Eastbound's Powers' legend grows

Jamestown Jammers (New York-Penn League)
Lucy-Desi Night, Aug. 3
Comedic icon Lucille Ball entered the world on Aug. 6, 1911, and this week her hometown of Jamestown, N.Y., is proudly celebrating what would have been her 100th birthday. The Jammers, in partnership with the nearby LucyDesi center, will take the field on Wednesday wearing theme jerseys emblazoned with pictures of Ball and her television (and real life) husband, Desi Arnaz. This serves as the kick-off event to this year's "Lucy Fest," a five-day gala featuring a parade, comedians (Joan Rivers!), impersonators and a Guinness World Record attempt in the category of "most people dressing as Lucy Ricardo in one place at one time." If you love Lucy, there's no better place in the world to be.

Lowell Spinners (New York-Penn League)
Electronics Night, Aug. 3
It might be an unusual concept, but it's also a simple one: buy a pizza, win electronics. The Spinners' annual "Electronics Night" is on Wednesday, in which the club gives away everything from alarm clocks to Xboxes to calculators to iPods. To win, fans simply need to buy a pizza at the concession stand. All boxes are affixed with numbered stickers, and if the number matches that assigned to one of the electronics -- you win! Finally, Americans have been given a reason to buy pizza.

Peoria Chiefs (Midwest League)
Tribute to the Asian Carp, Aug. 3
The invasive Asian Carp is wreaking havoc on the delicate ecosystem of the Illinois River, and local authorities have been doing everything they can to reduce the population of these unwanted aquatic interlopers. The Chiefs are getting into the act Thursday with their tongue-in-cheek "Tribute to the Asian Carp," featuring fishing-themed videoboard and audio clips, informational booths on the concourse and between-inning games dedicated to the fine art of invasive aquatic species eradication. The team considered offering free tickets to fans bringing Asian Carp to the game, but decided against it for stench-related reasons. Still, maybe you'll get a discount if you show up to the game in fishnet stockings.

Altoona Curve (Eastern League)
Summer Cruise Series - All the Right Moves, Aug. 4
The Curve's "Summer Cruise Series" offers the heretofore unknown combination of Tom Cruise-related giveaway items with the opportunity to actually win a cruise vacation. The fourth and final installment of this unprecedented initiative has a local connection, as the Curve will be celebrating the 1983 football opus All the Right Moves. The film was shot in nearby Johnstown, Pa., and the team will be paying tribute with a variety of pigskin-themed games and contests. The first 500 fans through the gates receive a foam football, which joins aviator sunglasses, tighty-whities and shotglasses in the team's Cruise-related giveaway pantheon. Fans who accumulated all four items throughout the season are being asked to bring them to the Sept. 4 ballgame, with one such fan winning the aforementioned vacation cruise.

Akron Aeros (Eastern League)
Canal Park Hall of Fame Games, Aug. 6
The NFL season is scheduled to start on time, but one of the unfortunate side effects of the extended lockout was the cancellation of the annual pre-season Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio (this year's version was to have featured the Bears and Rams). Fortunately, the nearby Akron Aeros are there to pick up the slack, as the club is staging its own "Hall of Fame Game" on Saturday. Naturally, it will consist of representatives from local "Bears" and "Rams" amateur teams competing against one another in games that have been recently inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame (ranging from jump rope to Candyland to the Easy Bake Oven). Never has the NFL been made to seem so inconsequential.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Carolina League)
Eastbound and Down Night, Aug. 6
Season three of the irreverent HBO comedy series Eastbound and Down, featuring the misadventures of amoral bush leaguer Kenny Powers, is currently being filmed in Myrtle Beach. This happenstance is sure to raise the profile of the city's real-life Minor League team, and to celebrate, the Pelicans are staging an Eastbound and Down Thirsty Thursday theme night. The evening will feature a first pitch from a Kenny Powers look-alike, an in-game "Kenny Powers Mullet Cam," and team staff members dressed up to resemble Powers from various stages of his baseball career. As an added bonus, the evening also features a performance from the dog-straddling cowboy monkeys of Team Ghost Rider. Kenny Powers would probably be into that.

Winston-Salem Dash (Carolina League)
Heritage Weekend, Aug. 6
From 1914 to 1998, Winston-Salem was home to the semi-pro Pond Giants. Named after an area of the city that had flooded in 1904 (therefore turning it into a pond), the team began as an all-black unit and went through many incarnations and played in many locations over the ensuing seven-plus decades. The Dash are paying tribute to this crucial part of the city's national pastime during their Heritage Weekend, with the team taking the field on Saturday in Pond Giants replica jerseys (to be auctioned off after the game). Alumni from the team will be in attendance as well, making the evening anything but a "pond"-erous affair.

Orem Owlz (Pioneer League)
Hootz and Holly Wedding Anniversary Celebration, Aug. 6
Hootz and Holly, Orem's owl mascots, are lovebirds in the truest sense of the word. The nocturnal couple got married as part of a festive postgame ceremony in 2009, promising to take one another in "wins and losses, rain or shine, strikeouts or home runs." Two years have since passed and I'm happy to report that Hootz and Holly are still going strong. The team is marking the anniversary with a gala mascot party, a celebration of avian love highlighted by a postgame fireworks display. Call it a "renewal of owls."

Corpus Christi Hooks (Texas League)
Nolan Ryan Rancher Bobblehead, Aug. 6
Nolan Ryan was the consummate workhorse, appearing in more than 800 Major League games en route to hurling 5,386 innings over a 27-season big league career. But after retiring, he was able to devote much more time tending to his Texas ranch, riding a workhorse instead of being one. It is this portion of Ryan's life that the Hooks are commemorating on Saturday, as the team is giving away 2,500 "Rancher Bobbleheads" that feature the Hall of Famer sitting atop a stoic horse. Fans'll be champing at the bit to get one.

Connecticut Tigers (New York-Penn League)
Al Kaline Night, Aug. 8
Talk about an "Al Kaline" battery -- on Monday, the beloved Tiger baseball icon will venture to Norwich's Dodd Stadium (home of the Connecticut Tigers) in order to throw out a ceremonial first pitch to his grandson Colin Kaline. (The younger Kaline was drafted by Detroit in the 26th round of this year's draft and is now playing second base for the C-Tigers, the first step in a long journey toward the Motor City). Prior to the first pitch, the elder Kaline will spend one hour signing autographs on the concourse. His name's pretty short, so the line should move quickly.

Bonus Coverage: Because my work is never done, here are seven promotions that could have been included in last week's column -- could have been but, of course, weren't:

Abner Gnome Giveaway (Abner Doubledays, July 27): Because garden guarding is a full-time occupation.

Wacky Afro Hat (Reading Phillies, July 27): Is there such a thing as a "Non-Wacky Afro Hat"?

Media Mogul Madness (Lexington Legends, July 28): This one will certainly be in the running when it comes time to name the "most alliterative promo of the year."

Starlin Castro Bobblehead (Daytona Cubs, July 29): Honoring the meteoric rise of the starting shortstop on Chicago's North Side.

Trade Deadline Ticket Deal (Lake Elsinore Storm, July 29-31): Fans received $1 off the price of a ticket for every member of the San Diego Padres traded from the 25-man roster.

Don Money Bobblehead (Nashville Sounds, July 30): Those wanting Money in the bank simply need to stash this item in a safe deposit box.

Tribute to Michael Jackson/Boy Scout Sleepover (New Britain Rock Cats, July 30): Overlapping promotions by multi-tasking teams can sometimes result in unintentional hilarity.