Myrtle Beach Pelicans Celebrate Their 20th Anniversary

On April 5, 2018, the Pelicans opened their 20^th season, with over 6,000 fans in attendance, playing the Frederick Keys, an affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, with a Fireworks Display after the game.  There will be a variety of popular promotions and fan favorites from the past featured during the 20^th Anniversary season.  It also includes theme nights such as Myrtle Beach Mermen Night, a salute to Bull Durham, NASA Night, Halloween Night, Braves Weekend, Women in Sports Night, Christmas Vacation Night, Touch-A-Truck Night, Old School Hip Hop Night, Cubs-A-Palooza and more.

According to Josh Bell, For MyrtleBeachLife.com, “Weekly favorites Wiener Wednesdays, Thirsty Thursdays and Locals Appreciation Saturdays will return and be joined by new promotions including specials such as $2 Tacos and Tallboys presented by Abuelo’s Mexican Restaurant on Tuesdays, Beer Brats & Baseball along with First Responder Night for each Friday and a Ultimate Kids Day every Sunday.  Each Saturday will include a 20th Anniversary Celebration with giveaways such as a set of interlocking bobbleheads (Brian McCann, Freddie Freeman, Ian Happ and Gleyber Torres), a photo baseball giveaway every Saturday in June that highlights the Braves, Rangers and Cubs eras, respectively as well as a managers’ edition, a What-If-Night jersey giveaway and more.”

Bell writes, “Other features include a weekly Monday Half Off for Hunger event, courtesy of Lowes Foods, where fans can save half off of their ticket price when they donate items from the approved Backpack Buddies list, First Responder Fridays courtesy of 707 Shooting Range, Locals Appreciation Saturdays, Embrace Veterans Saturdays, Ultimate Kids Sunday, courtesy of Anderson Brothers Bank, every Sunday that includes a special kid-friendly theme, free inflatables, a pregame, on-field catch, face painting, balloon artists and more.”

The postgame parties are also returning with celebrity DJ’s on June 14^th and August 2nd to TicketReturn.Com Field.  The fans will also be treated to at least one of the team’s 15 East Coast Pyrotechnics Fireworks Extravaganza shows between April 5th and August 18th.  To get a complete listing of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans promotions schedule, visit MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Promotions.

As a part of their 20^th anniversary season, the Pelicans will be rolling out a new locals-only benefit program, My Pelicans, to celebrate and thank their fans for twenty years of support. Fans that wish to join the program can do so for free online at myrtlebeachpelicans.com/mypelicans if they are a resident of Horry, Georgetown, Marion, Dillon, Robeson, Brunswick, Columbus or New Hanover Counties.  The participants will receive exclusive special events and offers year-round.

To ensure that the most visitors to the Grand Strand will have the opportunity to attend the Pelicans’ games, for the fifth season in a row, at least one home game has been scheduled for each week during the regular season, especially during the summer months.  There are 16 home games in June, 17 home games in July and 12 home games in August.  Thursday, August 30^th, is the Pelicans last home game versus the Buies Creek Astros, a Houston affiliate, and they will be finishing out their season with a four-game series in Frederick, Maryland.  To see the Myrtle Beach Pelicans 2018 schedule, go to www.milb.com/myrtle-beach/news/pelicans-announce-2018-schedule.

A Minor League Baseball Team, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans are a Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs and members of the Carolina League.  The Myrtle Beach Pelicans are a winning team, making the playoffs for the past three seasons and winning the Carolina Championship in 2015 and 2016.  The team was affiliated with the Atlanta Braves from 1999 through 2010 before becoming affiliated with the Texas Rangers from 2011 through 2014.  The Pelicans have been affiliated with the Chicago Cubs since 2015 and will be through 2020.

The Pelicans play their home games at TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Ballpark which seats 6,599 fans and opened on April 12, 1999 as the Coastal Federal Field.  The Myrtle Beach Pelicans stadium has a speed pitch, obstacle course, and moon bounce on the concourse and was rated the second-best Class-A level ballpark in the United States, and the best in the Carolina League in 2009 by Baseball America.  According to Wikipedia, “For four consecutive seasons (2011 to 2014), Stadium Journey ranked the Pelicans as the top stadium experience in the Carolina League, and one of the publication’s “Top 50 Stadium Experiences” in all of sports, while TripAdvisor named the team the third-best attraction in Myrtle Beach.”

Some of the players on the Myrtle Beach Pelicans roster that have gone on to play in the major leagues are:

• Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers shortstop
• Jeff Francoeur, Former MLB outfielder
• Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves first baseman
• Rafael Furcal, All Star shortstop
• Marcus Giles, All Star second baseman
• Justin Grimm, Chicago Cubs relief pitcher
• Tommy Hanson, Former MLB starting pitcher
• Matt Harrison, Texas Rangers starting pitcher
• Kyle Hendricks, Chicago Cubs starting pitcher
• Mike Hessman, Professional baseball player
• Jonny Venters, Atlanta Braves relief pitcher
• Jason Heyward, Chicago Cubs outfielder
• Craig Kimbrel, Boston Red Sox relief pitcher
• Adam LaRoche, Former MLB first baseman
• Jason Marquis, Former MLB starting pitcher
• Brian McCann, Houston Astros catcher
• Kris Medlen, Kansas City Royals starting pitcher
• Rougned Odor, Texas Rangers infielder
• Martin Prado, Miami Marlins infielder
• Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Toronto Blue Jays catcher
• Julio Teherán, Atlanta Braves starting pitcher
• Jonny Venters, Atlanta Braves relief pitcher
• Arodys Vizcaino, Atlanta Braves relief pitcher
• Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher

The Pelicans’ 20^th Anniversary season is going to be filled with lots of fun features such as theme nights, giveaways, appreciation nights and kid-friendly entertainment.  It is a great year to support the Pelicans and make their 20^th Anniversary Season the best!  You might even win a Myrtle Beach Pelicans hat.  For Myrtle Beach Pelicans tickets, go to www.reservemyrtlebeach.com/pelicans/tickets.