Tagged: Warren Buffet

March 10, 2011

News Explosion!

The last couple of weeks were slower than a sloth on a treadmill, but boy oh boy have times changed.

All of a sudden it feels like the season again, with news and notes coming in from left and right and everywhere in between. It’s time to start posting, because the content levels are rising and soon I might drown — alone and forgotten in a remote corner of MiLB.com HQ.

To the Bullet Points!

— The New York-Penn League may not start play for another three months, but that didn’t stop the Brooklyn Cyclones from releasing a picture of their Angel Pagan bobblehead. I’m glad that they took his first name literally as opposed to the surname, because a bobblehead depicting the ballplayer as a hedonistic polytheist probably wouldn’t go over too well.

— Meanwhile, Brooklyn’s NYPL rivals the Lowell Spinners announced the follow-up to last year’s celebration of Bubblewrap.The team will stage a “Flossing World Record Attempt” on June 29, a promotion recommended by four out of five dentists. My extensive research into this most crucial of topics revealed that previous attempts have involved a huge single strand of custom-made floss.

I’m not sure if this will be the case in Lowell, but either way I recommend that this product serve as the official sponsor.

— In other follow-up news, the Lake County Captains are continuing with the Christmas Story themed giveaways that started with last season’s “Skipper Leg Lamp.” On July 23, fans will receive a bobble doll in which Skipper’s nose is stuck to a foul pole. I haven’t obtained a picture yet, but this item is of course a reference to this:

— Another club to recently unveil their 2011 promo scheduleare the newly-rechristened Omaha Storm Chasers. While other teams honor Jimmy Buffet, the Storm Chasers instead pay homage to Warren. The Omaha billionaire and member of the team’s ownership group gets his own road jersey replica giveaway, taking place April 30. Here’s a pic of this Warren piece of memorabilia:

— Another notable jersey hailing from the preeminent Midwest is that which the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers will be wearing during Sunday home games. This one is like an undersized fish — total throwback.

— In keeping with the jerseys theme, the Charleston RiverDogs will be giving away Roberto Alomar Charleston Rainbow jerseys on July 23. The newly-minted Hall of Famer suited up for the Rainbows in his first professional season, and while I have yet to obtain photographic evidence here’s my best approximation of what it will look like:

But no matter what it looks like, this is sure to be one of the best ROYGBIV-aways of the year!If there’s a support group for those with an over-reliance on puns and wordplay in general, then I should probably join it. I’m not even joking, it’s become an obsession and I don’t think it’s healthy.

benjamin.hill@mlb.com
twitter.com/bensbiz

March 23, 2009

Opportunistic Reappropriation Abounds

Last week, I dedicated a post to the third annual “Minors Moniker Madness” competition. The goal of this ridiculous endeavor is to determine who has the greatest name in all of Minor League Baseball (and, by the way, don’t forget to VOTE! Just 16 names remain…)

Minors Moniker Madness is far from an anomalous event, however, as several other baseball-related entities are staging March Madness ~~rip-offs~~ tributes of their very own. Among them:

The Toledo Mud Hens — Jamie Farr’s favorite Minor League team is currently in the midst of its “Eat 16” tournament, in which fans are asked to vote for their favorite concession stand items. My prediction is that Nachos, a #14 seed, emerges as the Cinderella story of this competition. Vote HERE.

The Omaha Royals — Warren Buffet’s favorite Minor League team sent shockwaves through the blogosphere after dropping this bombshell of a press release. In lieu of a tedious summarization of said press release, please allow me to quote liberally:

OMAHA, NE – He’s the President of the Omaha Royals, but Alan Stein is a
native Kentuckian and a graduate of the University of Kentucky. No
surprise then that he has made a friendly wager that the Wildcats will
emerge victorious when they become one of the marquee basketball names
to visit Qwest Center Omaha next Monday night in the second round of
the National Invitation Tournament.

Stein was hoping to make the
wager with Creighton University Athletic Director Bruce Rasmussen.
However, Rasmussen is not allowed to do that by NCAA rules. In stepped
Jill Rasmussen, Bruce’s wife, to carry the flag for the Bluejays.

If the 21-13 Wildcats win, Mrs. Rasmussen will be sending a box of
Omaha Steaks to Stein. If the 27-7 Bluejays pick up the victory on
their home court, Stein will be shipping Mrs. Rasmussen a basket of
Kentucky Proud products, which will include a bottle of the
world-famous Maker’s Mark bourbon.

“I am absolutely confident that the blue-and-white will prevail on
Monday night,” Stein quipped, as both teams wear those colors. “I can’t
wait to attend the game.”

“Bring it on,” Mrs. Rasmussen simply said.

UPDATE: Mrs. Rasmussen has since trademarked the phrase “Bring it On.” I had to pay over $800 just to include those three words in this post. It was worth it.

Baseballposts.com — This one gets points for thoroughness, as baseballposts.com has assembled a tournament that seeks to determine nothing less than the the most popular team in all of Minor League Baseball. 223 teams are featured, divided into eight regions, and voting will continue until April 15.

This is a herculean and somewhat quixotic endeavor, akin to the the famous scene in Fitzcarraldo in which a 360-ton boat is dragged up and over a hilltop.

Which reminds me — when is a Minor League team going to step up and stage a “Salute to Werner Herzog” promotional night? Existentialist between-innings games and contests, Klaus Kinski look-a-alike contests, and Popul Vuh over the loudspeakers — it would be a night of family fun!

Okay, the crickets have arrived in force. That’s my cue to get out of here while the gettin is still good…