Fireworks cause attendance explosion

It's a wonder what pretty explosions in mid air can do. Jupiter had its two biggest nights of the season on Monday and Tuesday, mostly because of fireworks displays.

On any given Monday night, counting the amount of fans in the stands at a Jupiter game is relatively easy. On July 3, Jupiter drew more than 6,000 fans. Four the fourth, Jupiter packed its house. There haven't been that many people in Roger Dean Stadium since the big league teams flew north.

The Hammerheads milked the nights for all they could. The entire staff worked both nights. They charged for parking. Normally that would draw a raspberry from MinorLeagueDugout.com, but there may have been 100 cars that drove to the ballpark just to watch the fireworks. Can't fault them for making money off of people who never entered the gates.

The fans were treated to a couple of good games. Both went into extra innings which turned out to be a good thing because in both instances the ninth inning ended well before darkness set in.

The electric atmosphere in the ballpark caused multiple staff members to remark about how nice it would be to have a crowd every night.

If the last few days in St. Lucie are any indication, that won’t happen. The Mets, who play 40 miles to the north, lit their fireworks on Saturday night, drawing a little more than 4,000 fans. The expected crowd for July 4? They were hoping for 400.

No jail for candy: We are happy to report that there were no arrests for excessive candy giving last night in Boise. The Hawks celebrated Idaho's 116th birthday by breaking an arcane state law that prohibits any person from giving away a bag of candy that exceeds 50 pounds. The Hawks presented a trivia winner with a 51-pound bag of candy. Everyone was allowed to walk away.