It has to happen. One team had to score and one of the teams had to win. Unfortunate for us Pig fans… it was the Tide last night.
The Pig’s bullpen was incredible following Ozzie Chavez’s game tying 3 run home run. Unfortunately in the top of the 15th a long long double put a runner on base and the first safety squeeze I have ever seen at The Coke, plated the winning run. Michael Schwimer has the distinction of being on the mound when this happened and earned an error when he (seemed to panic) and gunned the ball past catcher Sardinha allowing the other two Tide runners to advance to 2nd and 3rd. A follow up error by Chavez allowed two more runs to score and the game was all but over.
The Andy Tracy bobblehead was nice. Lines stretched well into the parking lot and I heard fans even arrived as early as 3:00. I did get one but gave it to a kid. Others were not as happy. I walked into an enraged man (around 40) berating several Ironpig’s employees about not having enough bobbleheads for everyone.
To clarify for all out there… these give aways are provided by the sponsor. Think about the cost of this stuff. If 3,000 items are given away, even if the item costs $1 that’s $3,000 for a business to toss out there for marketing. Say a custom bobblehead costs $5 to purchase, you give away 3,000 of them.. that’s a cool $15,000 to get your business name announed at a ball game. Make that 10,000 fans.. and the cost is now $50,000. How many businesses could afford that? Really. It costs less than $14 to attend a game.. $6 if you are like me and enjoy the outfield. Don’t ruin a nice thing.
What happens when unruly fans get to the point where security is involved.. (yes this happened), the team decides to do less and less giveaways. Granted there were many appreciate fans and many who made it clear that they just didn’t get there in time.. “oh well” Thanks to you fans.
That’s all I have to say about that.
Durham comes to town tonight. We will see old friends RJ Swindle and JJ Furmaniak back in town!
OinK!
noisenation.mlblogs.com 
That is disappointing this idiot wanted to be a jerk…particularly after this subject was discussed rationally here yesterday.
It was explained to people here if they REALLY wanted a Tracy Bobblehead, they would have to arrive early…
Moron obviously does not read the blog.
What part of “first 3,000” did this moron not understand?
I also heard several complaints about the player autographs. Apparently it had been promoted that Domonic Brown would be signing but when people raced to get in line behind section 111 many were disappointed to find they were being treated to Zagurski and Schwimer instead.
His biggest complaint was, “I read in the paper all the time you get 10,000 people in here every game! How could you not order more than 3,000!”
I am still shaking my head…
Well, they could negotiate with Nacci Printing or whomever to try to get more–pick up part of the cost or something, or lesser quality….or more than one sponsor? My company could sponsor the BOX that the bobblehead comes in. 😉
If it’s not worth the headache, they might just stop having the bobblehead nights. Some folks need to calm down, indeed.
It is such a shame that grown adults act like kids over a bobblehead. Get there early!!
YES, there were many upset people at the autograph table b/c Domonic Brown wasn’t signing. It’s a player’s choice if they want to sign or not. I felt bad for Michael Schwimer, who was the replacement for Brown.
In addition to Swindle and Furmaniak, I wonder what kind of fan reaction Durham’s Dan Johnson will receive? The AAA Homerun Derby champ put on a great show on July 12th at CCP and is now up to .302-29-91 for the year.
While I wouldn’t yell at anyone, it is kind of rediculous that they have low amounts of the giveaways considering they get 9,000 a night guaranteed. I also heard they open the gates earlier than they say they will which isn’t fair to those who aren’t in the know and think the gates will open at 5:30 or whatever the website says.
Again, I don’t really care about the giveaways, just things I’ve noticed.
yeah, this goes back to a little of what I was saying about the AllStar stuff: it’s not that they DO the wrong thing, it’s that they don’t always SAY the right thing–or the accurate thing.
I got there about 5:00 yesterday–kind of by accident because traffic was lighter than usual and my kids got ready faster than ususal. We were waiting by the West entrance because the kids REALLY wanted to meet Dom Brown and get his autograph. There were already PLENTY of folks at the East entrance. In fact, there were more there than when we lined up with a group I was hosting at 5:45 for JAHapp. So folks are adjusting…
We got in at 5:30 when the club gates open, but waited by the barrier for the concourse to open at 5:45. It was still a while after that until I saw the first people come through with bobbleheads, so they couldn’t have opened much earlier than the stated 5:45 for the main gates.
We were, of course, disappointed by the lack of Dom Brown. Schwim is a good guy though, who posts over at phuturephillies so I made sure to thank him and let him know I’ve read his blog entries. Some folks got in line without seeing the signs for Z and Schwim, and were later surprised by lack of Brown. They also passed out the Morning Call collector’s papers right there in line because I think they didn’t make it into the paper. The posters had a great picture of DB…
Big sign at the table in the club level: ONE GIVEAWAY PER PERSON PER TICKET ONLY. Then, the guy in front of me walks up with four tickets and gets four bobbleheads. Depends on who you are, I guess. All my tickets got marked and I only got one; kids don’t get them. No biggie, of course, our small group had plenty and I don’t care a thing about them–it’s all for the kiddos. Just interesting to see the special treatment.
The East gates opened just about on time.. maybe 5 minutes or so early. There was already 3,000+ in line and I went to the back of it and it took about 10-15 to get in. It would be different if the gates opened an hour early.
EBAY-I pretty much agree with all of the above.
What I think REALLY STINKS are the people who are there to get the giveaways, but only because they are going to sell them on EBAY. They are using FREE giveaways to make a profit. And that is their only reason for getting there early. That includes club level people who do this too. Yes, they have a right to do so, but personally, I think they are SICK PEOPLE!
I am all in favor of the Free Market, without question.
Having said that, I most definitely prefer IronPigs giveaway merchandise ending up in the hands of sincere IronPigs supporters who want such things for keepsake or re-gifting purposes.
I am NOT a fan of those who seek this stuff for pure money-making motives, although this is still America (if only for a little while longer) and the Profiteers, so long as they get in line and follow the rules like everybody else, can do as they please if they bought an IronPigs game ticket.
well, the free market will weed some of it out. Just don’t buy their stuff. I hope some of them stayed for the game. Here are two baseball questions that have been on my mind, partially because I’ve left the last two games early (like, before the last out–let’s not get crazy)
1. when is it appropriate to leave a game early? Inning? Score? Traffic? Kids? I saw folks leaving tonight at about 8:15. Look, if you can’t even stick it out for more than an hour….
2. what’s the protocol for entering and exiting a section? I’m getting cranky in my old age and insist that my kids wait until between innings to leave or return to the section. I think I might be the only one, though.
PS: any inside word on when the ticket-holder picnic might be? I know it will be announced next week or so, but I’d like to get a jump on my schedule, if possible.
Following up a day later on the giveaway conversation, Sections 108 and 109 were the lucky recipients of the free roast beef coupons on Tuesday night thanks to Domonic Brown’s 8th inning RBI. I was shocked to see the number of people from section 107 scoot over into an empty seat in section 108 just so they could get a coupon for a small beef & cheddar sandwich. It got so bad that the person handing out the coupons had to start asking people to see their ticket stubs.
Yeah, you know, I’m not cheering for Roast Beef anymore.
I might gladly give away my give-away, but don’t go messing with my free food. Free roast beef is my birth right for being at the game when the RBI guy comes through.
😉 (kidding)
Yes, indeed, Mr. Kram — one does not have to do business with the Profiteers on the Free Market!
If people did not buy the stuff on offer at EBay or what have you, sooner or later, the Profiteers would have to go into some other type of investment activity…