The Buffalo Bisons are planning their requisite amount of different twists to the 2022 season in Sahlen Field, but what's coming back to the ballpark is as big a deal to the front office as what's actually new.
Most prominent is the first April opener since 2019, as the 2020 season was canceled by the pandemic and the Herd spent much of 2021 in Trenton, N.J., with the Toronto Blue Jays in Buffalo.
The Bisons' 1:05 p.m. game April 5 against the Iowa Cubs, in fact, will be the first professional baseball game of 2022. It goes off before the delayed MLB season starts, and all other minor-league openers are later that day.
"We're traditional. It's Opening Day. It's not Opening Night," Bisons General Manager Anthony Sprague said Tuesday during a news conference in Sahlen Field's Pub in the Park. "We're a little nostalgic when it comes to the baseball end, so we plan for Opening Day. Only after a little while did we understand that we're going to be the very first game playing."
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Buffalo Bisons General Manager Anthony Sprague speaks during the team's annual “What’s New (& What’s Back) at the Ballpark” media event at Sahlen Field on Tuesday, March 29, 2022.
Sprague said his staff has been full-speed ahead planning as many events as it can for the expanded 75-game home schedule that runs through Sept. 24.
"To have people back for the entire promotional schedule the entire year, what that does is really get people in the mindset of, 'OK, things are really getting back to normal here,' " Sprague said. "The Bisons are coming back and bringing all the fun stuff that they do back and we can count on a traditional baseball season compared to last year."
Another tradition the Bisons are counting on is the post-pandemic return of fans from Southern Ontario, who Sprague said accounted for up to a quarter of the team's ticket sales in recent years as a Toronto affiliate.
"We want to welcome our Canadian fans back. You can have 'Canadian at par' tickets for the entire season by April 30. We think it's going to have a huge impact," he said. "The Bo Bichette Bobblehead Day (July 23) I believe is going to be a huge, huge day, and we're so excited."
After Opening Day, the promotional schedule starts with Kids Week from April 6-10 with tickets for youths 14 and under going for $5. With virtually every home series set for Tuesday-Sunday with Mondays off, the team has set up recurring promotions for each day.
The Friday night happy hours have been expanded to include 50% more taps, with a second serving area on the first base side to go with the one on the third-base side.
Among food offerings, Charlie the Butcher beef on weck is returning after opting out of the 2021 season, and La Nova pizza is also back in 2022. New offerings include Sahlen's "Grilled for You" hot dog, with smokehouse flavor from the oven; taco logs, a takeoff on the traditional pizza log; a Beyond Burger; and loaded nachos with chili, cheese and jalapenos.
Sahlen Field hot dogs and Taco Logs during the Buffalo Bisons annual “What’s New (& What’s Back) at the Ballpark” media event at Sahlen Field on Tuesday, March 29, 2022.
There are also numerous new offerings of adult beverages, including a new Southern Tier brewery stand. The team is rolling out mobile ordering with the Spot On app.
Among promotions, the Bisons will once again have a Sabres Night (Aug. 20) but will add a Bandits Night (July 22). A second bobblehead on Aug. 24 will be for Carrot from the nightly WCC race.
The Bisons also unveiled a pair of alternate jerseys, a royal blue version and an "Affiliation Blue" with the powder color of the Blue Jays.
Also back after a year's absence is the Bisons' league. They're happy to return to the "International League" after MLB called the grouping "Triple-A East" last year. The alignment is not finalized but it's expected to be two divisions of 10 teams each.
"We had to catch ourselves a few times last year to say 'Triple-A East,' " Sprague said. "It was a little tough, so now we can just kind of flow with the International League. Jackie Robinson played in the International League. There's so much history with the International League and Pacific Coast League. To just do away with that was was kind of tough and everyone has been around it for so long that that it's nice to have it back for sure.
"Through a lot of the back and forth with Major League Baseball, they have listened to a lot of things that we've asked for. And that was one of them."
