Viva Rojo!

Well, we had an unusual amount of fun at work this past week.  For weeks, we have been promoting a Will Ferrell appearance.  He was in town for his charity golf event that helps send kids with cancer to college.  We were pretty vague about what he would be doing..just would say it was a "surprise."

Around the same time, our media department was also quietly leaking stories about a Venezuelan pitcher named Rojo Johnson, who was serving time for importing illegal reptiles, but had a 100 mph fast ball and that several teams were interested.  Here is one of our fake news stories, that we leaked through blogs and youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdN9wqmf6sc

They filmed that at a DQ in Kyle, Texas.  The girl is really the manager of the store - I thought she did a great job!  There were also a few grainy scout videos, as well as some shots from a Venezualian baseball game.

The day before the Will Ferrell appearance, we announced that we had signed Rojo Johnson.  Most people figured out what was probably going on - that Will Ferrell was Rojo.  First of all, minor league teams do not sign players - all of that is done by the major league parent club.  But we still got some complaints - how could we do something that was so opposite of our family friendly image by hiring a convicted felon, etc.

In the top of the sixth inning on May 6, Rojo went from the clubhouse to the bullpen.  It probably would not have been as obvious, but he had a Dateline NBC camera crew with him (should be airing May 21 by the way!).  Then, in the top of the 6th, we announced Rojo was coming in to pitch.  The place went crazy, and rather than tell you the whole story, just watch the video (oh, and number 4 is an exec with us - not a real player!):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haHlFA_bDkI

As of this posting, it has over 700,000 views and growing.  It has been so cool - we've been on ESPN, CNN, in the LA Times, and even made the news in London.  Here is a good clip from one of our local stations with a snippet from the press conference:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HIfRRzcY_E
My Dad even caught them talking about it on WTVY in Dothan!  That made me the most excited! :)

Tons of fun!  And I followed them around for a bit to take photos, and I am happy to say that Will Ferrell is not only hilarious ALL the time, but he is very kind, polite and down to Earth.  Unlike some of the other big name celebs that have been here (I'm talking to you, Dennis Q. and Matthew M.!).

Ok, fun part.  Here are some pictures!

yes, he brought beer out to the mound with him.  And how about the moustache, the gold chains, and my personal favorite:  the shoes!

The screen shots were awesome, but so was the song that they played.  A guy that writes an Astros blog made it up and recorded it, you can hear it here: http://farmstros.blogspot.com/2010/05/venezuelans-sing-about-rojo-johnson.html

This is Will being silly with my friend Debbie.  I just love this photo.

Will singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the 7th Inning Stretch.

Will on the radio with our broadcaster, Mike Capps.  The sweaty gross girl in the back is yours truly. 

Overall, it has been so exciting....and expect some Rojo (pronounced ro-ho, not ro-jo as some news folks have) merchandise on the Round Rock Express site soon!  It has been interesting to read and watch different news reports from around the country get some of the details all wrong, it makes me realize how much misinformation gets out there so easily!  Oh, I will leave you with Brian Williams: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/37073341#37073341

Adios!