Promotions & Giveaways Review: The AL West
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The AL East and Central Reviews (linked) have been posted. Trying to squeeze in each division before the
season starts if I can. If not, no
yelling or tantrum throwing.
To give this some basis:
Key to types of promotions/giveaways:
Primary – The kind of stuff that draws
and extra 5,000 fans or more to the ballpark just to get something
Secondary – The kind of stuff that will
bring in people who are on the ropes about attending, but most likely will not
have fans jumping out of their seats to get
Repeats – Whether good or bad, these
are just promotions/giveaways that occur 3+ times on a team’s schedule
I didn’t include things like schedule magnets, koozies, and
stuff like that that are way too widely used amongst most teams, so would
cancel out overall. There are also many
other scattered promotions on calendars, but I mainly included here the ones
that I thought were worth mentioning and worth traveling to the ballpark for if
you’re the kind of person that needs that extra boost of motivation to go see
baseball.
Each team name is bolded for emphasis as well as because
they are each linked to their respective promotional schedule pages.
So, here it is. The AL West.
Primary:
·
Kendrys Morales Bobblehead (5/24)
·
Dan Haren Bobblehead (6/28)
·
Angels Gnome Bobblehead (8/18)
Secondary:
·
50th Anniversary Shirt (4/8)
·
Angels Ski Beanie (4/9)
·
50th Anniversary Fleece Blanket
(4/12)
·
Angels Wrestling Mask (5/10)
·
Angels Sock Rally Monkey (7/5)
·
Angels Kids Gumball Machine (9/24
Repeats:
·
Big Bang Fridays and Flashback Fridays
·
Family Sundays
Notes: The
Angels, as you can see, have a lineup of a few good bobbleheads to go with a
series of solid middle-tier giveaways.
If you click to see their schedule, there are a bunch more hats and a
few other things that they have listed, but I didn’t feel it necessary to list
it all here. The repeats are alright,
but the often giveaways make up for it.
Grade: A-
Primary:
·
Rickey Henderson Bobblehead (4/30)
·
MC Hammer Bobblehead (7/17)
·
Ray Fosse Bobblehead (8/13)
Secondary:
·
Hideki Matsui T-shirt (4/3)
·
Fleece Blanket (4/15)
·
A’s Home Cap (4/16)
·
Atleticos T-shirt/Cinco de Mayo (5/5)
·
A’s Gold Kurt Suzuki Replica Jersey (7/31)
Repeats:
·
Free Hot Dog Thursdays
Notes: The A’s
have an interesting lineup here. April
and June are full of some really great stuff, but then after Cinco de Mayo, the
giveaways fall off the map. There are a
few things for kids in May/June/July, but other than the 2nd and 3
bobbles plus the Suzuki jersey, all that’s really left after those two months
are the free hot dog days. Interesting
planning. But the unique bobbles really
set them apart. Oh, and they have
Mathletics Day.
Grade: A-
Primary:
·
Felix Hernandez 2010 A.L. Cy Young Bobblehead
(4/9)
·
Ichiro Hit Counter Bobblehead (5/6)
·
Cameron & McLemore “Sweet 116” Bobblehead
(7/15)
Secondary:
·
Mariners Rally Towels (4/8)
·
Ichiro T-shirt (4/10)
·
Franklin Gutierrez Fly Swatter (5/19)
·
Mariners Train (6/3)
·
Ichiro Replica Green Jersey (6/17)
Repeats:
·
Mariners
Matinees
Notes: With some
solid bobbleheads and a good selection of some shirts, hats, and other items,
the Mariners represent a solid lineup of promotions that should be set as an
example for all teams.
Grade: A-
Primary:
·
Josh Hamilton MVP Figurine (5/23)
·
Nelson Cruz Walk-Off Bobblehead (6/20)
Secondary:
·
Rangers Yearbook (6/6)
·
Elvis Andrus Figurine (8/8)
·
Rangers Football (8/28)
Repeats:
·
Player T-shirts (Josh Hamilton 4/3, Adrian
Beltre 4/25, Michael Young 7/25, Fan Vote Shirt 9/25)
·
Player Jerseys (Neftali Feliz 5/15, Ian Kinsler
7/3, Josh Hamilton 7/24)
·
Thirsty Tuesdays
·
Dr. Pepper Autograph Wednesdays
Notes: Sounds
like yet again another solid lineup.
Grade: B+
Well, if you can’t tell by the grades and summaries, the AL
West, though discounted by only having four teams, has a solid group of promotional
schedules. This division is by far not
only the closest out of all of the AL divisions, but the highest ranked in
overall value of promos. This is like
the AL East of promotional schedules.
But there can only be one winner…
The Oakland Athletics
The A’s, one of the three ‘A-‘s of the division, take it
all. Why? Their unique bobbleheads. The variation of secondary promotions is
quite good, as are the other three teams in the division, and with no team
having any exciting repeat promos, the Rickey Henderson, MC Hammer, and Ray
Fosse bobbleheads give the A’s the edge.
Catch them face the Mariners on Friday in what I believe to be one of
the more underrated pitching matchups to begin the season: Trevor Cahill vs.
Felix Hernandez.
So that’s that. Here
are the links for the other two division promotional schedule reviews:
Will start with the National League tomorrow.
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@2131andBeyond
2131 and Beyond 