Cowboy Monkey Business
Have you ever been to a professional, Major League Baseball (MLB) game? Most of us have. Peanuts, popcorn and Cracker Jack, in addition to $15 beers and $50 to park. A family of four can drop some serious coin going to a game.
But there’s a world of baseball that’s much more fun and easier on the pocketbook – Minor League Baseball.
You may be familiar with some of these teams. If you’re from Delmarva, you’ve probably heard of the Delmarva Shorebirds. From Wilmington, DE, the Wilmington Blue Rocks. From Philly? The Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs.
But how about some of these: Amarillo Sod Poodles, Beloit Sky Carp, Dayton Tortugas, Inland Empire 66ers, Lansing Lugnuts, Sugar Land Space Cowboys, Tri-City Dust Devils.
Let’s face it, when you’re a Sod Poodle it might take some effort to attract a crowd. Or not. The Texas Rangers MLB team is hundreds of miles away in Dallas. But if you’re the Wilmington Blue Rocks, The Philadelphia Phillies are a short ride up I95.
So, what does a Blue Rocks team do to attract fans? Well, they have family-friendly promotions like bobblehead nights, a T-shirt cannon to lob shirts up in the stands, dollar hot dog nights… you get the idea. But they also have used a surefire attraction:
Yup, this sounds insane. But it’s anything but.
At several home games every year the Wilmington Blue Rocks host Cowboy Monkey Rodeo between innings, a spectacle that consistently draws the largest crowds of each season.
The rodeo consists of several capuchin monkeys, attired in full cowboy attire, saddled on border collie dogs and corralling sheep in the stadium infield.
One monkey, “Whiplash,” is such a hit he was named the Pro Rodeo Entertainer of the Year for three years! Believe it or not, Whiplash even has his own Wikipedia page and several product endorsements!
Tim “Wild Thang” Lepard is the creator of Cowboy Monkey Rodeo. Lepard was a professional bull rider (see the 9:59 Club’s trip to the PBR: When Does PBR Not Mean Pabst Blue Ribbon?) but an injury sidelined him. He stayed in bull riding by becoming a rodeo clown.
Always entertained by toy monkeys, Lepard bought two real ones and thought he could train them to ride horses. Except that the monkeys were too small for the much larger beasts. After Lepard saw the monkeys playfully riding on the family dog, the idea of Monkey Cowboy Rodeo was born.
As you might expect, PETA doesn’t like the Cowboy Monkey Rodeo but Delaware Office of Animal Welfare officers attending the rodeos reported that the operator was “very organized, with documentation, and the conditions of the animals well exceeded Delaware requirements.”
Since perfecting the show, Cowboy Monkey Rodeo has introduced Lepard to people across the country. “When you see an 80- or 70-year-old gentleman get up laughing, with tears rolling down his cheek—when they tell me they appreciate what I am doing out there and to keep doing it—that means more to me than anything,” Lepard says. “I have experienced a lifetime, more than anyone could ever imagine, but when things like that happen, it’s tough to beat. I think people recognize that I am following my dreams.”
And that’s real Monkey Business.
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“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.”
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Ya can’t beat Cowboy Monkeys!
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