Zolz Entertainment

ZOLZ "IN THE NEWS"

From the Times Herald Record:

'Gades go righteous and retro with Zolz - By Kevin Gleason

You keep waiting for the Hudson Valley Renegades honeymoon to end, keep waiting for their customer to sigh. "Nice run, but I've seen enough." Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill is a cute park and all. But how many mascot goofs and hobbled balls can a far take? It's the team's sixth season, roughly five more than a minor-league team's typical mid-Hudson shelf life. Team officials sensed this was a pivotal season. The percentage of home sell-outs had gone from 95 in 1997 to 7 last season, the first such decline. So the Renegades went back to the future. They asked public address announcer Rick Zolzer to come home again.

Zolzer helped the Renegades off the ground their first two seasons. He kept fans entertained with his wise-guy style and promotional acumen Then he was gone. Fired, parted company; call it what you want. Zolzer's act had worn thin with his bosses. He is occasionally bold, not always politically correct. Former Vermont Expos manager Terry Kennedy, enraged by Zolzer's chop-busting, once stormed the announcer's booth after a game.

Lisa Morris did a nice job in Zolzer's absence, "phenomenal" in general manager Steve Gliner's words. Her only problem? She wasn't Zolz. The Renegades offered Zolzer considerably more than the $45 per game he earned in his first tour "I'm comfortable enough to ask my pregnant wife to let me come back," he says.

Hudson Valley, third in the New York-Penn League in attendance, averaged 4,223 fans in its first 15 home games, 56 more than 1998. "With him here," Gliner says, nodding toward Zolzer's perch in the announcer's booth, "it's always fun.' Evidence of fans' affection hangs from walls in the booth. "Welcome Back Zolz," reads one sign. "We (love) Zolz!" says another, the word substituted by a neatly drawn heart.

Zolzer, 42, came with new ideas. The Renegades remain the regions most entertaining sports vehicle. "The first three nights I was absolutely horrible," Zolzer says between calls of Tuesday's Renegades-Tigers game "I was rusty." "But fans were so supportive despite the fact that I screwed up. It was just a love fest." It is. He erred on a call during Tuesday's game, then shared a laugh with the crowd, easily forgiven.

Zolzer is in his post-seventh inning fan-mingling stance behind the box seats. Folks approach him every couple minutes to chat. The region's longest-running honeymoon keeps finding another gear. "It really is," Zolzer says, "the best part-time job on the planet."