Nothing says America’s pastime quite like the smell of freshly-mowed grass, the crack of a wood bat and giant shrimp.
Baseball fans in Jacksonville were taken aback Tuesday when the local Double-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins announced an unexpected rebranding in the form of a giant, muscular crustacean.
The brawny jumbo shrimp will adorn the team’s hats, jerseys and apparel when players take to the diamond in the summer of 2017.
While some Jacksonville fans bemoaned the change from the Suns to the Jumbo Shrimp, the rebranding of the Florida-based program highlights a few peculiarities of baseball. With 244 minor league teams across the nation, organizations often turn to unusual gimmicks to generate spectator interest in a saturated market.
Minor League Baseball has always had a flair for the unusual, with promotional tactics ranging from alpaca racing to liposuction giveaways. Originality brings interest to an otherwise stale sport, generating ticket sales during a season consisting of more than 100 games.
The zany uniform combinations donned with a powerlifting marine crustacean may not be appealing to athletes rising through the ranks of professional baseball. But the addition of an unconventional team symbol will generate a strong media buzz and bring more fans to Bragan Field for the April 12 home opener.
Although a budding rivalry between the Jumbo Shrimp and the Montgomery Biscuits may not provide the same fire as the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, it certainly presents an appetizing matchup.
The willingness of Minor League Baseball owners to take unorthodox risks sets the league apart from other developmental programs.
This was evident when Jacksonville utilized promotional items such as oven mitts and aprons to attract an average crowd of 4,000 fans at home games during the 2016 season. Meanwhile, teams in the National Basketball Association Developmental League last year saw approximately 2,700 spectators per matchup.
From oxymoronic logos to bizarre giveaways, these eccentricities are an aspect of baseball that can be appreciated by fans of any sport.
There are those who will undoubtedly spend the offseason griping about the change and expressing desire for a more traditional team. But Jumbo Shrimp fans should enjoy the innovative atmosphere of the program while discovering an entirely new meaning to the term “batter up.”
Josh Grissom can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @GoshJrissom