In minor league baseball, off-the-field marketing is just as important as the on-field product.
That is no different for the Bowie Baysox, the closest minor league team to the nation’s capital.
The Double-A Baysox had planned for weeks to host a Salute to Seinfeld, and that will take place Saturday night when the Baysox host the Erie (PA) Seawolves. Comedian/actress/writer Carol Leifer, who wrote for the hit show from seasons five to seven, will make an appearance and a host a post-game comedy show.
But the on-field product got a boost this week as well as the parent Baltimore Orioles received five players from the Los Angeles Dodgers in a trade for star shortstop Manny Machado.
Four of those players obtained from the Dodgers have been assigned to Bowie: outfielder Yusniel Diaz, infielder Rylan Bannon and pitchers Zach Pop and Dean Kremer. (And it’s Bannon, not Kenny Bania, the character in Seinfeld).
Diaz hit two home runs on Sunday in the Futures Game at Nationals Park while representing the Dodgers farm system.
The last-place Orioles are now in rebuild mode, according to Baltimore general manager Dan Duquette. “A new direction,” Duquette told 105.7 FM The Fan in Baltimore on Friday. While his future with the team is iffy, Duquette said the rebuild could last until 2020.
“It is always good to get some good ballplayers to help the team,” Bowie outfielder Ryan McKenna said of the trade Thursday. “Obviously we are going to miss Manny. We hope to bring a World Series to Baltimore at some point in the future.”
It will be busy few days for the Baysox staff, regardless of the on-field team.
Friday night Bowie will honor the legend of David Bowie, who shares a name — albeit with a different pronunciation — with the Baysox.
On Sunday it will be Jonathan Schoop Bobblehead Night at Bowie. Schoop is a former Baysox infielder who now plays second base for the Orioles and is good friends with Machado, who will now to try help the Dodgers make the playoffs.
On Monday, Mets prospect Tim Tebow and the Binghamton (NY) Rumble Ponies come to town for a three-game series that ends Wednesday. Tebow is slated to meet with the media before Monday’s game.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.