The best promotions in the Red Sox Organization in 2019

The beginning of March is always a weird time of year up here in the Northeast. We’ll have some days were it’s sunny and in the 40’s, which after a long winter feels legitimately like summer. Then, we’ll have a few days where snow piles up on us and we can only dream of the upcoming spring and eventual summer. Through it all, we can be comforted with the fact that we are only about a month away from baseball being played at all levels. For those in major cities, major-league games are within reach. For the rest of us, there is almost certainly some minor-league park close enough to us. The game itself is obviously the reason most of us are going to any games we attend this year, but it’s always nice if there’s a nice promotion involved as well. With that in mind, here are a few of my favorite promotional events on the schedules for all of the team’s full-season affiliates in 2019.

Salem, April 17, Mean Girls Night

Most of Salem’s promotions down in Virginia lean on pop culture, so it’s all a matter of taste here, I suspect. Mean Girls is one of the best movies from my high school years, and deserves recognition every year. 2019 is the 15-year anniversary of the Tina Fey movie, and Salem is celebrating in style. The game is on a Wednesday, so the uniforms better be pink.

Portland, April 18, Throwback Hat

I like a good hat, and the old SeaDogs hats from their Marlins days are quite good. It’s actually essentially the same hat they wear now, just with a different color scheme. It’s the color scheme that makes the hat, though, and in this case it’s white and teal, creating an extremely 90’s aesthetic that I dig. The Red Sox are actually off this day, so there’s a pretty good chance I’ll be at this game to snag a hat.

Boston, April 23, Wall Win Flag

The Red Sox won a whole lot of games in 2018, and one of the coolest parts of that entire season was Alex Cora’s “win wall.” In case you forgot or somehow missed this story entirely, the Red Sox manager picked one defining photo from every victory in the 2018 season and hung it in his office after each win. The wall ended up filling up more quickly and just straight-up more than we could have ever expected. Chad Jennings of The Athletic (subscription required) did a great story going through every picture on the wall. Now, you can have a smaller version for yourself. As someone who doesn’t have a great eye for art but doesn’t like blank walls, a flag full of Red Sox pictures works out for me.

Portland, June 21, Whoopie Pies Day

This is not a day in which the SeaDogs are giving out free whoopie pies, though I would be very into that. Instead, they’ll be changing their name to the Whoopies Pies for the day, because Maine is obsessed with the fact they invented the whoopie pie. I am not complaining, though, because one of the things they don’t tell you about Maine until you move here is that every place sells whoopie pies. It’s great. Anyway, the jersey and hats are pretty dope and they are giving away some passes to the Maine Whoopie Pie Festival, which is a thing I can’t believe no one told me about. Also, for good measure this is also one of the Bark in the Park night where fans bring dogs to the park. June 21 will be a good day in Portland.

Portland, June 24, Brock Holt Cycle Bobblehead

Solid run of promos for the SeaDogs here. Just a few days after the Whoopie Pie celebration they have a bobblehead to celebrate Brock Holt hitting for the cycle in the ALDS against the Yankees. It would be fine if it was just a normal bobblehead, but that’s not how minor-league teams operate. Instead, they made a bobblehead of Holt riding a bicycle. That’s a good idea, and also will be fun to explain to everyone who visits your home why you have a baseball player riding a bike displayed for all to see.

Salem, June 29, Toy Story Night

Back to Salem celebrating another one of the best movies of my childhood, though this one goes back further than Mean Girls. Toy Story started Pixar and was a staple for every child of a certain age, and really for many ages since there have been three so far with another on the way. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who doesn’t like Toy Story, so if you happen to fall into that category I’d probably keep that bit of information to yourself.

Boston, July 16, Mookie Betts “Time to Party” Bobblehead

A fun fact about me: I used to be super into bobbleheads when I was a kid. I don’t really seek them out anymore, but I can appreciate a good bobblehead when I see it. This, folks, is a good bobblehead. We all remember the “Time to Party” home run from last summer, one of the more memorable at bats and swings of the year despite it being a largely inconsequential game. Dennis Eckersley’s now-immortal call will forever be associated with the entire season, and this bobblehead apparently has sound to play the clip. I can see that being extremely annoying after about an hour of owning the bobblehead, particularly in a house with young children, but just think of how cool that first hour will be.

Salem, August 2, The Office Night

I don’t know exactly what happens at a “The Office” themed baseball game, but I wouldn’t mind figuring it out. This themed night would be better if it commemorated the full NBC Thursday night lineup when it featured The Office, Parks and Rec, Community and 30 Rock, but just highlighting the biggest name of that group works too. I’m assuming someone from the cast will make a special appearance, and my money is on Stanley.

Pawtucket, August 16, Replica World Series Ring

Do you think you deserve a World Series ring for rooting for the Red Sox last year? Well, you’re wrong, but you can still get a cheap knock off because this is America. Fool your less intelligent friends and coworkers with this ring that will probably be plastic.

Pawtucket, Every Tuesday, Osos De Polares

The PawSo started doing this last year, and they are continuing to change their name once a week in 2019. Pawtucket has one of the better logos in minor-league baseball with the polar bear, but it’s not really reflected in their name. They go with the Spanish every Tuesday in the coming season, playing as the Osos De Polares, complete with this logo, of which I am a fan.

Greenville, Every Thursday, Dollar Drink Night

Greenville doesn’t really have any promotions listed on their website, just showing a few promotions that run on specific days of the week. One of them is “Dollar Drink Night” on Thursdays. There’s no description here and this sounds too good to be true, but if this means dollar beers? Well, that’s awesome and also a recipe for disaster.