One 20-Inning Ballgame Deserves Another
It’s always impressive when teams engage in timely marketing, tying their promotions into current events.
An excellent example of this is the Fort Myers Miracle’s recent initiative, in which the team offered free tickets to European tourists stranded in southwest Florida due to volcanic ash. Miracle GM Steve Gliner reports 27 individuals took them up on the deal over the past two days.
An equally timely promotion was staged on Wednesday evening, in a South Atlantic League
contest between the Rome Braves and visiting Kannapolis Intimidators. The teams were so inspired by Saturday’s 20-inning game between the Mets and the Cardinals that they played a 20-inning contest of their own!
Despite his fatigue, Intimidators broadcaster Josh Ellis took the time to send in the following information on Wednesday morning. I provide additional observations in italics:
— The game only took 4:41, an amazing 14 minutes and three seconds per full inning. The Mets-Cardinals contest took 6:53 (over twenty minutes per inning).
— There were no mid-inning pitching changes.
— There were 31 strikeouts and only seven walks.
— Two players went 0-for-8. I’m looking at you, Daniel Wagner. And you, Matt Kramer.
— The Intimidators went 0-for-23 from the 13th to the 20th. And they won!
— The winning hit came on a 3-0 count. Congratulations, Kyle Colligan.
— The Intimidators bullpen has now allowed four earned runs over 55 innings this season, and have gone 21 straight innings without allowing a run.
—
Normal
0
false
false
false
EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE
The teams will play a 1 p.m. game today. The Braves won, 3-1, in a speedy 2:18.
An audio montage of this marathon ballgame can be heard HERE. In closing, I would like to commend both teams for tapping into the 20-inning zeitgeist. And thanks to Ellis, who so ably utilized the communications tools that I make available at the end of every post. You know, these:
benjamin.hill@mlb.com
twitter.com/bensbiz
Ben's Biz Blog 
I got all excited when you mentioned Kyle Colligan! He’s an Aggie, and I’ve spent the last few years watching him at A&M. Good to know he’s still getting game-winning hits. 🙂