Minor-league baseball club to host LGBT night

Baseball has long been America’s favorite pastime and next month, the Reading Fightin’ Phils will invite the LGBT community to a free night of the longstanding tradition. The Fightin’ Phils will take on the Binghamton Mets for their first-ever LGBT Community Night Aug. 14. The minor-league team will give away 10,000 free tickets to those in the Reading, Allentown, Harrisburg and Philadelphia areas. Gates will open at 5 p.m. and the game starts at 7 p.m., and the first 2,000 adults to arrive will receive a Fightin’ Phils umbrella. Fightin’ Phils assistant director of sales Anthony Pignetti said the team was motivated to launch the event after seeing the success of similar initiatives, such as the Phillies’ Gay Community Night. “The success that other organizations have had in Philly and throughout the country played a big part in our decision to host a night like this,” he said. “We never had an event like this but certainly wanted to pursue it.” Pignetti said that although regularly priced tickets to the Fightin’ Phils are affordable, the team wanted to provide a free night for LGBT and ally fans, and to promote tourism in Reading. He said the team is pursuing sponsorships to support the free-ticket giveaway. The team will take sponsors up until the end of the month, with no set contribution amount for donations. Pignetti said he has worked with agencies such as Reading Pride, Equality Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Diversity Network to get the word out about the event. And the Phils have already seen great feedback for the event, he said. “It has been a fantastic response. People want to know more about the event and about the team and we hope to get people to come out to Reading from Philly and Harrisburg,” he said. He added that the team has recently gone through a rebranding and is eager to show the LGBT community and other visitors what it, and the area, has to offer. “We want to have as many people come to the ball park and see what we have to offer. Our games are fun with pre- and post-game music events on stage and food and drink specials. We want to be a year-round destination,” Pignetti said. “We welcome everyone to the ballpark — any type of organization, any community. We want to bring people to our stadium and show what the Fightin’ Phils and Reading have to offer.” For more information, visit www.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=t522.

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