It was a collision of a traditional American pastime and a truly modern one.
It may have seemed like just another summer baseball game Saturday night, but the Southern Ohio Copperheads and its fans accomplished something groundbreaking: They set the world record for most people to simultaneously spin fidget spinners.
As the fifth inning came to a close, hundreds of people, young and old, gathered behind the third base line for their chance to make history.
Many were armed with one of the 350 complimentary fidget spinners given out to fans, while others had come prepared with their own devices.
“At the beginning of the season, we had a goal to attract national attention,” Griffin Ward, the co-director of marketing and promotions for the Copperheads and a Ohio University junior studying sports management, said.
A world record is an attention-grabbing feat, and fidget spinners are a national phenomenon, so the Copperheads decided to combine the two, Ward said.
WE DID IT! WE SET A WORLD RECORD Special thanks to all who helped us make history tonight!! #GoCheads pic.twitter.com/1dZysZgeV2
— Copperheads Baseball (@Copperheads) July 9, 2017
The record had not been attempted before the Copperheads gave it a go.
More than 300 people walked onto the field and participated in the event, including Copperheads players and the team's mascot, Homer. Even a few members of the opposing team, the Cincinnati Steam, took part.
One of the hundreds of participants was Julie Sislowski, whose son works for the Copperheads.
“It’s my first time breaking a world record,” Sislowski, who was accompanied by her husband and two friends, said. “Everyone on the field was really excited.”
