The Rochester Red Wings and a promotion designed to highlight deaf culture got some national publicity on Saturday as part of the “Minor League Baseball Promotion of the Week” on ESPN.
ESPN did a segment about the promotion on Saturday where Wings’ players and their manager used American Sign Language to perform “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”
During the Sunday afternoon game, the Wings will wear special jerseys and caps. The jerseys will feature “Red Wings” in American Sign Language across the chest, while the cap will have the ASL “R” on the front with the Spikes logo on the side. The jerseys will be auctioned off, with proceeds benefitting both NTID and the Rochester School for the Deaf.
There will be dozens of interpreters stationed throughout the ballpark on Sunday and portions of the game will be captioned on the videoboard for the first time ever, courtesy of NTID.
Other aspects of the game including a signing inning where there will be no PA announcements or music. The Wings will also highlight deaf individuals who have made a significant impact on society.
As part of Deaf Culture Day, the Wings will welcome back Ogden Whitehead, an NTID grad and former Red Wings employee, who will reprise his role as “Recycleman,” and lead the crowd in some of the cheers he used in the late ‘90s and early 2000s.
The Sunday game starts at 1:05 p.m. Students, faculty and staff at RIT/NTID and the Rochester School for the deaf can get $2 off tickets by using a special promo code that will be supplied to them.
