Baseball has been a big part of Casey Keown’s life since his Reitz Memorial High School days and his childhood watching fellow Memorial graduate Don Mattingly play first base for the New York Yankees. Today, he is pouring that love into a new East Side pizza place, Casey’s Dugout, which stands out in more ways than one.
Growing up near The Slice, Turoni’s Pizzery, and Steve’s Una Pizza allowed Keown to dream about one day running a spot of his own.
“I think everybody loves pizza,” Keown says. “It’s just something I’ve always had a passion about. [My family] got an outdoor pizza oven at home, and we’ve been playing with that for three or four years. It’s just something we’ve always talked about doing.”
In seven months, Keown – who got his entrepreneurial start with Grass-Kickers lawn care – transformed the place from an eye doctor’s shop with eight optical rooms and sinks to a pizza parlor after everything was “gutted from the floor up,” he says. Along with business partner Kyle Fields, he held a soft opening on Feb. 11 and a grand opening on March 10.
Keown’s pizza menu offers a large, fun selection of pizzas ranging from the Hitman (named after Mattingly), a sausage and mushroom pizza smothered in extra cheese, to the Harper’s Hot Honey, a Hawaiian pizza topped with a hot honey drizzle. There also are monthly pizza offerings, and Keown is not afraid of trying new pizza styles.
“We have a lot of monthly pizzas where we play around, with stuff like Thai pizzas and just different things,” Keown says.
In addition to the pizzas, Casey’s offers sandwiches and sides to supplement the pizzeria, plus Dippin’ Dots for dessert.
Casey’s Dugout features a bar at the back of the building to bring the sports-watching environment full circle with classic beer or alcoholic beverages for those of age. Keown hand makes many of the decorations surrounding the bar, including baseball bats that separate the bar and the dining area. There also is an outdoor space with games such as Connect 4.
Keown’s passion for baseball isn’t open for dispute. The walls, ceilings, and tabletops are covered in jerseys, newspaper clippings, baseball cards, posters, baseball gum packages, and baseball gloves and bats. The interior also showcases a large collection of Mattingly paraphernalia, much of it coming from Keown’s own collection.
“I collected Don Mattingly stuff my whole life. That’s what we wanted to kind of aim it toward, kind of pay homage to him being a local legend,” Keown says.
Casey’s even brought in the Toronto Blue Jays bench coach himself for the grand opening and plans to host black-tie events for Mattingly Charities. The pizza parlor also sells T-shirts benefiting the charity.
Keown also pays tribute to the East Side and his high school days with a Hall of Fame wall heading toward the bar, honoring Memorial football coach John Hurley, baseball coach Matt “Rip” Collins, and lacrosse coach Cliff Rogers, along with athletes and coaches from the University of Evansville. Players on Memorial’s and UE’s baseball teams often find themselves at Casey’s Dugout after a game, or Keown will donate a pizza to them.
“Growing up right down the street, six blocks away, we’ve got a lot of family and friends right here in this area. We knew we could generate the Reitz Memorial High School crowd down the street,” Keown says.
After passing the 100-day mark for his new business, Keown plans on bringing in more kitchen equipment and adding more features to the website. With Casey’s Dugout growing in popularity, Keown aims to build a franchise and add locations throughout Southwestern Indiana, such as in Boonville and Jasper.
“The traffic is overwhelming. It’s been amazing,” he says.
