There was nothing out of the ordinary about Anthony Seratelli’s RBI sacrifice fly that increased Wilmington’s lead over Lynchburg to 6-1. And what followed, however strange, was expected.

Mr. Celery, a green foam mascot in the shape of a stalk, dashed from underneath Wilmington's stands toward the home plate dirt circle. He stopped to face the crowd, did a celebratory dance, ran to the backstop to high-five some fans, then disappeared back under the stands.

As weird as the ritual may sound, it’s how the Blue Rocks celebrate runs.

“I think it’s fun,” Wilmington devotee Pam Shukitt said. “It’s something different that you don’t normally see in sports. It’s a celery. When we score it’s like, OK, here comes the celery.”

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Apprehension quickly replaced Steve Butler’s initial excitement.

Those were the first emotions to flow through Butler when the South Georgia Peanuts’ infielder learned his minor league baseball season would be the subject of a documentary.

The more Butler thought about it, the more concerned the pitcher grew that he had unwitting signed up for something akin to MTV’s The Real World.

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The lone Friday the 13th of the season meant one thing to minor league baseball front offices: the opportunity for a scary-good time.

Several clubs used the date as an opportunity to celebrate Halloween in June. Another handful opted to bring elements from the 1980s slasher movie series to their ballpark.

Brockton of the Can-Am League offered more of back-to-the-future theme with their Spygate Demolition Night. In a promo eerily reminiscent of the Chicago White Sox Death to Disco Night in the late 1970s, the Rox asked their fans to bring any home videotapes they felt contained incriminating evidence that needed to be destroyed.

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Man it's hot. It's like Africa hot. Tarzan couldn't take this kind of hot.

- Eugene Jerome, Biloxi Blues

Neil Simon’s lead character was referring to the suffocating heat endured during the Army’s World War II basic training conducted near the delta where the Mississippi River empties into the Gulf of Mexico. He could just as easily have been talking about the Gulf Coast League – the toughest league in professional baseball.

Eugene Jerome, meet Florida Marlins first round draft choice Matt Dominguez.

When Dominguez practiced with the big league club on Saturday he experienced a taste of what he hopes will be his ultimate destination, Major League Baseball. Several Marlins, however, offered Dominguez a hint as to the scorching road that serves as his starting point.

“I told them I was going to the Gulf Coast League and they all made sarcastic remarks like, Good luck with that,” Dominguez said. “They said it’s not the best league to be in.”

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