Whether it be the distance between basepaths, the length of Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak or the number of no-hitters thrown by Nolan Ryan, there are a litany of baseball numbers well known to casual fans. That isn’t necessarily the case for other sports. I just learned, for example, that the length of a basketball court is 94 feet. Welcome to the 94th edition of the Ben’s Biz Beat Newsletter, where hopefully you’ll learn something new. Let’s talk about Minor League Baseball.
|
THEME NIGHT FREE-FOR-ALL: JACKSONVILLE CELEBRATES PUBLIC DOMAIN
|
It sounds like an esoteric, essentially unsolvable riddle: What do you get when you cross a mouse, an ape and a celestial vision?
The answer, at least in this highly specific instance, is the “Public Domain” theme jerseys that the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp will wear on May 19. "Steamboat Willie," King Kong and Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” are together at last; these three entities have nothing in common save for the fact that intellectual property rights no longer apply to them.
The man behind this unabashedly weird creation is Jumbo Shrimp promotions director David Ratz, who, like everyone in his field, has to make sure that theme jerseys and promotional materials do not infringe on preexisting trademarks (unless permission has been granted to use the intellectual property in question). Drawing from the public domain removes these concerns, even if it results in a promotion far removed from the zeitgeist.
"Steamboat Willie," a 1928 cartoon short featuring the public debut of Mickey Mouse, had its copyright expire at the beginning of 2024. While Mickey Mouse is still trademarked by Disney, the archaic "Steamboat Willie" depiction of him is available for anyone to use.
“That got us thinking,” said Ratz. “Let’s do something along the lines of Public Domain Night.”
Further research into the idea led to the discovery that King Kong and “Starry Night” are also in the public domain. The three disparate images are depicted equally on the jersey, emphasizing the overall concept. Ratz said that he and his team are currently “putting the finishing touches” on other elements to be added to the evening. Expect, for example, to be inundated with America’s most well-known song.
“[We’ll be] loudly singing ‘Happy Birthday' to somebody during every inning,” he said. “That was a big trademark versus public domain thing.
“It’s fun and dumb. And, you know, why not?” Ratz concluded. “That’s kind of our motto: Why not?”
|
If one is looking for other examples of this mentality on the Jumbo Shrimp promotional calendar, then one will soon find it. Take for example, the theme night taking place on April 9.
“Being in Florida and sometimes the political state that it is, Band Books Night is going to be one of my favorite nights. It’s not what you think,” said Ratz, going on to describe an evening dedicated to -- wait for it -- reading passages from musical biographies.
“We’re having a ‘Snow Day Snowball Drop’ where we’ll have about 1,000 white beach balls that we’ll throw off the suite level during the seventh inning stretch,” he continued. “We’re [also] going to have a ballpark rave: ‘Quoth the rave: give me more.’ We’ll have a ton of glow sticks and utilize our LED lights after every half-inning for about 10-20 seconds. … Going with the weird and wild, we will have ‘Mystery Eggroll Night’ where our food and beverage department will fry up God knows what in a ton of different eggrolls and we’re going to make people eat them.”
And so on and so forth, from March through September, early spring into the beginning of fall.
“You know, if you come out and you get it and you have fun, awesome,” said Ratz. “If not, we have 74 other theme nights on the promo calendar. Something is sure to get you going or get you excited.”
|
This is Josh Jackson, grabbing the wheel and swerving this newsletter off course. You know me as host of Ghost of the Minors, the segment on The Show Before the Show podcast that demands you identify the actual historical Minor League Baseball team or player disguised among phonies.
Last time, we went bust over the Kilgore Boomers. This week, I ask you which of these players ignited a sense of righteousness in the Minors of yesteryear:
A. Flame Merritt
B. Ash Honor
C. Smoke Justis
For the answer, check out the next Ghosts of the Minors on
The Show Before the Show!
|
MINER LEAGUE BASEBALL: NEW APPY LEAGUE TEAM UNVEILS NAME, LOGOS
|
You may recall that, last month, I interviewed longtime Princeton Rays general manager Jim Holland for MiLB.com’s Show Before the Show
podcast. The Appalachian League team that Jim oversaw in Princeton, W. Va., most recently known as the WhistlePigs, has relocated to Huntington, W. Va., in advance of the 2024 season. Last week, that team unveiled its identity: the Tri-State Coal Cats. I wrote a story about the Coal Cats for MLB.com, relishing the opportunity to once again cover the Appy League. The league, formerly a Rookie Advanced-level affiliated circuit, was reclassified as summer-collegiate prior to the 2021 season.
READ ABOUT THE TRI-STATE COAL CATS HERE
|
READER OF THE WEEK: 'DIAMOND' JIM RATZMAN |
In recent editions of this newsletter, I have asked you -- the presumably loyal reader -- to tell me a little bit about yourself and your Minor League Baseball fandom. I will now begin sharing the responses, beginning with this edited (albeit still lengthy) missive from a lifelong fan:
My baseball journey began in 1948, when I first remember my dad taking us to games at Katy Park in Waco, Texas, to watch the Class B (Big State League) Waco Pirates, an affiliate of Pittsburgh. Katy Park took up a full city block bordered by Webster on the east, 8th Street on the south, the Katy Railroad on the west, and adjacent on the north to what is presently the Gaines' Magnolia Silos. The May 11, 1953 tornado destroyed a lot of the ballpark, and even though they rebuilt, the team struggled for the next couple of years and then dissolved.
In 1957, I moved to Atlanta. That first summer we went to Atlanta Cracker games at Ponce de Leon Ballpark. Atlanta was Double-A at the time, in the Southern Association, with the Memphis Chicks, New Orleans Pelicans, Mobile, Knoxville, Chattanooga and Birmingham. Atlanta graduated to Triple-A in 1962 to the International League, with teams from Syracuse, Richmond, Jacksonville, Buffalo, Toronto, Rochester and Columbus. I have Tim McCarver's signature on a game program. Other players that year included Bob Burda, Phil Gagliano, Joe Morgan, and coaches Ron Plaza and Joe Schultz.
|
In 1973, I moved to Austin, Texas, which did not have Minor League Baseball. It remained that way until Nolan Ryan and his group purchased the Jackson Generals in 1998 and moved the team to Round Rock in 2000, an Austin suburb. I became a season-ticket holder that year and I am in my 25th year with the team.
If you have ever wondered how the team got its name, it evolved from the 1965 movie Von Ryan's Express
about Allied prisoners in World War II who stage a mass breakout from a POW camp, commandeer a train and head toward the Swiss border. At some point in Nolan's career, his pitching began known as Ryan's Express. The Dell Diamond is situated across the highway from the Union Pacific Railroad tracks, thus the Round Rock Express!
Thanks, Jim. If you’d like to be included in a future “Reader of the Week” segment, then get in touch: benjamin.hill@mlb.com. And send a picture of yourself while you’re at it if you're so inclined; it occurs to me that that would be good to include as well.
|
|
|
|
