KODAK, Tenn. — It's baseball time in Tennessee! The Tennessee Smokies are preparing for opening day of the 2022 season on Friday, April 8, at home against the Chattanooga Lookouts.
To celebrate, Live at Five at Four is sharing all kinds of stories about the history, the fun, and of course the athletics of our local minor league baseball team.
Meet the stadium announcer!
George Yardley has been the stadium's public address announcer for 24 years. He started his PA career at Bill Meyer Stadium when the Smokies played in Knoxville.
The Jefferson County native counts down the days until the season opener each year. He loves watching the fans in the stands and the guys advance in their careers on the baseball diamond.
He hopes to continue public announcing for the stadium when the team moves back to Knoxville in 2025.
Have you ever had a Chicago-style hot dog? There aren't a lot of places to get one in East Tennessee, but they are served at Smokies Stadium.
Why? Because the Smokies are an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, so you can find all kinds of Chicago-style food options at the stadium.
A Chicago dog is a grilled hot dog on a poppy seed bun with tomatoes, a dill pickle spear, peppers, lime green relish, onion, mustard and celery salt. Don't you dare add ketchup to this dog, by the way! That's not how the Chicagoans do it.
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If you go to a Smokies game, you could be chosen to participate in one of the many fun events that fans can partake in. One of those is playing a game of dizzy bat!
Grab a bat, spin around in a circle 10 times, then run to first base and back. It's a little hard to do when dizzy, but a lot of fun.
Here's how it's done:
The Smokies play the Lookouts all weekend.
For a full list of their games and theme nights this season, click here.