In the spirit of Will's awesome post about the upcoming light bulb promo night, I thought I would share my story of the worst promo night I've attended. It was the Reds-Giants game on August 1, 1991 in Cincinnati.
My buddy Chris and I met up with my Black Sheep of the family uncle at the park and went through the gate. It just so happened to be GEORGE FOSTER NIGHT and all 30,000 fans were handed a 18"x24" poster of George suitable for framing. We got to our seats in the second tier and that's when we started drinking. Then the game started...
I knew it was going to be a long night because Will Clark cranked one out in the first inning. Then, it seemed like every inning, the Giants would get a run or two and by the seventh inning stretch, it was 5-0.
During the stretch, they marched about 200 guys out onto the field thathad just joined the military so they could take their oath. And that's when I saw the first UFO. It was a finely crafted paper airplane, that looked strangely like George Foster, and it came lofting down from the Upper Deck and slammed into the field. I remember saying, as I stared at the scene and heard the crowd cheer for the plane, "Why would someone do that?" As I said this, I turned to my Uncle Richard just in time to see him put the finishing touches on his airplane and launch it. Richard's only fell to the section below us, but he was so drunk that it really didn't matter. And we all laughed.
As you can imagine,with the combination of beer, a George Foster poster, and a 5-0 score, the airshow was on! For the next two innings, there was a nonstop onslaught of airplanes. Most would just fall to the crowd below, but several made it onto the field. One in fact, made it all the way to second base! When that happened, Riverfront stadium erupted in cheers and I think even Barry Larkin smiled as he retrieved it from the base paths.
As you can see, even something as simple as a free poster can go terribly wrong. But then again, it gave us something to cheer for.
My buddy Chris and I met up with my Black Sheep of the family uncle at the park and went through the gate. It just so happened to be GEORGE FOSTER NIGHT and all 30,000 fans were handed a 18"x24" poster of George suitable for framing. We got to our seats in the second tier and that's when we started drinking. Then the game started...
I knew it was going to be a long night because Will Clark cranked one out in the first inning. Then, it seemed like every inning, the Giants would get a run or two and by the seventh inning stretch, it was 5-0.
During the stretch, they marched about 200 guys out onto the field thathad just joined the military so they could take their oath. And that's when I saw the first UFO. It was a finely crafted paper airplane, that looked strangely like George Foster, and it came lofting down from the Upper Deck and slammed into the field. I remember saying, as I stared at the scene and heard the crowd cheer for the plane, "Why would someone do that?" As I said this, I turned to my Uncle Richard just in time to see him put the finishing touches on his airplane and launch it. Richard's only fell to the section below us, but he was so drunk that it really didn't matter. And we all laughed.
As you can imagine,with the combination of beer, a George Foster poster, and a 5-0 score, the airshow was on! For the next two innings, there was a nonstop onslaught of airplanes. Most would just fall to the crowd below, but several made it onto the field. One in fact, made it all the way to second base! When that happened, Riverfront stadium erupted in cheers and I think even Barry Larkin smiled as he retrieved it from the base paths.
As you can see, even something as simple as a free poster can go terribly wrong. But then again, it gave us something to cheer for.
6 comments:
Sometimes special events go crazy. I remember the naked blow up doll that was being batted around like a beach ball at the last game ever at Candlestick Park. It was just a nice, sunny day and everyone was in a kind of festive commemorative mood. But usually, when you give stuff away, you're smart enough to be sure they're not small enough to throw and that they have some value, other than just for throwing.
That sounds like it would have been a good game, especially with my man, Will The Thrill, jacking one out of the park! ;)
It was the most fun I've ever had at a ballgame! I've always disliked the Reds and I was a huge Will Clark and Kevin Mitchell fan at that time.
I wonder, worst case scenario what the worst possible free giveaways would be... anything goes... I would have to guess it would be something like "Happy Easter Baby Chick Night", or maybe "Free Airhorn Night". Any other thoughts?
I always think of that WKRP episode with the free turkeys. You know the one... ;)
Classic! That is by far one of the funniest episodes of any show of all time!
Very familiar! I'm a long-time Reds fan, now transplanted into the middle of Cardinals territory. While I wasn't at the same game you describe, I was at Riverfront Stadium once for Paper Airplane Day. Only this time it was calendars, so each patron had 12+ pages of airplane material! It was great fun.
My favorite Reds game story though, was the College Night game versus the Astros I attended at Riverfront. Mid-game, someone threw a large, pink, uh..."toy facsimile of a human body part" onto the field. Dave Parker, playing right field, waved for time out, then collapsed in laughter. The bat boy was sent to retrieve it. He signaled Parker to hand it to him, but Parker shook his head and refused go near it. The bat boy then ran back in with it, but he was holding it at the middle and it bounced suggestively as he ran. At that point Parker was laughing so hard, he sat down in the field...literally ROTFL. I heard later that the radio broadcast went completely silent because the announcers (Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall) couldn't come up with anything to describe it over the air.
Post a Comment