Rays fans get free pizza on June 17, 2009, in they happen to be in Denver.

This might beat a free taco:

The Salvador Dali Museum is giving away free Dali baseball cards to patrons who show their ticket to the World Series.

Are these Dali drawings of baseball players, or Dali prints on baseball cards? There doesn’t seem to be any information at the museum website.

I like Big League Stew’s take on A-Rod signing with the William Morris agency:

Let me put it this way: When Torii Hunter, who has a smile straight off a Hollywood billboard and a personality to match it, is only pulling down $500K, you know there’s a problem.
Yeah, yeah. I know that golf offers up more affluent products and goofy gadgets to slap one’s name on. I know that basketball hands out mega-million shoe deals to anyone who has a second to stop and sign a contract. I know that baseball hasn’t helped itself with the steroid mess.
But why should baseball, which holds a coveted nostalgic position as America’s pastime and shows off its players 162 times per year without hiding them behind masks or under helmets, be at such a disadvantage?
The answer is, it shouldn’t, which is why when A-Rod heads over to William Morris for his first consultation, Bud Selig and his pals need to make sure they’re riding shotgun. A-Rod’s problem is baseball’s problem.

In the 1990s, Peter Gammons pointed out to me that labor problems in baseball led to MLB not promoting players. They’d promote the game, but not individuals. Basketball did just the opposite. Baseball doesn’t really want big name stars, because they’ll command more money. If A-Rod and his ilk want to earn more from endorsements, they need to get MLB to promote them as they promote the game.

Home Run Derby notes that the Barry Zito Fathead is on sale. They also suggest a new model to increase demand. 🙂

Yesterday I received an email from Yep Roc Records on The Baseball Project. Their first offering is Vol. 1 Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails.

Scott McCaughey (the Minus 5 and R.E.M.’s touring band) and Steve Wynn (the Dream Syndicate) sent us a copy of then demos of songs all about baseball earlier this year. So we decided to put it out on July 8, in the heart of the season.
…
Rather than taking on the classics like “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” or what have you, the album is full of new indie rock tunes whose subjects just happen to be about baseball. Linda Pitmon and Peter Buck (of R.E.M.) round out the squad.

You can download the first track, “Past Time.” At the web store, you can here samples of all the songs. Note that not all lyrics are work safe.
They sent me a preview stream of the album, and I’m really enjoying the music. “Gratitude (for Curt Flood)” and “Broken Man” were too of my favorites. Gratitude reminds current players the debt they owe Curt Flood, while Broken Man examines how Mark McGwire was made a hero then torn down. There are songs about Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson, Harvey Haddix and closers. Give it a listen.

MLB FanHouse has a great idea for MLB promoting the upcoming Indiana Jones movie:

Personally, I would prefer to see real bullwhips and machetes handed out to all kids 15 and under, but it’s more likely that you will see the rotational ads behind home plate prominently featuring Indiana Jones ads. But hey! Here’s a novel freaking idea. Give everyone who attends the game a coupon for 50% admission to the movie. Although that would probably be a) too fan friendly and b) not profitable enough. Baseball — where caring happens.

I’m guessing Dr. Jones won’t be throwing out the first pitch at a Diamondbacks game.

Indiana: There’s a big snake in the plane, Jock.
Jock: Oh, that’s just my pet snake Reggie.
Indiana: I hate snakes, Jock. I hate ’em.
Jock: C’mon, show a little backbone, will ya?

They found the t-shirt buried at Yankee Stadium.

FanIQ finds a baseball card set that predicted the steroid era. Topps must have ESP(n).

The Cape Cod League ran afoul of Major League Baseball:

The annual operating budget for the Cape Cod Baseball League is between $1.5 million and $2 million — not much more than the yearly salary of a backup infielder in Major League Baseball.
Yet the volunteer-staffed Cape League and the multimillion dollar MLB are locked in a struggle over money in what could be labeled a David vs. Goliath battle, with the Cape League’s $100,000 annual grant from MLB hanging in the balance.
According to Cape League sources, the six teams in the 10-team Cape League that share nicknames with major league franchises are facing a choice: Purchase all future uniforms and souvenir merchandise from more expensive MLB-licensed vendors or lose the annual grant.
MLB is also requesting an 11 percent royalty on sales next summer of existing inventory from the six affected Cape League teams. Non-clothing items such as coffee mugs and teddy bears that are not available through MLB vendors could no longer be sold.

I appreciate MLB wanting to protect their copyrights. Sometimes, however, they should start with the velvet glove rather than the iron fist. Otherwise, they piss off people with a national audience. For example, asking for a small royalty from sales and a slow change over to MLB approved merchandise probably would have worked with little resistance.
Along with the near Japan debacle today, it’s amazing that the people running MLB grew this organization into a $6 billion business.

Yankees fans run the Mets store.

Maury Brown interviews Bob Bowman, the CEO of MLB Advanced Media. The business is now returning $3 million per season to each MLB club, essentially, the initial investment of each club. That’s a very nice ROI.

Squawking Baseball makes a case for MLBAM to open their video archive free of charge.

I just got back from checking out the Taco Bell free taco promotion, thanks to Tacoby Bellsbury. First stop, the Enfield, CT Taco Bell.

Enfield Taco Bell

The Taco Bell in Enfield was full of high school students, with a line of about twenty five in front of me. However, the place was prepared, and the line moved quickly. I did see one group scam some extra tacos by ordering inside, then going outside to the drive thru. All in all, everything was organized and people in general seemed to be happy getting a free taco.
Then I headed over to West Springfield, MA.

West Springfield Taco Bell

This branch was very busy. They have a small parking lot, and it was full. The line for the drive thru was out into the street. I didn’t stop to get another taco. Seems the promotion is going well in this area.
Update: Steve Timberlake sends this update from Hawaii:

I got to the Taco Bell on Kamehameha Highway in Pearl City, Hawaii at 2:20 Tuesday afternoon, the day of the Steal a Base, Steal a Taco promotion. As you can see by the enclosed photo, there was no line outside. In fact, there were only two parties seated inside, and the drive-through lane was empty. I was able to get my free taco (and it was reasonably good) in minutes. The counter help knew what to do, but they hadn’t been overwhelmed. 2:00pm is late for lunch out here; I wonder what will happen later today during rush hour.

Taco Bell, Pearl City, Hawaii

The Taco Giveaway is underway.

In honor of a stolen base in game two of the World Series, Taco Bell is giving away a free taco to people who show up at a Taco Bell resturant between 2 PM and 5 PM local time, tomorrow, Tuesday Oct. 30, 2007. From the web site:

To obtain the Free Taco, consumers must visit any participating Taco Bell® restaurant in one of the fifty (50) the United States or District of Columbia between 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. (local time) on the Redemption Date only and request a Free Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco. Free Taco’s will not be offered on any other date or time, regardless of circumstance. Limit one (1) Free Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco per person. Participating Taco Bell restaurant manager reserves the right to deny Free Taco to any person he/she reasonably believes has already received a Free Taco or has engaged in any other fraudulent activity.

If you go, bring a digital camera and document the line (if any). I’m curious to see how many people show up. I’ll be visiting my local resturant and doing the same.
On top of that, lots of Red Sox fans received free furniture.

Matt Watson notes the price of a Daisuke Matsuzaka autograph and comments:

Can you imagine paying $449 for a Ted Lilly autograph? Or one from Shawn Marcum, Noah Lowry or Tom Gorzelanny? All four of those starting pitchers have an ERA lower than Dice-K’s mark of 3.59. I’m not saying that earned run average is the end all for comparing pitchers, but it definitely helps put the ridiculousness of the lingering hype surrounding Matsuzaka in context.
Yes, the guy has talent. But no, not enough to miss a car payment over.

Dice-K and the Red Sox did a good job of making the pitcher appear unique. And unlike the other pitchers listed above, there is international demand for a Matsuzaka autograph. Maybe Ted Lilly should start doing beer commercials in Japan!

The Cooperstown Cookie Company sent me their newest product, their excellent shortbread cookies in a box, the Ballpark Bunt Box. The shortbread is as tasty as ever, and small children will love taking the box to the park. There’s a scoreboard they can fill in as the game goes along, picture searches and trivia. And did I mention cookies?

The Portland Beavers are going to give away a bobblehead doll of a real Bob L. Head.

The Beavers, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, sent letters to every Bob L. Head they could find, including Roberts and Robertos, and Mauoketa’s own.
The team explained its promotion, then asked the Bobs to submit an essay explaining why they should be cast as a miniature, head-bobbing figurine.
On the line was a trip to Portland, and of course, a personal bobblehead.
The team narrowed the list down to three, and now fans can vote for their favorite Bob L. Head: The aforementioned Robert Leroy Head of Iowa, Bob Louis Head from Vallejo, Calif., and Bob Lee Head of Evansville, Ind.
Bob Louis Head’s campaign slogan: “No matter what the score, I am always a Head.”

You can vote here. Leroy appears to own the right head shape for the doll.

The Donut promotion returns to the Marlins. If they score six runs in a game, ticket holders get two circles of dough and a coffee free. Given the Marlins offense so far (.380 OBA, .559 slugging percentage), season ticket holders are going are going to put on a few pounds.

Michael Eisner and a group of investors are attempting a takeover of Topps:

The Topps Co., maker of baseball cards and Bazooka bubble gum, said Tuesday it accepted a $385.4 million takeover offer from a buyout group that includes former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, but the deal drew immediate opposition from one of its own board members.
Topps director Arnaud Ajdler, along with the investment firm Crescendo Partners II, launched a campaign to kill the deal. Crescendo owns about 6.6 percent of the company’s shares, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Ajdler is also a managing partner of Crescendo.
Ajdler said Tuesday he had not yet been in touch with other major shareholders but he thought the deal should be abandoned because negotiations did not go through a proper process and that the Eisner-led offer undervalues the company.

I know baseball cards are tough to buy, but there are easier ways to collect them. 🙂 Also, given the movie experience of Eisner, I expect a live action Bazooka Joe movie. I can’t wait to see who they cast as Mort!

I like the dress, but why is she modeling baseball themed clothing at a bowling alley?
(By the way, my daughter was a big fan of Charmed, and that’s why our dog is named Phoebe.)

I’d go to Mini Gyroscope Night.

You can now order the Cooperstown Cookie Company chocolate caps online (reviewed here).

The Krispy Kreme promotion in Kansas City is no more, and it may be a good thing:

First off, the bad, sad news from this afternoon’s 15th Annual Baseball Forecast Luncheon: Krispy Kreme’s 12-hits-gets-you-a-dozen-dough nuts promotion is no more, says Royals president Dan Glass.
He said the dough-nut maker’s corporate philosophy had changed and the company no longer wanted to continue the promotion. But Glass quipped the good news is, “We will all lose a lot of weight.” And he joked Krispy Kreme execs were so startled by the team’s improvements in the second half of last season that they were worried about the frequency of this year’s giveway if the hit total wasn’t raised to 24 for a dozen.
(Catcher John Buck talked about the pressure put on a player coming up to bat when the Royals had 11 hits and the score of up 10 runs or down 10 runs didn’t matter, it changed the feel of the whole at-bat.)

It must be tough having all that sugary goodness riding on your shoulders. 🙂

If you want a Yankees jersey, the time to buy is now:

At Home Play Sports, a block from Yankee Stadium, Yankee jerseys that sold for $125 last week were $74.99 yesterday.
“It’s not really a discount,” said salesman Mohamed Saleh, 27. “It’s a sellout.”

What a deal. They’re selling shirts for three times wholesale instead of five times wholesale.

I don’t know who’s the bigger jerk, the person who brought the lawsuit or the judge who didn’t throw it out:

A judge refused Thursday to dismiss a lawsuit that claimed the Angels discriminated against men by giving tote bags to only women during a Mother’s Day baseball game.
Instead, Orange County Superior Court Judge Jonathan Cannon set a procedural hearing for Aug. 30.
The lawsuit, filed by Los Angeles psychologist Michael Cohn, claims thousands of men and fans under age 18 are each entitled to $4,000 in damages because they were treated unfairly during last May’s promotion. Women over 18 received the gifts.

Yes, I’m sure thousands of men are walking around the great Anaheim area, despondent over the fact that they can’t show off their Mother’s Day tote bag. I’m sure Monday morning after the game grown men were crying to their co-workers, “My 21 year old daughter gets a tote bag, and I’m not even a grand father yet! It’s just not fair!”
As it turns out, the Angels already made it up to him:

To celebrate Mother’s Day last year, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim gave away specially designed tote bags to all female fans over the age of 18. Cohn felt discriminated against, and wrote a letter of complaint.
In response, the Angels sent him an apology and 4 tote bags.

Judges really shouldn’t be encouraging people like this.

Teepee Talk notes that tomorrow there’s a very special giveaway at Jacobs Field.

WasWatching notes an unusual minor league giveaway. I’m about an hour from Norwich, so I’ll have to see if I can get down to one of these games.

Redleg Nation has the details of a sleepover at Dodger Stadium.

The Chicagoist offers details of the Cubs garage sale.