Rochester Red Wings Mark 100th Season of Knot Hole Kids Club in 2026

The Rochester Red Wings' Knot Hole Kids Club is turning 100, and the math alone is worth stopping on: a kids program founded in 1927 that has outlasted wars, recessions, franchise relocations across the minor leagues, and nearly every promotional idea baseball has ever tried.

The Red Wings announced the centennial milestone in a press release posted March 17, with Naomi Silver, President, CEO, and COO of the organization, putting the occasion in plain terms. "For 100 seasons, the Knot Hole Kids Club has fostered the love of Red Wings baseball for young fans," Silver said. "It is a tradition rooted in accessibility, community, and the simple joy of a child's first day at the ballpark. We are proud to celebrate the generations who have grown up with this program and grateful to those who have carried it forward with such dedication."

That founding year, 1927, puts the program's origins in the same era as Babe Ruth's 60-home-run season. Whatever Rochester was doing to get kids into the ballpark nearly a century ago, it stuck.

The structure of the modern program runs through Sunday games. Members who wear their membership card and lanyard to Sunday home games become eligible for selection to a rotating menu of VIP experiences: throwing out a ceremonial first pitch, serving as a guest public address announcer for one half-inning, collecting $20 in Diamond Dollars redeemable at concessions or the Team Store, or participating in on-field promotions. The card and lanyard are the entry point; showing up is the rest of it.

The Red Wings framed the centennial as a moment to look back as much as forward, describing the program as "a century of scorecards and sunshine, friendships formed in the grandstands, and the anticipation that comes with walking toward the ballpark gates." The organization was direct about what the Knot Hole Kids Club has represented across those 100 seasons: not a promotion, but "a rite of passage, a gathering place, and a lasting symbol of community pride."

A full schedule of centennial commemorative events beyond the Sunday VIP opportunities was not detailed in the initial announcement. Membership sign-up windows, historical attendance figures for the program, and any special centennial merchandise have not yet been released publicly.