MISSOULA, Montana — If you’ve ever been to a Paddleheads baseball game, you’ve undoubtedly seen a player dressed in a Paddleheads-themed suit, leading the charge with Paddleheads pride in front of the bleachers.
You may know Sam Boyd as the quirky entertainer from Paddleheads, Sammy B. Entertaining large audiences has been second nature to Boyd since he was in high school.
“In high school, I was very involved in school life and I was the one who created the Student Corner,” Boyd said.
Boyd has spent the past seven summers roaming the stands at Ogren Park, developing new ways to create an unforgettable atmosphere.
“I’m good at putting on my persona, my Superman suit, and doing what I need to do for the fans. I want to be eccentric and stand out. I want to walk out of the ballpark and have people say, ‘Wow,'” Boyd said.
When Sammy B hangs up his cape at summer’s end, he’s Clark Kent again, crunching numbers and immersing himself in promotion research and figuring out how to raise the monumental bar for the new baseball season.
“We’ll start setting our budget in October. I’m keeping a portion of this business and we’ll be looking at what promotions we want to bring back to the ballpark from November through January,” Boyd said.
Boyd tracks everything sold at ballparks, from uniforms to hot dogs, to calculate the perfect fan experience.
“I use a ton of data in Excel to track when people came, how much we made that night, how many beers and hot dogs we sold. I’m obsessed with it,” Boyd said.
Before we know it, it’s opening day and Boyd is back as Sammy B, with his notoriously powerful vocal chords.
“It’s like a muscle. You go to the gym and you train, but if you play peanut innings, it tears up your vocal cords,” Boyd said.
This gives home-field advantage to a team that has a higher winning percentage than any professional baseball team over the past two years.
“We feed off the energy of the crowd that Sammy gives us,” Paddleheads infielder Camron William said.
But this season will be Boyd’s last time thrilling Missoula fans, as he hangs up his Paddleheads suit for a noble cause: He plans to work with a youth organization called Young Life to mentor troubled high school students and get them back on the right path.
“This is an organization I was involved with in high school. I had mentors who cared about me and changed the trajectory of my life,” Boyd said.
Boyd left the industry having set the standard for sports entertainment in the Garden City.
“Sammy B. is second to none. We’ll never find anyone like Sammy B. again in this country,” Willman said.
“I’ve been able to test, fail and play in the sandbox more than I ever dreamed possible. I’m so grateful to the PaddleHeads organization. A chapter of my life is coming to a close. Missoula has loved me more than I could have ever imagined,” Boyd said.