A neon-green and black tour bus sat boisterously in Circus Square Park Friday. Two men in matching uniforms paced in front, pleading for members of the passing crowd to enter to win free tickets to a Louisville Bats baseball game.

Fewer than five people obliged.

For the first time ever, Bowling Green residents had their own team to root for – the Hot Rods. Ticket-holders, some enthusiastic about the opener and some skeptical about the long-term success of the team, trekked from parking lots scattered around downtown to the new baseball stadium.

Cars lined up eight-deep in the streets beside the Circus Square Park gravel lot an hour before the opening pitch.

Regina Vincent, 37, said she didn’t mind making the two-block ballpark pilgrimage with her three sons still dressed in their clothes from baseball practice.

“We’ve always been into pro-baseball, and now we have it out our back door,” she said.

Rick Malek, 34, hit fans walking from lots on the East side with a familiar offer before they entered the park.

“Hot dogs. Come and get it,” he yelled with a Yankee twang.

Malek said he usually sets up his hot-dog stand in the late night hours outside of bars in the square, but the Hot Rods gave his cart a more conventional venue.

He said he hopes the ballpark will revitalize downtown Bowling Green by offering an incentive for residents to spend time and money there, he said, turning his head to sell another all-beef dog.

Inside the unfinished warehouse where lines of people purchased last-minute tickets, City Commissioner Bruce Wilkerson picked up his own.

“I’m kind of at a loss for words,” he said watching the steady stream of fans entering the stadium.

Wilkerson said he hopes the excitement continues for the other home games this season, he said.

“Seventy games is a lot,” Wilkerson said.

Although he stood in line sporting a festive hat with two drinking cups and straws attached, Andrew Lawrence, 13, wasn’t smiling when he entered the stadium.

He said he doubted opening-day success would continue throughout the season because of competition from the AAA Nashville Sounds team only an hour away.

A senior from Kansas City, Mo., Jacob Schaefer watched crowds fill stands from his unconventional cheap seat across the street – a tree branch.

“I didn’t have any cash,” Schaefer called from about 15 feet above the ground. “I read books when I was a kid about people climbing trees in Chicago and New York to watch games, so I thought I’d give it a try.”

Schaefer settled onto his perch just in time to see the Hot Rods’ first pitch.