GreenJackets Announce Changes to Kline Promotion
Published on May 20, 2011 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Augusta GreenJackets News Release
Augusta, GA - The Augusta GreenJackets have announced a change to the planned "Free Steve Kline Night" promotion on Thursday May 26th.
The first 1,000 fans will no longer be receiving free bandages due to perceptions that the giveaway was intended to denigrate umpires and specifically the umpiring crew involved.
"Our intention was not to disgrace the umpiring crew involved or umpiring in general, so we've decided that the best course of action was a preemptive one in cancelling this portion of the promotion." GreenJackets General Manager Nick Brown said. "The idea behind it was to have something that featured the umpires and showed that there are two sides to every story, but in doing so we may have erred on the side of bad taste, causing this shift in judgment."
Also, Brown stated, "When the game has ended we want to be able to turn a negative situation into something positive thus our tie-in with a worthwhile charity."
The rest of the event will still take place with charitable causes taking center stage. Any fan with "Steve" or "Kline" in their name will be granted free admission into that night's game. GreenJackets staffers will be going through the stands with collection buckets for "bail money" that will be donated to the Strike Out Hunger Campaign that ties in with the 2011 South Atlantic League All-Star Game. Golden Harvest Food Bank will be the local beneficiary and Kline will match whatever is collected from the fans in these buckets.
In addition, Kline will spend a portion of the evening in the "penalty box" (a dunk tank) with fans able to purchase a chance to free him for a dollar each, with those proceeds benefitting Golden Harvest as well.
Kline is currently serving a 15-game suspension, as mandated by the South Atlantic League, for an incident that took place during the May 10th game against the Rome Braves. Promotions throughout the May 26th game will remind fans of the infamous incident that landed Kline in the league's sin bin. The GreenJackets plan to involve a ball and chain in one of them and hold a Hokey Pokey contest with many other promotions still in the works.
With the suspension due to end the next day, the Thursday promotion is the perfect time for the rehabilitated Kline to show how remorseful he is for what he's done.
"I was wrong to let my emotions get out of control during the (May 10th) argument and I deserve the punishment I received." Kline said. "I have the utmost respect for umpires and the game of baseball in general."
First pitch for the May 26th contest will come at 7:05 p.m. as that night's game falls on the second game of a four-game homestand with the Sand Gnats. Single-game tickets for every home game can be obtained by calling 706-922-WINS or online at www.greenjacketsbaseball.com .
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