Why are mascots important to minor league baseball? In the current economy, you would think a budget-friendly version of our national pastime could stand on its own. Let’s face it though. There’s a lot of competition for our entertainment time and dollars. With rosters full of “Who are you?” and “Didn’t you used to be?” there are more empty ballparks and folded franchises than we care to admit to. Mascots give your team brand...
Why are mascots important to minor league baseball? In the current economy, you would think a budget-friendly version of our national pastime could stand on its own. Let’s face it though. There’s a lot of competition for our entertainment time and dollars. With rosters full of “Who are you?” and “Didn’t you used to be?” there are more empty ballparks and folded franchises than we care to admit to. Mascots give your team brand...
Besides seeing the future of Major League Baseball, and besides the game’s casualness and coziness, one of best things about baseball in the Bus Leagues is promotions. Every year there are some great promotions throughout the Minors, from cannon-shot stuntmen to actors masquerading as former Mexican legends and of course dozens, if hundreds, of culinary exhibitions. Although I won’t be attending any minor league games this year, there are a several promotions I would...
Arizona baseball is about to kick off in high gear. This past Saturday I made my way to Chase Field in Phoenix, AZ home of the Arizona Diamondbacks for FanFest 2011. Upon entering the stadium, I met Bobby Freeman sitting at an autograph table by himself with his keyboard and sound gear next to him. Bobby is the Musical Mascot for the D-backs and has held this position since the inaugural season in 1998....
The newborn Atlantic League team in Sugar Land, Texas may have you beat when it comes to skin-crawling mascot choices. Sugar Land’s minor league baseball team has yet to be formed, but planners have begun selling tickets for its 2012 inaugural season Wednesday after unveiling the team’s name, the Skeeters The Skeeters would become the first of the four to six teams to be created for the independent Atlantic League’s planned Western Division. Planners...
I spend my mornings frantically writing about college basketball, so I usually don’t think about baseball until the afternoon. But I do keep my eye on Twitter, so I had to take note when mi amigo Kyle Whelliston posted this tidbit: “Ramdy Johnson performs exclusively for the Indianapolis Indians through a special agreement.” http://kyl.co/ul #zooperstars I filed the link away for later, and I wasn’t disappointed. Ramdy Johnson is one of those fantastic inflatible...
One of the best things about minor league baseball is the creativity shown by teams. Whether it be through promotions or through other marketing, teams in the minors are never short on ideas. Throughout this season, the Charlotte Stone Crabs of the Florida State League have been posting creative “SportsCenter-like” YouTube videos about life off the field for Stone Crabs players. Bus Leagues Baseball will soon be posting an interview with the media mind...
Just to the west of Clearwater, along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and on the northern reaches of the Tampa Bay area lies Dunedin, birthplace of the voice of Space Ghost and home to the Dunedin Blue Jays, Class-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Last Saturday, I made my second trip to Dunedin. Although I was there a few years ago for a spring training game, this past weekend I made...
I promise not to inundate you with videos from the one game I’ve been to this year, but I wanted to put one together that showed more of the cool/unique/routine things about opening night in Richmond. The fun part is putting all the clips together and then trying to find a song that is the same length. It probably took me an hour to settle on this: I just thought “Hey Ya!” had a...
If there was one thing that made an immediate impression on Will and I when we went to The Diamond to watch the first home game of the Richmond Flying Squirrels, it was the mascot, Nutzy. The gates opened at 4:30 pm and the game ended at 10:30 pm. That made no difference to Nutzy. He was on, on, ON! all afternoon and evening. I honestly don’t know how we got him to hold...
2012 05 14 Scranton Wilks Barre/ Empire State Yankees vs Pawtucket Red Sox
