By Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOTO GALLERY

Dayton Dragons photo gallery

DAYTON, Ohio - Fifty tantalizing miles are all that separate Donnie Scott's players from their big-league dreams.

Though the odds of someday donning a Reds uniform at Great American Ball Park are slim, those playing for the Single-A Dayton Dragons would seem to have a unique developmental advantage.

Home field.

"The atmosphere here is as close to the big leagues as any I've been around," said Scott, now in his third season managing the Dragons. "I think at times it can be a little intimidating when you first get here. But once you get comfortable with it, it's a blast.

"It's as close to a stage as you can get."

The performers, Reds prospects getting their first nibble of professional baseball, play to a packed house every night at Fifth Third Field.

The Dragons, who've been the Cincinnati Reds' Midwest League affiliate since 2000, have sold out every game since the team began playing at the 7,230-seat stadium.

The club routinely ranks among the top draws in all of minor-league baseball. Dayton averaged 8,164 fans per game during a record-breaking April for minor-league baseball.

How significant is that? The Montreal Expos averaged just 9,048 fans per game last season at Olympic Stadium.

"I played in front of some big crowds in college," said Dragons third baseman Mark Schramek, whom the Reds drafted out of UT-San Antonio last year. "But nothing like this."

Many Dragons fans also double as Reds supporters.

Dayton is considered by the Reds to be their most valuable market outside of Cincinnati, but neither club sees the other as direct competition for fans.

"I definitely think it's an added benefit from a marketing standpoint for the Cincinnati Reds to have their team this close," Dragons president Bob Murphy said. "We're creating fans for the Reds."

The Reds, in fact, had to first grant permission to Mandalay Sports Entertainment before the company could build the ballpark and field a team in Dayton.

Why did they?

"Operationally it makes a lot of sense," Reds chief operating officer John Allen said. "I'm a firm believer that baseball breeds baseball and that fans watching the Dayton games will also come down to (Cincinnati)."

Attendance numbers so far at Great American Ball Park haven't been as strong as expected but probably will climb if the team continues to play well.

(The Reds averaged 25,896 fans through their first 23 games at the 42,000-plus seat stadium.)

Saturday's game against the Marlins - Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall bobblehead day - marked just the second sellout of the regular season and the first since Opening Day.

The Dragons, meanwhile, can't come close to quenching the demand for tickets.

The renewal rate on the 70-, 35- or 17-game season-ticket plans is 95 percent, leaving more than 4,000 people on a waiting list.

"I have no intention of giving mine up," said Tim Pence, a Dragons season-ticket holder from Miamisburg. "I love the Reds and always have, so I'm not going to be a traitor or anything. But especially when it's so close to me, I can be (at Fifth Third Field) and home in 15 minutes each way.

"There's no question where I'm going to spend most of my money. I'll still go to some Reds games, but not as many."

Up to 1,000 fans can be accommodated on grassy knolls beyond the outfield fence at Fifth Third Field, but Murphy said there are no plans to expand.

So the unlucky ones will continue to stop by the stadium and peer through its wrought-iron fences or buy tickets from brokers or via eBay.

"We're just not going to get into this thing where we're stepping over 20s to pick up quarters," Murphy said. "We're going to make sure the experience is great for the people that are here."

And make no mistake, a Dragons game is an affordable and memorable experience.

"We do want our fans to have a great time when they're here," said Shari Sharkins, the club's director of entertainment.

"The fans really enjoy coming and getting the baseball and seeing these players during their developmental stages. But they also want to have a good time. We want to give everybody something."

Fifth Third Field provides the coziness and quirkiness of minor-league baseball with all the sophistication of its major-league counterparts.

There are 30 luxury suites that range in price from $800 a night to $25,000 for a full season. But a lawn ticket goes as cheap as $5 - if you can get your hands on one.

"People come here to watch baseball and to watch these future stars," Murphy said. "At the same time, I think we're opening up our audience to a lot of folks that have not experienced baseball as a sport. . . . They also have the opportunity to be exposed to other entertainment things, which breaks up and gives the game a different flow to the event, to the entire evening."

Minor-league baseball is renowned for its sideshow acts and antics.

The Dragons have three mascots - Heater, Gem and Wink - and two hosts (one male, one female) who emcee the pregame and between-inning events.

Entertainment ranges from dugout dancers, both young and retired, to Roof Man, a 1970s-era superhero that sometimes appears on the stadium roof and throws soft baseballs to fans below.

The Famous Chicken is the most well-known of the outside performers brought in during a season.

"We try to have a good time," Sharkins said. "My background is family-fun entertainment, and that's what we really strive for here."

So far, the strategy has worked.

Former Dragons, current Reds

• OF Adam Dunn (played for Dayton Dragons in 2000)

• OF Austin Kearns (2000)

• OF/IF Wily Mo Pena (2001)

• RHP Brian Reith (2000)

April minor-league baseball attendance leaders

	Team	League	Avg.
1.	Saltillo Sarape Makers	Mexican League	12,398
2.	Memphis Redbirds	Pacific Coast League	9,880
3.	Monterrey Sultans	Mexican League	9,358
4.	Sacramento River Cats	Pacific Coast League	9,195
5.	Round Rock Express	Texas League	9,042
6.	Frisco Rough Riders	Texas League	8,906
7.	Louisville Bats#	International League	8,464
8.	Dayton Dragons*	Midwest League	8,164
9.	Buffalo Bisons	International League	7,349
10.	Albuquerque Isotopes	Pacific Coast League	7,037

# Reds' Triple-A affiliate * Reds' Single-A affiliate

For more information

Online: www.daytondragons.com

Ticket office: (937) 228-2287

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E-mail kkelly@enquirer.com