Hot Hawaiian Nights

JARDINE: Heat's no match for a fun time

The 15th California-Carolina League All-Star Game on Tuesday could easily have doubled as Fan Appreciation Night.

With temperatures at John Thurman Field reaching over 100 degrees just before the opening pitch, the folks in the grandstand truly appreciated the fans handed out by a game sponsor, as well as their programs, hats or anything else they could wave in front of their faces to provide relief from the heat.

OK, you've been whining all spring that we had no spring, enduring what in baseball terms you might call extended winter training. You wanted summer, you got it.

Welcome to baseball, Modesto style, anytime June 21 or beyond.

Heat? Consider it a matter of perspective. It sold a few more beers — lots more, actually.

"We were double," said Hilda Hoerz, an adult volunteer who worked the booth for the Turlock Youth and Turlock Elite cheer groups. "Easily double (of what they normally sell). Bottled water, too. It was hot."

The Haagen-Dazs booth did OK, but not as well as the Hawaiian Shaved Ice booth next door which, at times, had lines 35 customers deep.

"How do you compete with Hawaiian Shaved Ice on a night like tonight?" an ice cream vendor said.

Ultimately, the heat did nothing to melt an outstanding event — well orchestrated from the oldie-car motorcade on Monday through the final out Tuesday night.

A million things can go wrong in one of these games, and the Nuts got them all right.

In fact, the Nuts did their best to counter Modesto's annual bad rap (the city ranked No. 2 in auto thefts in 2010 according to numbers released earlier Tuesday).

The Nuts achieved what they set out to do: They staged a classy event that drew some locals who hadn't been to the park or hadn't attended a game in a long time.

"There were lots of little ones who came to the park tonight for the first time," said Joe Ybarra, one of the Turlock cheer volunteers. "They'll be coming back."

Of course, those from the East Coast brought a different opinion about what we call heat.

Bill Merrifield came from North Carolina to watch his son, Witt, play for the Carolina League all-stars. Sweat dripping down his face like the rest of us, Bill laughed it off.

"Now 92 degrees with 95 percent humidity — that's hot," he said. "We flew into San Francisco and people were complaining it was hot over there. I had to put on long pants."

Some folks simply came to Tuesday's game more prepared than others. At one point, I counted a dozen umbrellas — excuse me, they're called parasols when used for shade — throughout the grandstand.

Hot Hawaiian Nights - Free Concert at the Moana Surfrider Beach ...

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