I’m not so sure that honoring the man known as “The Splendid
Splinter” for his batting exploits on the baseball field with Popsicles is such
a great idea, but apparently, the Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings of Arizona
thought it was a cool idea. The promotion was held on June 3, 2003.
So why the ice confection? In case you didn’t know, Ted Williams
is still around. The baseball legend actually died in 2002, but his family had him
cryogenically suspended (that’s “frozen” to you and me) in liquid nitrogen.
Consequently, he’s now in a stainless steel tank somewhere in Scottsdale,
Arizona, cooling his heels. (Hey, I’ve been to Scottsdale; I didn’t know he was
there.)
That’s about four hours north of the Kings’ home field –
Warren Ballpark. All they wanted to do, according to team owner John Guy, was
sell tickets for the brand-new professional team. He got his publicity, with
lots of ESPN and Sports Illustrated coverage.
His 500 Popsicles only cost him $100.
A minor league team in the Arizona-Mexico League, the Kings
originally played in 1949-1950 (affiliated with the Brooklyn Dodgers), then
1955 to 1958. They were affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1958. The
Copper Kings have the distinction of being the only professional team whose nine
players in the starting line-up each hit a homerun in the same game.
Unfortunately, Guy and the Kings couldn’t sustain their
audience. Although they ended the year with a 9-7 record (second place), the
league folded.
I wonder what they did with the Popsicle sticks after the
game.
I love minor league baseball team promotions.
1 comment:
I was there for the game. Interesting to say the least. As for the popsicle sticks, well, after eating the popsicles quickly, it was Arizona after all, they went under the bleachers or into the trash, but I do have the t-shirt!
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