Major League Baseball

Diamondbacks get in the spirit for Zombie Night

Published Apr. 25, 2014 10:50 p.m. ET

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They did the mash. The "Monster Mash."

The Diamondbacks hosted Zombie Night as part of their game against the Phillies at Chase Field on Friday, believed to be the first of its kind in major-league history, and a group of fans let their ghoul flag fly. Some dressed in living-dead attire and paraded around the warning track before the game to the tune of the classic song "Monster Mash."

One carried a severed limb. Another bore a striking resemblance to the Vincent D'Onofrio character in "Men in Black," checked shirt and all.

"You want to find ways to keep people coming to the ballpark who maybe are turned on by other things than the game itself," said Josh Rawitch, the D-backs' senior vice president of communications. "Our creative folks in the marketing department decided to try something unique. Obviously, zombies are very popular right now."

The D-backs partnered with the creators of the AMC television show "The Walking Dead" for the special event. The D-backs sold 1,000 ticket packages that included a T-shirt, a mini-bat, the outfield parade and a haunted maze behind the center-field scoreboard that contained a face-painting area. Those tickets sold out quickly, Rawitch said.

Phillies pitcher A.J. Burnett had his face painted, zombie-style, before the game, and Diamondbacks mascot D. Baxter the Bobcat wore a zombie-hunter outfit in case any of the young fans were frightened. 

On the Jumbotron, likenesses of D-backs players were computer-modified to give them a living-dead look.

"Zombie-d up," said Diamondbacks outfielder Tony Campana, who would know. Campana said he has watched all three previous seasons of "The Walking Dead" and is working on Season 4.

The D-backs have a zombie bobblehead giveaway scheduled for Aug. 2.

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