The Rochester Red Wings played the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders on Sept. 11. While the actual game wasn’t too exciting or action-packed, except for a few broken bats here and there, plenty of excitement came from the fact it was Deaf Culture night.
For this year’s deaf culture night, the Red Wings wore a white uniform with blue sleeves, and an orange font with “Rochester” spelt out in ASL finger spelling. This is similar to years past, but the colors of the jerseys change every year.
For the last six years, the Red Wings have partnered with RIT and National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) for the annual Deaf Culture night. From the interpreters and ADA staff helping the event, to the silent 7th inning, the whole night was a night for deaf appreciation.
The night featured many nods to deaf culture including a signing of the national anthem performed by a senior NTID student and the RIT steele band playing the music, and said student also teaching the audience signs related to baseball. The on field announcer for the Red Wings, Grant Anderson, particularly enjoyed having an interpreter sign all of his fast-paced monologues.
The Red Wings’ players signed their name when they were up to bat. While there were no walk-up songs like usual, the signing of the names served a better tribute to the theme of the night.
Anderson always likes to walk round the stands and, since Sept. 11–13th was fan appreciation weekend, he was out and about to distribute more giveaways than usual. Even the Red Wings mascots Spikes and Mitsy were getting into the silent spirit by faux-signing with their wings and hanging around the kids.
Though the game itself ended in a 3–5 loss, the overall vibe and scene led to an enjoyable experience for the fans in the stands. There is more that ESL Stadium offers than just baseball and promotional nights; it’s an outlet for different communities to come together and enjoy each other’s company, and to see representation in an athletics setting.
With the Red Wings’ home series against the RailRiders coming to a close, the final game series will be away at the Buffalo Bison stadium. The last game of the season will be on Sept. 20.
