Baseball: You Might Be The Father’s Day promotion pushes the envelope

In the grand tradition of silly yet attention-getting minor league baseball promotions, we bring you a big fat pitch from the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.

It’s “You Might Be The Father’s Day!”

This one falls on Thursday night, when the Shrimp, the Double-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins, plays the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. “In honour of You Might Be The Father’s Day,” the team says, “the Jumbo Shrimp will be distributing pregnancy tests so you’ll know if you need to return for Sunday’s Father’s Day game . . . It will be an evening filled with suspense, intrigue and manila envelopes.”

Nice touch there with the manila envelopes, Jumbo Shrimp.

“Whether our guests are here for the first time or have supported the team for years, we seek to create entertainment and promotions that delight the whole family,” Harold Craw, the Jumbo Shrimp general manager, said in March. “Fans will have many traditional favourites and plenty of new and exciting ways to make memories at the ballpark.”

Conveniently, this promotion, sure to attract the team’s #CrustaceanNation, coincides with a “Thirsty Thursday” promotion, when 12-ounce Budweiser products go for a buck and 24-ounce products are two bucks. It is unclear if the presence of Thirsty Thursdays is linked to “You Might Be the Father’s Day.”

Promotions are clearly a hit-or-miss endeavour for minor league teams. They’re fun and they need to be distinctive yet not misguided. The Charleston RiverDogs, for instance, tried a Father’s Day Vasectomy Night that was nipped in the bud, Nobody Night in 2002 (no one was allowed to enter until the fifth inning so that the official attendance would read zero) and Silent Night in 2003, when no talking or cheering was allowed. Two years ago, they came up with a “Bobble Boobs” giveaway on Breast Cancer Awareness Night, with ballpark mammograms offered and the support of a local Susan Komen group.

But last week, the Ogden Raptors cancelled “Hourglass Appreciation Night,” which had promised “gorgeous women whose curves rival those of any stud pitching prospect!” The promo was adorned with drawings of bikinied women, and promised a “different stunner each halfinning” to pose for pictures with fans.

The Raptors were left scrambling after their ill-conceived promotion. “The Ogden Raptors regret that an unauthorized news release was disseminated over the weekend announcing a promotion that was not approved or scheduled by club ownership or management,” the team said in a statement posted to Twitter. “This promotion will not take place and steps have been put in place to ensure this will not happen again. The Ogden Raptors offer a sincere apology to anyone who was offended by the promotion itself and the contents of the news release, and in no way supports or condones the objectification of women.”

And, two years ago, Utah whiffed with the Orem Owlz’ “Caucasian Heritage Night” featuring “Wonder Bread on burgers with mayonnaise, clips from shows like Friends and

Seinfeld and trying to solve the vertical leaping challenge.” That one was cancelled and the team’s communications director resigned.