As the Dawgs celebrate their 10th anniversary, the Western Wheel looks back at some of the unique characters who played or visited Seaman Stadium.
This week a look at a young lady who inspired Dawgs and fans during the seventh-inning stretch and most importantly, finally got to experience the joy of finding a tiny toy in a box of caramel corn.
You have to pay your dues in baseball.
Long before then eight-year-old Katie Speelman became a staple as the singer for Take Me Out To The Ballgame those first three years at Okotoks Dawgs games (2007-09), she was more of a Supreme than a Diana Ross.
“I remember there was a whole bunch of kids and (Dawgs VP promotions) William Gardner asking ‘Hey do you kids want to sing?’’’ said the now 17-year-old Speelman. “There were about 10 of us.
“Gradually, I would start running up to William and say: ‘Can I sing?, Can I sing?’”
Speelman wore down Gardner like Jeter going deep in the count on a pitcher.
The recent Highwood High School grad was soon a mainstay with the mic during the seventh-inning stretch.
“I just loved how some of the people reacted,’” said Speelman, who was seven or eight at the time. “I would go into stores and sometimes people would say: ‘Are you Katie Speelman?’ I thought I was kind of famous.”
She was a catalyst for one of the most famous Dawgs’ comebacks in history .
The Dawgs were down 7-0 after 6 1/2 in an opening round playoff game to the Medicine Hat Mavericks in 2009 and looked like a more sure goner than Old Yeller.
Then the Mighty Katie came to the plate to sing — and there was joy in Dawgsville.
“At the end of Take Me Out to the Ballgame I said: ‘C’mon Dawgs, let’s score some runs.’ I thought it would give them a little help, I was a bit of a mascot with my singing,” Speelman said.
When the Dawgs scored eight runs en route to a victory, Celine Dion couldn’t have knocked Speelman out of the Dawgs’ playoff line-up.
You can also learn a thing or two at a ballgame.
Although Speelman sang “buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks” numerous times, she didn’t know a Cracker Jack from Jack Nicholson until a Dawgs fan helped her out.
A fan had read in the Western Wheel Speelman didn’t know what Cracker Jacks were.
He bought her a box, and Gardner presented them to her before a Dawgs’ game.
Speelman, who lives in the Blackie area, admits she does miss going to the Dawgs games.
“I think sometimes I should go back down and see the people I used to know… See if William is still there…” she said.
Speelman plans to attend college in the future to study sociology and/or psychology.
Musically, she still sings for leisure and is now dabbling with the harp.
