text: Five Questions ... with B-Mets' Connor Gates
  Director of community relations and man behind hotdog horse brings joy to crowd
  Five Questions ... with B-Mets' Connor Gates Director of community relations and man behind hotdog horse brings joy to crowd Check out this story on pressconnects.com: http://press.sn/1peqzjJ
  Collin Leadbeater, cleadbeater@pressconnects.com | @C_Leadbeater Published 5:26 p.m. ET Aug. 26, 2014 | Updated 5:27 p.m. ET Aug. 26, 2014
  Binghamton Mets director of community relations Connor Gates.(Photo: Provided Photo)
  Gates has been with the B-Mets since 1998, beginning as a bat boy.
  He is also known as the Hatfield Hotdog Horse, who tosses hotdogs into the crowd at home games.
  Gates often interacts with fans during games, getting a feel for how the fan experience is for them.
  Connor Gates has an important role with the Binghamton Mets.
  Sure, he is the director of community relations and behind many of the promotions that take place at NYSEG Stadium on a nightly basis, but for the fans, that pales to his on-field role: dressing up as a horse and slinging hotdogs into the stands.
  Yes, Gates is the man behind the Hatfield Hotdog Horse who brings joy to hungry patrons at every home game.
  But that is not all he brings to the organization. In his front-office role, he often interacts with fans to find out how the gameday experience can be improved. His familiarity with the B-Mets helps him, as he is in his 17th season with the club, beginning in 1998 as a bat boy.
  Question: How were you able to work your way from being a bat boy to where you are now?
  Answer: It was a process, that's for sure. I did bat boy for four years, and then the GM at the end of my fourth year was Bill Terlecky. I had a passion for the game, so he got me over as the assisting visiting clubhouse manager. Really that entailed work before and after the game, and there wasn't a lot to do during. So he asked me to help out with promotions, and a few years later I became the head of promotions. Then in 2007, I was hired full-time ... I applied to be a batboy back in 1992 when the team first came here. I was nine years old at the time and didn't know anything about child labor laws. I just knew I wanted to be involved.
  Q: You're known also as the hotdog horse. Is that something you enjoy doing?
  A: It's fun. I like being able to get the crowd more into (the game). I remember this 4th of July, we were losing very late in the game, and it ended up going 16 innings. I was able to come out, and the crowd erupted. It was with me the whole time, going crazy. We fed off each other basically.
  Q: Who came up with the concept and how did it end up that you were the one doing it?
  A: Our GM at the time, Scott Brown. The Reading Fightin' Phils do something similar, so we wanted to do something that we knew would be a crowd-pleaser, and so far it has been. I was volunteered, but I kind of knew when we started talking about it that it was going to be me. It's OK though, it's a fun character.
  Q: What is your role in your position as director of community relations?
  A: In minor league baseball, no one has just one job. We all kind of spearhead different things. Even though I'm not the director of marketing, there's certain things in that aspect that I'll do. Same thing with our director of marketing isn't community relations, there's certain things in that aspect that he'll do ... If it's a day game, get here around 6:30 a.m. because you have half a day to do everything. Otherwise, I'll usually get here between 8 and 8:30 a.m. on a regular day. I'll try to rattle off as much regular gameday stuff. I plan the day's promotions, like what inning the hotdog horse is in, when Dental Dash will be, things like that. I update the leaderboard everyday. That's something I took over. I'll update the stat sheets that are handed out to season-ticket holders and go in the program. I'll write the PA script and then try to do as much other work as I can do for that day or the rest of the homestand.
  Q: How much do you interact with fans?
  A: I try to spend most of the game up in the stands, talking to fans and helping with the promotions ... It's very important. The fans and sponsors are the people we rely on to keep a baseball team in Binghamton. Getting that personal, one-on-one interaction with them is important, because it lets them know we know who they are and we are thankful for what they do for us.