Rehab stints prove healthy for affiliates
So there is a certain irony in the fact that the most guaranteed attendance booster is something that the teams have no control over -- a big league superstar on a Minor League rehab assignment.
The chance to see an injured A-List player work himself back into Major League shape in an up close-and-personal environment is, in and of itself, a fantastic reason to check out a Minor League ballgame. The teams that are lucky enough to host these players experience an enviable revenue increase, and they also get the chance to promote their product to a large number of first-time fans. And the team's players have the chance to suit up alongside an established star, who following established protocol, nearly always pays for a primo postgame food spread.
Who could ask for more than that?
Manny in the Minors
The 2009 season is just seven weeks old, but already a parade of established big leaguers have graced the Minor Leagues with their presence. Future Hall-of-Famers (and former teammates) John Smoltz and Tom Glavine are in the midst of rehab assignments, and the likes of Carlos Zambrano, Josh Hamilton and John Lackey have all logged time in their organization's farm system. But the hype that surrounded these Minor League stints will pale in comparison to what's on tap for next month.
The Manny Ramirez Show.
Ramirez, currently serving a 50-game suspension, is eligible for Minor League action 10 days prior to his July 3 reinstatement with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He'll spend much of that time suiting up for a team within the Dodgers farm system, although which one (Albuquerque? Chattanooga? Inland Empire? Great Lakes?) remains a matter of speculation.
Ramirez's time in the Minors will result in sellout crowds for the team in question, even if the stigma of steroid abuse causes the star slugger to act in a more subdued fashion than usual. The last time Ramirez played in the Minors was in 2002, when he appeared in 11 games with the Pawtucket Red Sox of the Triple-A International League while recovering from a finger injury. Bill Wanless, vice president of public relations for the PawSox, has many fond memories of Ramirez's previous Minor League sojourn.
"Manny loved it here, and he really enjoyed being around a lot of the guys on the club," said Wanless. "It seemed to some people that he wanted to extend his time here for as long as he possibly could."
Ramirez hit just .100 (3-for-30) during his time with Pawtucket, but nonetheless provided plenty of memorable moments.
"He did some bizarre things," recalled Wanless. "When he pulled into the stadium for the first time, I guess he thought we had valet parking. He just left his car running in front of the stadium. ... And there was also the time that he went to a barbershop in Pawtucket at 4:30 in the afternoon, in full uniform."
And finally, there was the case of the missing earring.
"We were in Syracuse, and [Ramirez] was playing while wearing these ridiculously expensive earrings," said Wanless. "They probably cost 15 to 20 thousand dollars each. At one point he dove headfirst into third base, and one of the earrings went flying. No one realized it at the time, but after the game there were a bunch of people out on the field looking for it. It never did turn up."
Ramirez is just one of many high-profile Boston Red Sox stars who have passed through Pawtucket on a rehab assignment in recent years. The club hosted Daisuke Matsuzaka earlier this month, and the likes of David Ortiz, Curt Schilling and Jason Varitek have put in appearances there as well.
"It's a unique situation, because we're so close to Boston," said Wanless. "Most of the guys [on rehab assignments] had already come through as players, so they have a familiarity with the situation."
And since Pawtucket is in the heart of Red Sox Nation, the fans always respond overwhelmingly to their returning heroes.
"Ortiz was here for three days in July, and it didn't impact us ticketwise as much as it normally would because we were already almost sold out for those games," said Wanless. "But he hit a home run in all three games, and it resulted in a lot of great exposure for us both in New England and nationally."
Rooting for the 'Enemy'
Another Minor League club that recently benefited from a rehabbing member of the Boston Red Sox is the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. The Double-A Toronto Blue Jays affiliate hosted the Portland Sea Dogs on Tuesday in a game started by 42-year-old John Smoltz. A franchise-record 8,903 fans came out to Merchantsauto.com Stadium in order to cheer him on, resulting in the slightly surreal spectacle of the home crowd rooting for a visiting player.
"We're located in Red Sox Nation, so we get some of that when the Sea Dogs are in town anyway," said Fisher Cats president and general manager Rick Brenner. "But we love our relationship with the Blue Jays. We've only been here for six years, but nine of the players on their roster played for us first."
The Fisher Cats were expecting a large crowd even prior to Smoltz's arrival. It was "Reading Challenge Night" at the ballpark, and the club had given away tickets to 1,500 local schoolchildren.
"What [Smoltz's appearance] really did is push the envelope on standing room-only tickets," said Brenner. "We were expecting a large crowd, and instead ended up with a very large crowd. It was our good fortune that this came about.
"Having a player [of Smoltz's stature] underscores what Minor League Baseball is really about -- a place for players to find their way to the Major Leagues. That could be a younger player on his way up, or a sure-thing Hall-of-Famer recovering from injury. Our facilities are here for that purpose, and fans can come enjoy that in a safe and affordable environment."
An MVP makes his triumphant return
In May 2007, reigning National League MVP Ryan Howard went on the disabled list with a left quadriceps strain. As his return to the playing field became imminent, the Lakewood BlueClaws front-office staff began to speculate their chances of landing the superstar slugger for a return engagement. (He spent the 2002 season in Lakewood, hitting 19 homers and driving in 87 runs).
"[The Phillies'] Triple-A team was in Ottawa that season, so we didn't think he was going to end up there," said BlueClaws Media and Public Relations Manager Greg Giombarrese. "[Double-A] Reading was on the road in New Hampshire, and [Class A Advanced] Clearwater was on the road as well. So we figured we had a shot."
The Phillies soon announced that Howard would be coming to Lakewood for a two-game stint. The first such game was an 11 a.m. "Education Day" contest, which greatly enabled the resulting media storm.
"The Phillies had a home game that night, so that morning all the writers came to Lakewood to cover Howard," said Giombarrese. "Our press box fits about 12 people comfortable, and we had 40. We had to set up tables along the concourse, set up a bunch of power strips and hire some friends to work as security for the media."
The improvisation didn't stop there.
'After the game there was a big press conference, and we didn't have a backdrop for it," said Giombarrese. Well, up in our party deck we had two massive windscreens, because it can get pretty cold up there in the beginning of the season. We took the screens and used them as the backdrop for the press conference."
All told, Howard went 2-for-6 with a home run, double, and four RBIs during his two-game stint (amusingly, his four RBIs gave him 91 for his Lakewood career, catapulting him into a tie for first place on the BlueClaws' all-time list).
"We attracted over 17,000 people for those two games, giving us the highest May attendance in our history," said Giombarrese. "And we got a ton of great coverage, in the Philly media as well as locally. It couldn't have worked out any better."
Benjamin Hill is a contributor to MLB.com.