RICH TRADITION: Giveaways, free admit part of KWON Night at Ballpark

Is this heaven?

We’re talking about the KWON Night at the Ballpark tonight (Tuesday) at Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium/Rigdon Field.

Free admission, price breaks on concessions, hundreds of dollars worth of giveaways possible — and a competitive baseball game through the golden filter of falling dusk.

Does it get better than that?

For more than 20 years, KWON has sponsored a Bartlesville Doenges Ford Indians game — usually one of the most heavily attended in any given year.

Tonight’s fun is tentatively set for 6:15 p.m., with the Indians playing host to Marucci Midwest in an Oklahoma College League showdown.

To try to forecast the outcome would be like predicting the victor in a German Shepherd vs. Pitbull showdown.

Their previous two meetings this summer have been vastly different — back in early June, the Indians squandered a chance to beat Marucci and had to settle for a 2-2 tie, also at Rigdon Field.

But, when the two teams met last week in Edmond, Marucci blitzed to a 15-0 victory.

Odds are the Indians want to erase that bad memory and will be fueled by full-force determination tonight.

In fact, Marucci has handed the Indians (21-11-1) most their non-winning showings in the OCL.

The Indians are 5-2-1 in the college league — including the tie with and loss to Marucci.

Today’s baseball action actually begins at 4 p.m. when the Indians host the Generals. Entrance to this game will be regular price.

The celebration of the Great Pastime in Bartlesville begins with the 6:15 p.m. game against Marucci.

As mentioned, there will be no admission cost, not a bad deal in this spring and summer of rising costs.

In fact, spectators have a chance to walk out of the park a little richer.

KWON has traditionally held drawings between half-innings to reward some bucks.

KWON co-owner, and Bartlesville Athletic Hall of Famer Kevin Potter has served in past years as the emcee and announcer of the winning tickets.

In addition, there is money given out for each Indian base hit or strikeout thrown by an Indian pitcher.

The mega-prize — which apparently has never been claimed — is $1,400 for an Indian batter blasting a homer over the KWON sign on the left field wall.

“I believe one year we did hit the sign and Kevin gave out #140,” long-time Indians’ manager John Pannell said.

Pannell believes the KWON Night at the Ballpark has become a community summer staple beyond the being a baseball game.

“People can come out and watch some baseball, make some money, have some good food specials … every summer. I know there’s a lot of people out there who look forward to this game,”

“We always love doing it,” said Evan Fahrbach, the KWON Sports Director. “We have fun. Everyone at the station looks forward to it. It’s always one of the biggest crowds of the year. … It’s always a good time.”

This endeavor helps the radio station give back to the community, “and gives everyone something to be excited about,” Fahrbach continued.

Fahrbach — who has been the Voice of the Bartlesville Bruins since 2014, said he enjoys the less formal and laid-back atmosphere that are part of covering Bartlesville summer baseball.

“It’s fun,” he said. “There’s a lot more people in involved in the summer program than just the high school team. It’s fun to see the parents from Nowata and Caney Valley and elsewhere. I’ve met a couple of Oklahoma Wesleyan University baseball parents at the games. … It’s nice just getting to people from different communities and seeing players from different high schools meld together.”

This is slated to be the final week of the Indians’ home schedule, including hosting the OCL tournament this coming Thursday and Friday.

The next week, the Indians are scheduled to participate in the Stan Musial World Series.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: The Doenges Ford Indians are set to play host Tuesday to KWON night