Majoring In The Minors: Rose Promo Hits A Homer

It was a well-placed, well timed stunt that only an Independent League franchise could pull off. There was Pete Rose back in baseball for a day at least. The Atlantic League’s Bridgeport Bluefish “hired” Rose last week to be their manager for a day, ceding power for a few innings from former MLB’ers Willie Upshaw and Butch Hobson, to draw some attention, talk baseball and tout some of his partnerships.

The result? The Bluefish doubled their regular attendance and drew national publicity, even if Rose kept his dress pants on as he patrolled the first base coaching box for a few innings.  He signed and posed for a fee, and gave the Indy franchise relevance outside of Fairfield County, Connecticut for a night. Now the “guest manager” idea isn’t that new on the Indy level. What is new is an Indy team taking a chance to have Rose come in and don the uniform with his ban from baseball still intact (Indy teams do operate outside of the MLB/MiLB system, but not wanting to ruffle the feathers of the commissioner’s office is still on the minds or owners on a host of touchy issues). In fat one of the great draws for Indy teams, outside of the inexpensive night of family fun and a level of play that is usually a bit higher than lower level affiliated clubs, are the former MLB’ers that usually patrol the sidelines, looking for an opportunity to break in as a manager or coach. Rose, if he was in good stead with MLB, might even be a prime attraction on a regular basis for an entrepreneurial Indy team.

Now the decision to have Rose come in in such a “formal” role was probably not made in a vacuum.  GM Ken Shepard weighed the pluses and minuses, rolled the dice and hit a homer for the organization, giving great added value to sponsors watching their discretionary spend and ROI and helping push fans to turn out on a Monday night when school is still in its final session to see a baseball legend on the field, one who rarely makes it to a ballpark these days.

For Rose, the night served as a great pulpit for him to talk about baseball, Bud Selig and his other promotions, including a new campaign for a sports website called Sportsbeep . It was a chance to again test the waters, with a large media contingent and see if the Hall of Fame pool might be open again.

Will it lead to other guest manager appearance for “Charlie Hustle?” Not sure if he will fit it in, but for a trial balloon for the Bluefish to bring in some fans who maybe will come back on another night, for sponsors to get an added bump, and for brand exposure in a crowded marketplace, the Rose Manager For The Day hit a homer.