The Pensacola Blue Wahoos, the Class Double A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds Major League Baseball team, have finally arrived! The Blue Wahoos, which were formerly known as the Carolina Mudcats, now call our beautiful Pensacola area home, and will play in their Southern League opener on April 5th in the newly built Community Maritime Park.
Blue Wahoos owner, Quint Studer’s vision is for the stadium and the Maritime Park to be a community venue. Shelley Yates, formerly with the Fish House, was hired to be the Blue Wahoos events coordinator to help bring that vision to fruition. They hope to offer the stadium as a beginning and ending location for marathons and parades. The stadium is equipped with a large video board for family movie nights and televised sporting events….but more importantly, FOR WAHOOS GAMES!!!
The team flew into Pensacola this past Sunday and was stunned by the reception, as they were greeted by a large group of fans. Pitcher Brandon Hynick was quoted as saying, “It’s very exciting, I’ve never played for a fan base that is this pumped up to see us.” Pitcher Donnie Joseph added that he never expected to see such a large turnout. “I’ve never seen anything like this and it’s awesome. I’m ready to get the season started and can’t wait for opening day.” 
If you plan on coming out to the new stadium this year, parking will be limited, so you’ll want to get there early. The stadium seats 5,000, but the on-site parking lot only has 375 spaces, and 225 have already been reserved for team staff, volunteers and season parking passes holders. Pensacola mayor Ashton Hayward said parking will be much like for festivals. “Not everyone will be able to park on-site, but there is plenty of parking within a short walk of the park.”
The city has a total of 9,500 parking spaces at 9 lots and garages, 3 free lots and curbside. An additional 1,000-plus spaces will be available in a dozen lots that Winterfest organizers run as fundraisers to finance that event, and are just a 10 minute walk to the stadium. Denise Daughtry, president of Winterfest, touts the lot her organization manages directly across from the park gate, located on Main Street between Reus and DeVilliers streets, as "a tailgate parking lot." "People can come and have a picnic," she said. "That's 5 acres of shady trees."
Plan ahead and check online for a map and details: pensacolaparking.com/where/blue-wahoos.php. Fans who park in a lot will pay $7, $5 and $3, depending on how close they are, and fans lucky enough to find on-street parking won't have to pay anything.
If you can’t make it to the game, the Wahoos have entered in to an agreement with Pensacola Sports Radio to broadcast all their games on 1450 AM ESPN and 101.1 FM ESPN. In addition to being streamed on ESPNPensacola.com, the broadcasts will also be made available online at BlueWahoos.com. So, whether in person, on the internet, or by radio…lend your support to this exciting new attraction in Pensacola!
GO WAHOOS!!!!!
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