Grounds crews all across the Eastern League have had a difficult time with the recent blasts of snow and cold weather. No team has probably had it as bad as the Portland Sea Dogs who had eight inches of snow fall on Hadlock Field last Tuesday. The grounds crew used shovels and blowers to clean the field as truck loads of snow were removed in preparation for Opening Day.

The Akron Aeros are giving fans a chance to add one of their own recipes to the team’s renowned “Extreme Menu” for the 2013 season. Fans just need to create a video with their craziest ballpark concoction and submit it to the team for consideration. Finalists will be invited to Canal Park and the winner will be declared by fan voting.

Mark your calendars for Wednesday, June 26th as it will offcially be “Twinkie Day in Curve, PA” as Altoona takes on the New Britain Rock Cats. The team will hand out Twinkies to the first 500 fans and will also be feature the snack cake either deep-fried or chocolate-dipped at concession stands. The game will also feature competitive eater and Johnstown native, Brian Subich, attempting to set a world record of most Twinkies eaten in one minute.

Speaking of the Curve, they are busy preparing for this Saturday’s exhibition with their major league affiliate, the Pittsburgh Pirates, at Peoples Natural Gas Field. Western PA musician Donnie Iris (known for ’80s hits “Ah! Leah!” and “Love is Like a Rock”) will perform the National Anthem.

The SeaWolves are collecting baseball and softball equipment for youth in the Erie community as part of their Gloves for Kids Drive. Team President Greg Coleman spoke of the project in a statement, “The SeaWolves want to encourage kids in our community to play ball. We’d like to thank the Student Ambassadors and SeaWolves fans alike for lending their support so we can give deserving kids the resources they need to get out and play.”

The New Britain Rock Cats are recovering from a fire that consumed their batting cages but left the rest of the stadium unaffected. It appears that some kids lit some small fires which ignited the net and metal as the blaze quickly spread.