What’s in a Game: An Inside Look at the Blue Crüe
It’s the end of the second inning at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Blue Crüe runs onto the field with a pair of lucky OKC Dodgers fans, awaiting the most exciting two minutes in sports: The Sack Race.
Cartoon potatoes bounce around on the LED board beyond left field. Brix, Brooklyn, and the Blue Crüe hype up the crowd as the contestants round the final turn, and just like that, game host KK speaks into the microphone and sends Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark back to Dodgers baseball. To some, this may seem like a fun game planned on a whim, but it’s by far the contrary. This wasn’t planned an hour before game time, the night before, or even at the beginning of the homestand.
OKC Dodgers Game Presentation Manager A.J. Navarro is in his second season with the Dodgers after nine years in the Navy and four years with Disney. He worked all offseason with his production team and the on-field entertainment team known as the Blue Crüe to add on, tweak, and revamp each of their more than 100 skits, games, dances, and giveaways the Blue Crüe has in its arsenal each season.
“It could take up to a full month to flush out an idea, but once I have the idea of what I want to do, creating the video, compiling all the footage and graphic elements, it will maybe take a week until it’s actually done,” Navarro said. “I was thinking of stuff the entire offseason.”
But why so many skits? Surely it is difficult to memorize all of them and perform on any given night. But that’s the beauty of performing for the fans each and every night.
“A lot of our season ticket holders are here all 70 games,” said Tom Hoblin, the Blue Crüe Stage Manager in his fourth season with the team. “We’re switching up the game script every day so a fan that is here two or three days in a row won’t see the same thing.”
Providing quality family entertainment is one of the core values of the OKC Dodgers organization.
“I think going that extra mile to create a little extra something for our devoted fans is what makes my job fun, and that’s the direction that we’re taking this team,” said Navarro.
Even more special content comes on theme nights, such as ¡Celebración Cielo Azul!, with special guests like the ZOOperstars! and for special promotions like INTEGRIS “Home Run for Life.”
“Whenever you’re planning game skits or anything like that, that may change things up as far as the games and crowd interaction stuff,” Navarro said. “You may want to pick skits that might best complement whatever the entertainment is. We love to capitalize on theme nights and entertainment just to give our fans something new throughout the season.”
Performing for three-plus hours each night during the OKC Dodgers’ 70 home games is a challenge, and there is a great deal of organization that goes into each and every game to make sure everything goes smoothly. Each half inning is planned, from what game is going to be played in the middle of the first inning, down to which song is played entering the bottom of the ninth.
“We have a saying: We don’t want to ever do anything for the first time out on the field,” Hoblin said. “So, all of our skits our rehearsed thoroughly, all of our dances are rehearsed thoroughly.”
The Blue Crüe arrives two hours before game time so they can interact with the fans from the time stadium gates open to the final pitch of the game.
“We’re in such a unique position,” Hoblin said. “We’re interacting with the fans; going on to the field. We’re here for the fans, the players, the staff, anybody who is having a down night or (are just coming) out to the ballpark, we’re interacting with all these people. I tell the Blue Crüe this: We’re here to have fun.”
The fun isn’t just on the playing surface itself. Each game, skit and promotion has its own corresponding graphic on the LED board. One thing fans may take notice of is the new hype-up videos, featuring anything from the Wild West to professional wrestlers, used throughout the games this season, many of which are also accompanied by new dance moves from the Blue Crüe.
“It just looks good, like a cherry on top of a sundae,” said Hoblin. “It’s just that little extra bit. We could go out there and run the sack race, but we have the potatoes running across the LED board and it’s something else for the fans to look at and makes the fans, I hope, want to come back and see more.”
Another new addition for 2019 that fans may notice is the new LED lighting installed this past offseason at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The new bulbs do not only provide a brighter playing surface for the players; the lights can be seen flashing in synchronized fashion to “The Greatest Showman” theme as the Blue Crüe dances along prior to fireworks following every Friday home game.
Full with excitement, a few Blue Crüe members shared their favorite skits, games and promotions to look out for on the field this season at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark:
Navarro: “We’ve added a Thriller dance, which the Blue Crüe has worked very hard on, and we were able to show on 89ers night. I think that went over very well. We also did a Ninja Turtle dance that night, which the crowd seemed to be very receptive to with the Blue Crüe and mascots wearing Ninja Turtle masks and doing all the choreography with it themselves. We have a new Blue Crüe Stomp, so we’re adding those on top of what we did last year.”
Hoblin: “I love a good race. Especially when they get close. We’ll send somebody running around the bases in the sumo suits or on the sit-and-bounce horses. The Dot Race is always hilarious, the three-legged race around the infield.”
Brix and Brooklyn: “They love pregame,” said Hoblin. “They love eating the food. They love sitting down, meeting kids and fans, taking pictures and dancing just the same as the Blue Crüe. They would say they love being out with the fans and performing and it’s another thing to add to the fan experience.”
Benz: “The Dino Dash. Fans go inside one of those blowup dinos and run around the bases and that’s a lot of fun. There’s also one called Mint Condition where they put an Oreo on their forehead and have to scrunch it to their mouth and that’s funny to watch because they’re making all of these ridiculous faces.”
Snoopy: “Cherry Picking. It’s a game where we have two contestants and we wrap them up in trash bags and swim caps and we put them in the middle of the dugout. On separate sides of them there are five cherries in a bowl filled with whipped cream, so they have to use just their mouth to pick out the cherries. I think it’s the grossest thing possible and it’s really funny to watch.”
