, etc. He then writes all the speaking parts that "Frenchy" reads during the game.

Forini works on the between-innings part of the script, planning what crazy events are going to happen when. There's always something going on between innings, whether it's showing funny faces or people kissing on the fan cam, conducting a contest to pick the song of the inning, holding a car race behind the outfield wall, shooting T-shirts or soft balls into the crowd or having the crazy hot dog guy throw hot dogs into the stands.

"The between-inning part is probably the easiest part to understand, because every three outs we're out there doing something, whether it's on the video board, on the field or in the stands," Hunsicker said.

"It's a lot of prep time. We put together homestand packets, and we have homestand meetings where we crunch through every single aspect of the game. Whatever analogy people are comfortable with, whether it be planning a wedding, or a play with directors and actors, or a school assembly, whatever people are familiar with, we basically have 71 of those.

"There are recurring parts of the script, but every night is new. Every game is different."

Hunsicker admitted that not all of the Reading Phillies' promotions are good ones, citing the "Gorilla Mascot Team" and "Mannequin Man" as examples.

His favorite promotion was a "60s Night" held in 1998.

Outfielder Steve Carver hit a three-run homer in the first inning wearing a big, blonde, Hippie wig. He ran the bases with the wig on, and was high-fived by third-base coach Milt Thompson, who was wearing a big Afro wig.

"The players completely bought into it," Hunsicker said, recounting the game. "These guys are regimented that every day they come and play baseball. It takes a long time to build up good will with them that you're not interrupting their routine. The game is still paramount. Their nine innings are still the most important thing that occurs here.

"Still, we try to wrap our own little fun and family-oriented uniqueness into it. That night, the players completely bought into it. Milt Thompson wore a big Afro wig, the players wore big gold medallions and left their shirts unbuttoned. A number of them wore wigs.

"It's was just a very surreal moment where the promotion had entered the game. It hadn't detracted at all from the game, it had added to the game."

Hunsicker is also proud of the 9 a.m. game, which came as a result of a post-season staff meeting and was originally suggested by a team groundskeeper. The R-Phillies were also one of the first teams in the region to have the "Zooperstars Inflatable Mascot Team," which returns to FirstEnergy Stadium on Monday, Aug. 16.

Hunsicker, who lives in Wyomissing with his wife, Marisa, loves dealing with families and kids who attend the game. It's that family-oriented atmosphere, he said, that makes his job so enjoyable and keeps fans flocking to Reading Phillies games.

While he doesn't have any children, Hunsicker's family is involved in every R-Phils home game. Hunsicker's dad, Tom, is Change-Up the Turtle, while his brother, Todd, is Quack the Rubber Duck.

"Here, we take a more jovial, laughing approach to life and our jobs, and the fans feel comfortable with that," he said.