Never let it be said that the Trenton Thunder don't care about professional basketball fans of the Pacific Northwest. Because they do. Clearly, they do.

Or do they?

As many of my readers are no doubt aware, the NBA's Seattle Supersonics franchise is relocating to Oklahoma City for the 2008-09 season. And with the move comes a new name: the Oklahoma City Thunder.

That's all it took for the great minds of the Trenton Thunder front office staff to swing into action:

"The Trenton Thunder are now offering a complimentary ticket to any Seattle Supersonic fan.

To receive a free ticket, fans must stop by the box office at Waterfront Park and be wearing their Seattle Supersonic hat, jersey, t-shirt or other merchandise. Each Seattle fan will receive one free ticket based on availability.

'We just want to help ease the pain for Sonics fans worldwide and offer them a night of fun with the Thunder here in Trenton,' said Thunder General Manager Brad Taylor. 'We can't blame Oklahoma City for choosing the best nickname in all of sports and certainly wish them well.'"

The Thunder win some creativity points here, but I'm not really sure how these Sonics fans will have their pain eased by watching another team named "The Thunder." Wouldn't this be the exact sort of thing these fans would wish to avoid?

After all, if your girlfriend ran off with a guy named "Joe", you wouldn't go to "Joe's Pub" to drown your sorrows, or try to distract yourself by watching the 1996 serio-comedy classic "Joe's Apartment". No! You'd avoid all Joe-related cultural ephemera like the plague. That's what you'd do!

I think it would make more sense if the Thunder offered ticket discounts to everyone with Oklahoma drivers licenses, and/or to fans wearing the apparel of Oklahoma City sports teams. After all, it is these individuals who will be most receptive to watching the Trenton Thunder as they prepare for the inaugural season of a Thunder of their very own.

Perhaps I am mistaken in these views. If any of my usually non-commenting cadre of loyal readers would like to weigh in with their opinions, I would very much like to hear them.   

And, regardless, kudos to the Thunder for a creative, attention-grabbing promo.

Hank Aaron's former Mobile home will temporarily become a mobile home, as the Mobile BayBears announced yesterday that they will be moving the legendary slugger's childhood residence to Hank Aaron Stadium. This, of course, is the immobile home of the Mobile BayBears, who are currently on the road.

If you are confused, I take full responsibility. This compulsion to engage in unnecessary wordplay is reaching epic proportions.

Here's the deal: Hank Aaron was born in Mobile's Toulminville district, and his family has recently announced its decision to donate his childhood home to the city of Mobile. The city has wisely decided to restore the home and then move it to the grounds of the BayBears' Hank Aaron Stadium.

Once there, it will become the Hank Aaron Family museum. From the press release:

"The home will be restored and will become a museum showcasing the history of Hank and his family during the 40's, 50's and 60's...The renovation will take place from October 2008 into the spring of 2009 and plans are to open the museum in April as the BayBears will celebrate Hank Aaron's 75th birthday all season long."

But, of course, that is not all:

"In addition to tours of the home, during BayBears games, fans will have an opportunity to picnic in Hank's backyard. A white picket fence will be constructed in the back of the home with picnic tables. Plans are for groups to tour the stadium grounds, Hank Aaron Family Museum and view a video in the Harbor Communications Center about the life of Hank Aaron."

Hammerin' Hank is far from the only baseball luminary to hail from the city of Mobile, as the likes of Willie McCovey, Ozzie Smith, Juan Pierre, Satchel Paige, Billy Williams, Amos Otis, and Jake Peavy were also born there. Maybe the city can tow the homes of all these players to Hank Aaron Stadium as well, in the process creating a neighborhood of local sports superstars.

(photo credit: Mary Hattler, Associated Press)

As regular readers of this exemplary blog are aware, Fresno's Drag Kings are Minor League Baseball's premier infield-dragging dance crew. But they are not the only game in town when it comes to novelty groundskeeping.

For once a year, male employees of the Winston-Salem Warthogs front office don women's clothing and tend to the infield dirt. Like many other humiliating promotional endeavors undergone by Minor League Baseball employees, the reason they do this is simple: It's for charity.

This year's "Drag in Drag" event raised $3,000 for a local chapter of the Special Olympics. How it works is simple. In the two weeks leading up to the big day (which occurred on July 5th), fans were asked to donate money to the front office member who they would most like to see "Drag in Drag". Let's take a look at the "winners".

Trey has his face covered in hair, but that outfit leaves little else to the imagination:

When we last checked in with the re-vamped Quad City River Bandits, it was to highlight their vast array of unorthodox seating options. This time, it's to highlight a surprisingly successful promotion that was held last Thursday -- Tattoo Night.

The premise was simple: The team offered fans the opportunity to come to ballpark and get a River Bandits tattoo. Those who did so were rewarded with a 2009 berm season ticket. While this is not the the first time this type of promotion has occurred in the Minor Leagues (the Daytona Cubs made a similar offer a few years back, and others have followed suit), the River Bandits' version was remarkably well-received.

General Manager Kirk Goodman reports that 28 (!) people got a River Bandits tattoo, and that the team's makeshift tattoo parlor was busy from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. Time for some photographic evidence:

You know this guy was psyched for this promotion from the very moment he heard about it:



Here's a shot of one of the tattoo artists hard at work.

It might not have anything to do with baseball, but the drama, uncertainty, and general chaos surrounding Brett Favre's recent decision to "unretire" is too hilarious a situation to ignore. So, in the grand tradition of last season's Billy Donovan promotion in Fort Myers, the Augusta GreenJackets have announced that August 4 will be "Brett Favre Night" at Lake Olmstead Stadium.

In cases like these, I find it most expedient to quote copiously from the press release. Here's what's in store for the evening:

The GreenJackets plan on retiring the number four jersey on August 4, only to reinstate it the next day on August 5.  The team also will hand out a pair of flip flops to the first 100 fans through the gates on August 4 to honor one of the greatest flip-floppers of all time.

Other events planed for the night include seat up grades to box seating for anyone wearing a Favre jersey, Green Bay or Atlanta.  Fans wearing a "cheese head" will also receive a free brat at the concession stand. 

 

We are also allowing any fan that purchases a ticket between now and August 3 the

opportunity to reuse that ticket for the Augusta 4 game because just because your game is over, does not mean your game is over," Brown said. 

 

Food specials will include brats and Pabst beer, and there will be on field contests that include the "Lambeau Leap" and the "Strahan Sack.

The full release can be read here. Congratulations to Augusta GM Nick Brown and his front office staff for being the first club to poke fun at Favre and his waffling ways.

This doesn't have anything to do with the Minor Leagues specifically, but nonetheless I believe it will appeal to my vast cadre of loyal readers.

Earlier this month The Baseball Project released its debut album "Vol. 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails", and it is a winner. In case the group name and album title hadn't made it clear, this is a rock 'n roll record whose subject matter is 100% related to our National Pastime.

The Baseball Project's core song writers are Steve Wynn (formerly of the Dream Syndicate) and Scott McCaughey (of the Minus 5 and longtime R.E.M. collaborator). The rhythm section consists of R.E.M.'s Peter Buck on bass and Wynn's wife Linda Pitmon (Golden Smog) on drums. Clearly, this is a group with some serious rock and roll credibility.

The record's dozen songs could generally be described as ragged, mid-tempo Americana roots rock. Or something like that. It's always a dicey proposition to string a bunch of adjectives together in an attempt to categorize a band's sound, so I won't attempt to do so any further.

And I'd rather talk about the lyrics, anyway. Wynn and McCaughey are obviously serious fans of the game, and bring a first-person storytelling approach to many of the songs. The subjects include the peripatetic Satchel Paige, overlooked labor hero Curt Flood, tragic slugger "Big Ed" Delahanty, one-time tabloid villain Jack McDowell , and a whole lot more.  But my favorite track, hands-down, is "Harvey Haddix". Not only does the song tell the hard-luck tale of Harvey Haddix's excruciating perfect game that wasn't, but it also manages to name-drop every pitcher who has ever thrown a pitcher game in the chorus. It's a fine piece of storytelling in the American folk tradition, and is available on the band's MySpace page for all to hear.

And it appears that this album is called Vol. 1 for a reason, as Wynn and McCaughey have indicated in interviews that there's a lot more where this came from. For future song topics, may I suggest the legendary Bud Fowler? That dude deserves to be honored as the true American hero that he was.

And if the Baseball Project ever tours -- and I sincerely hope that they do -- then I have a perfect recommendation for who their opening act should be. These guys.

In last week's Promotion Preview column, I mentioned that legendary pro wrestler Bret "The Hitman" Hart would be making an appearance at Vancouver's Nat Bailey Stadium as part of the Canadians' "Superstar Series".

Well, this all went down last Thursday night. Vancouver GM Andrew Seymour (the man responsible for last season's Promotion of the Year) writes that "The night was terrific -- Hart was great with the fans!", and sent along a few photographs as well.

This picture shows Hart signing an autograph (on what appears to be a replica championship belt) for a fan who is clearly enamored with the world of professional wrestling:



And here's the Hitman throwing out the game's ceremonial first pitch:

I did a post last month about the Lancaster JetHawks' upcoming skateboard giveaway, a most highly impressive promotion indeed. In case you need your memory refreshed, the post is here. And for further refreshment, here's a photo of the skateboard that was given away to the first 500 kids in attendance (age 16 and younger):

I am a resident of New York City, so inevitably I end up attending several Mets games throughout the course of the season (against my better judgment, perhaps). One of the most recognizable Shea Stadium regulars is "Cowbell Man", who patrols the stadium with his signature noise-making instrument. He is just one man, and yet he can be heard quite easily in a stadium with a capacity of over 55,000.

So imagine the noise-making potential of the Visalia Oaks' latest and greatest creation: the cowbell section. Behold:

I am currently multi-tasking. With my left hand, I am typing the sentence that you are in the midst of reading. With my right, I am shaking a hat that is filled with small pieces of paper. On each of these pieces of paper, a potential Ben's Biz Blog topic is written.

It is now time to choose.

Okay, here we go:

USA! USA! -- From the "Promotions That I Missed" department comes this one staged by the Hudson Valley Renegades. On July 1st, the club held "Born in the USA Night", in which four pre-selected immigrant fans competed to have their neutralization process paid for by the Renegades. Said the Renegades in the press release:

Tuesday night the Renegades will do something that has never been done before by starting one fan on the process of becoming a U.S. citizen. What goes better than baseball, fireworks and America? Nothing...that is why the Renegades are going to complete the trio for one deserving fan.

Okay, time to reach into the hat once again...

Apropos of Nothing -- I am on the email list of many Minor League teams, but the missives of one club in particular have recently caught my eye. That club is the Charleston RiverDogs, whose game recap headlines utilize verbs that are rarely used in the world of sports journalism. Let's take a look at the headlines from the recent series against the Lexington Legends:

RiverDogs Forget Legends, 2-0 (July 7)
Legends Loom Large Over RiverDogs, 3-1 (July 8)
RiverDogs Discredit Legends, 5-4 (July 9)

So, to summarize, on Monday the RiverDogs defeated the Legends by effectively erasing them from memory. The Legends overcame the RiverDogs' amnesia the next day by developing a temporary size advantage that allowed them to tower above their opponents. But the momentum from that triumph did not last, as the RiverDogs won the following afternoon by using their powers of logic and oratorical skill to effectively dismantle the cunning but ultimately empty sophistry of the Legends.

Kudos to the RiverDogs' Media Relations Department for tapping into the unlimited potential of the English language. And now I proceed to the hat for the third and final time.

Recommended Link! Several times in the past, I have referred my loyal cadre of readers to the excellent gameops.com. Recently, the site featured a "Pro Panel", in which five sports industry executives gave their two cents on how they would respond to the following scenario:

You are in this position: Your shipment of 20,000 bobbleheads arrives on Friday for your game on Saturday. You take them out of the box and notice that the player seems to be giving you the finger. You have 36 hours until game time, a sponsor is attached to the promotion, and tickets have been selling briskly in anticipation of the giveaway.

What do you do?

It goes without saying that the resulting responses make for some excellent reading. It's like an episode of 24 for sports industry professionals. And, of course, this scenario was inspired by a recent real-life situation.