Baseball

Fireworks, an all-star game and a drool-worthy dessert — your Boise Hawks fans’ guide

By Michael Lycklama

Updated June 15, 2019 12:01 AM

Minor-league baseball returns to Boise for the 33rd straight summer when the Hawks host the Everett AquaSox at 7:15 p.m. Monday in their home opener.

Here’s your guide to what to expect on and off the field from the club in 2019.

ALL-STAR GAME IN BOISE

For the first time in franchise history, the Hawks will host an all-star game at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 6 at Memorial Stadium.

The game pits the top players in the Northwest League, the home of the Boise Hawks, against the best players from the Pioneer League circuit. The event also includes a home run derby at 6 p.m. Tickets are $10 to $20.

All-star festivities also include a block party at the Grove Plaza in Downtown Boise from 6 to 9 p.m. Aug. 5, and a fan fest on the field at Memorial Stadium prior to the Aug. 6 game.

Hawks first baseman Daniel Jipping has played in the past two all-star games and said it brings extra excitement to the host city.

“The Rockies had it last year in Grand Junction (Colorado), and you saw a big buzz in Grand Junction when I went there. Hillsboro (Oregon) was the same way (in 2017),” said Jipping, who won the 2017 home run derby. “It just brings a buzz to the city, a buzz to the fans. They are probably going to pack it a little more than usual, although I don’t know that you can because they sell out a lot of games.”

Boise hasn’t hosted a professional all-star game since the Idaho Steelheads brought the ECHL all-star game to town in 2007.

The Hawks will host their first fireworks night June 28. Katherine Jones Idaho Statesman file

FIREWORK NIGHTS

The Hawks will host nine postgame fireworks shows this summer. The dates are June 28, July 4, July 6, July 12, July 20, July 26, Aug. 9, Aug. 10 and Sept. 1.

Boise Hawks manager Steve Soliz will lead a team for the first time this season. Katherine Jones kjones@idahostatesman.com

A MANAGER WITH MLB EXPERIENCE

Steve Soliz, who spent eight years on the bench of the Los Angeles Angels, will lead the Hawks into 2019.

Soliz served several roles with the Angels, rising from a bullpen catcher to become the team’s bullpen coach, catching coach and information coach. But longtime Angels manager Mike Scioscia stepped down after the 2018 season, leading him to the Colorado Rockies and their short-season A affiliate in Boise.

The 48-year-old worked with some of baseball’s brightest minds under Scioscia, including Cubs manager Joe Maddon, Rockies manager Bud Black and Ron Roenicke, a former Brewers manager who is now the bench coach of the Boston Red Sox.

But this is Soliz’s first managerial job at any level.

TICKET PRICES

Third-base and home-plate box seats are $17. First-base box seats and reserved (upper level) seats behind home plate and third base are $14. And first-base bleacher seats are $8.

All tickets purchased online come with a $2 surcharge, the same as last season. And all tickets on Mondays (except Opening Day) are an extra $4 as part of the Feed Your Face Mondays promotion.

You can purchase tickets online at BoiseHawks.com, over the phone at 208-322-5000 or at the Memorial Stadium box office.

The Boise Hawks will sell an Idaho cannoli — a doughnut shell from Pastry Perfection stuffed with cannoli cream — this summer for $5. Courtesy of Boise Hawks

THE IDAHO CANNOLI

Minor-league teams compete every year to create the most mouthwatering and heart-clogging concession items. Meet the Hawks’ entry: the Idaho cannoli, a doughnut shell from Pastry Perfection filled with cannoli cream and topped with sprinkles and a chocolate drizzle.

It’s $5 and is available at the ice cream stand under the third-base bleachers. Pastry Perfection will make the doughnut shells fresh each day, meaning a limited amount are available for each game.

PROMOTION HIGHLIGHTS

Professional wrestling legend and WWE hall of famer Sgt. Slaughter will meet fans, pose for pictures and sign autographs before the Hawks’ June 29 contest.

Other highlights include:

Drone show: 25 customized drones will perform a synchronized light show after the July 13 game.
Mascot appearance: Dinger, the Colorado Rockies’ purple dinosaur mascot, will appear in Boise on July 27.
Tie-dye jerseys: The Hawks will wear purple, black and gray tie-dye jerseys for every Monday home game (except Opening Day) as part of their Hunger Awareness Nights. The club will auction off the jerseys and donate the proceeds to the Idaho Foodbank on July 15, July 22, July 29, Aug. 12 and Sept. 2.
Giveaway nights: Fans receive magnetic schedules on Opening Day, a free grilling apron July 5 (18 and older), a youth soccer ball July 6 (12 and younger), a piggy bank July 27, a dog bowl Aug. 11 and a team poster Aug. 31.
$1 beer: Domestic drafts are $1 and all Pepsi products are $2 through the seventh inning during all Thursday home games.
$1 food: Hot dogs, ice cream bars, popcorn and snow cones are all $1 June 29, July 5 and Aug. 31.
Dog Day Sundays: Dogs are allowed into the stadium during all Sunday home games. Cooling pools and treats are available.
Feed Your Face Mondays: All-you-can-eat select items from the concession stands and outside food vendors until the end of the fourth inning. All tickets come with a $4 surcharge.

The Boise Hawks will wear purple tie-dye jerseys during all Monday home games, except for Opening Day. Courtesy of the Boise Hawks

NEW AT THE STADIUM

The Hawks have made several updates to spruce up Memorial Stadium as it enters its 31st season.

The team replaced several of the lower box seats with refurbished seats from Boston’s Fenway Park and Baltimore’s Camden Yards. Some seats have a stylized “B & B” on the arms for Baltimore Baseball.

The club rebuilt the outfield wall and repainted the stadium’s interior poles orange, one of the Hawks’ primary colors. The infield also has an orange tint thanks to an outside groundskeeping crew.

The team removed its league championship and hall of fame pennants from the right-field wall and placed them on the outside of the Hawks’ clubhouse along the first-base line to better display them for fans.

And a revamped kids zone along the first-base line features new playground equipment, a new obstacle course and a new Velcro dart game.

DOWNTOWN STADIUM UPDATE

When Agon Sports & Entertainment purchased the Hawks in the fall of 2014, organization president Jeff Eiseman said Boise could have a new Downtown stadium as soon as 2017. But the Hawks missed that goal as they have faced opposition to possible locations and using taxpayer money to fund a stadium.

Ownership has proposed a public-private partnership that would use the stadium as an anchor for surrounding commercial and residential development, the same model it followed in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Augusta, Georgia.

Agon also has secured the rights for a minor-league, USL soccer team to play in the stadium possibly as early as 2021. But Boise State baseball has withdrawn from plans to play in the Downtown stadium and will build its own $10 million to $12 million facility on campus.

A citizens group, Boise Working Together, has gathered enough signatures to force a vote on the project. Boise Mayor David Bieter has since supported a vote after backing the project for years.

The new stadium, located along Whitewater Park Boulevard between Main Street and Fairview Avenue, is expected to cost $50 million, the Idaho Statesman previously reported. How much would come from the taxpayers isn’t known without an official proposal, but early plans relied heavily on urban-renewal funds.

ON THE RADIO

For the second season in a row, 101.5 KOOL-FM will broadcast all 76 Boise Hawks games. It also will air the Northwest-Pioneer League All-Star Game.

Live coverage begins 15 minute before first pitch. Fans also can listen online on the team’s website, and via the MiLB First Pitch and TuneIn Radio mobile apps.

This story was originally published June 13, 2019 at 9:59 PM.