FREITAS AWARD: DOUBLE-A ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS

Rocket City masters the art of brand awareness with its iconic raccoon and trash-can rocket ship logo

- by J.J. COOPER

After several years of work, the Rocket City Trash Pandas got ready to open a brand-new ballpark, bringing baseball back to the Huntsville, Ala., area for the first time in years.

And then they learned that Opening Day would not happen. The coronavirus pandemic meant there was no 2020 season.

So the Trash Pandas had to wait a full extra year to open Toyota Field. It wasn't ideal, but the staff turned disappointment into an opportunity.

By the time Rocket City played its first game in the Double-A Southern League, thousands from all over the region had already been to the ballpark. During the pandemic, the team held movie nights on the field, did drivethrough light shows around the Christmas holidays and a variety of other community events.

"It was a 52-day homestand," Rocket City GM Garrett Fahrmann said.