Bus Leagues Baseball

The Indians opened the second half with two 20,000+ home dates against the Tigers, then welcomed the Yankees to town for a four game series this week. Those numbers: 27,224; 27,416; 22,965; 34,455. Too bad they can’t play the Bombers every day.

Oakland, meanwhile, hosted the Red and White Sox for their only six second-half home games thus far. The high water mark was the 30,456 that came to the last of Boston’s three games; the 20,000 mark was only topped on one other date.

The affiliates for each team, meanwhile, continue to draw well. The Columbus Clippers lead Triple-A in attendance and the Sacramento RiverCats are fifth, and only Cleveland’s High A affiliate in Kinston is below 100,000 for the year.

The Huntsville Stars are struggling at the gate this season – out of sixty affiliated teams in Double- and Triple-A, their attendance is the lowest – but general manager Buck Rogers and his staff are still giving 100% on the promotional side of things in an attempt to bring fans out to the ballpark.

Coming out of the All-Star break on July 14 (the game itself, held in Huntsville, drew nearly 8,000 fans), the Stars unveiled Car Survivor, a promotional event that pitted five strangers against one another in a battle of wills, with the winner walking away with a new(ish) car. The contest ultimately lasted for more than a week, encouraged new corporate sponsors to get involved with the team, earned extensive media coverage, and beat the crap out of the interior of a 2004 Honda Accord (the winner got a different car than the one used in the contest). They plan to run the event twice more in 2011.

Car Survivor will be followed up with an idea that isn’t quite as time consuming, but no less original. From Rogers’ email newsletter announcing the promotion:

So here’s the deal. The distance of a traditional marathon is 26.22 miles. That’s a lot of ground to cover by yourself. However, we are going to recruit 103 – and only 103 – runners who wish to be a part of something special. Our warning track is .2529924 miles around. Don’t ask, we measured it in the rain the other day. For those without slide rules, that’s just over a 1/4 mile around. If you divide that into 26.22 miles, that leaves us 103.63947 laps around to equal the distance of a marathon.

On Labor Day we’re going to take our 103 runners and each run a lap. Then, once the 103rd jockey comes around all 103 runners will amass on the track and run the final .63947 of a lap together guaranteeing that there will be no winner and no losers. Oh, there’ll be celebrating, a steak dinner with okra, mashed potatoes, other goodies and you’ll have your t-shirt and some beer. The Stars will take the field at 1:00 pm against the Mobile BayBears, which, if you scramble the letters spells Obi Balmy Beer, whatever that means. But you will have successfully participated in a marathon. Imagine the Chariots of Fire soundtrack playing for you! FOR YOU! Not some overpaid Olympic athlete with all the endorsement deals, but you, John (or Jane) Q Public, the backbone of America, the cornerstone of everything that is good about America. Why, nobody would ever call you a slacker again. At least not for another week or so. You’ll have the shirt to prove it. We’ll do the whole group photo thing. You’ll have proof you finished a marathon to show the grandkids. For one day you’ll be standing on top of the world (with 102 others that are basking in the glory with you).

They’re calling it the Okra Win-Free Labor Day Marathon (because they’re serving okra, and everybody’s a winner). The cost is $25, which I originally thought sounded like a lot, but isn’t so bad when you consider it includes the meal mentioned above, a t-shirt, and a ticket to the game. It’s too bad I live 1,150 miles from Huntsville, because this sounds like a good time. They’re also looking for sponsors. Don’t think I haven’t thought about seeing what I can get for a hundred bucks.