In what seems to be an annual tradition, Lucas Duda has hit a super hot streak, with multiple extra base hits, home runs, and long, taxing at bats. Let’s see what the press & bloggers have been saying about Duda:

• NJ.com has a video of Duda’s preformance, includng his mammoth homeruns in last night’s ballgame.
• For The Win, an affiliate of the international media outlet USA Today, talks about Duda in this post.
• Joe Giglo of NJ.com predicted Duda’s hot streak
• Amazin’ Avenue explains how the shift has affected Duda’s at bats.

If you haven’t noticed already, the Savannah Sand Gnats are no more, the organization itself relocated to Columbia, South Carolina, leaving historic Grayson Stadium, and changing their name to the “Columbia Fireflies”.

The Fireflies play their home games in the newly built Sprint Communications Ballpark, which holds around 7,500 fans. Sprint Communications Ballpark also has a old-fashioned theme, with a brick backstop and replica seats.

One of the best things about the Columbia Fireflies are their uniforms, which have a glow-in-the-dark theme, with neon colors. It’s truly very creative, without over doing it, like some MiLB teams tend to do these years.

 The Fireflies have a homewhite, a short sleeve road gray, a very cool yellow alternate which is used frequently, and a navy blue alternate that is used during batting practice and maybe a few games. Ultimately, this is a very professional look for a new team, with the Yellow jersey being the stand-out. Even the white and grey uniforms don’t look bad.

As far as the fans, attendance has been very strong in the first month, the first game in Sprint Communications drew over 9,000 spectators. While this is typical of an inaugural season, the Fireflies do a great job with their promotions and community outreach. The Fireflies have a fantastic social media team, especially on Twitter. You can follow the Fireflies on Twitter @ColaFireflies. As I mentioned earlier the promotions that they have are also top-notch and family friendly. Tickets normally cost around $10, or $2 on Two Dollar Tuesdays. (a fare price for a single A team), in comparison, Brooklyn Cyclones tickets usually start at $15. Some interesting promotions the Fireflies have are postgame fireworks, postgame autographs, Star Wars night, and Christmas in July. NOt quite the Brooklyn Cyclones, but still very family friendly.  If you have a chance to get down to Columbia this year, a Fireflies game sounds like a great time.

Let me know on Twitter @NikoMetsPlus if any of you have attended a Fireflies game, I’m interested to hear your experiences.