A fire Friday morning at Sahlen Field caused an estimated $600,000 in damage to the downtown ballpark’s concourse. The good news was it did not cause the team to postpone its Friday game with Indianapolis.
The even better news for the team and its fans: Mark Aichinger Bobblehead Night will go on as scheduled Saturday.
Bobbleheads of one of the team’s most well-known superfans will be given to the first 3,000 fans through the Swan Street gate, which opens at 5 p.m. Saturday prior to the 6:05 game against Indianapolis. The dolls honor Aichinger, who has sat in Section 102 behind home plate since the 1990s.
Aichinger works for the Cantalician Center, a nonprofit organization that offers services for children and adults with disabilities. He also will throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
The festivities, in addition to the Bisons’ Friday night game and postgame fireworks, seemed in jeopardy because of the fire. But the team announced that the game would go on and that the Pub at the Park bar-restaurant and other concessions would be available. The Washington Street entrance was to be closed Friday, and an area of the concourse nearby cordoned off. Fans were told to enter at gates on Swan and Oak streets.
Seating for some ticket-buyers had to be moved for at least Friday’s game as a result of the fire. Fans with tickets in even sections from 118 to 128 along the first baseline were to be relocated to the third-base side.
Witnesses saw a large plume of black smoke rising from Sahlen Field shortly after 9 a.m. Friday, when at least five Buffalo fire trucks fought a fire on the west side of the stadium and police blocked off Washington…
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