We love the immediacy and the authenticity with which minor league baseball an grab the moment; and while no one has yet pulled “Make America Great” night, two minor league teams this week jumped on the popular culture band wagon to score points.
The first and best were the Erie SeaWolves, the Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, who announced an August “Alternative Facts Night. The SeaWolves will celebrate facts that the team knows to be true – even if some media outlets may dispute them. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a 2016 replica championship ring celebrating the SeaWolves’ 2016 Eastern League title. (They finished 62-79 last season, missing the Eastern League playoffs.) They are already announcing that over 1.2 million will be in a ballpark that holds 6,000, and maybe they can get umpires to call balls that are strikes and strikes that are balls, along with a host of other true but not true promos. Getting a local pol to throw a first pitch and play along should also be fun.
Then you have The Greensboro Grasshoppers, the Class A affiliate of the Miami Marlins, who immediately pounced on Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim’s claim Wednesday that having the ACC tournament in the city had “no value.” vs. playing the event in New York. The Grasshoppers will ow hold Jim Boeheim (No) Value Night on April 11.They will give away $20 worth of food and drinks to anyone who shows up with a driver’s license that lists Syracuse on it. The City of Greensboro had some great fun with the announce as well. Now Greensboro should probably see if Boeheim, a pretty sold baseball fan, would make the trek down south for the game, or anyone in Orange should also get a discount. Low risk, but great buzz for this one as well.
Fast, buzz worthy, no downside and just a little bit irreverent; that’s what makes MILB, either affiliated or Indy squads, so much fun to watch and engage with.
