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Minor League Baseball Honors 2023 Golden Bobblehead Award Winners

November 7, 2023 - International League (IL) News Release


LAS VEGAS - Minor League Baseball (MiLB) announced today the winners of the 2023 Golden Bobblehead Awards for top promotional activities and events in six categories.

BEST PROMOTION OR EVENT - Eugene Emeralds, Exploding Whales In 1970, a forty-five foot, eight-ton dead sperm whale washed ashore on a popular beach in Florence, Oregon. Due to the stench, the Oregon Department of Transportation determined the best way to remove the monstrosity was to blow it up with dynamite, hoping much of the carcass would wash back out to sea.

On November 12, 1970, the City of Florence placed 1,000 pounds of dynamite under the whale, blasting it to pieces that nearly all failed to make it back into the ocean. Fifty-two years later, the Eugene Emeralds worked with the city of Florence, its mayor, city council and other business leaders to carefully create an alternate identity that, in the summer of 2023, blew up like the original whale.

While a popular YouTube video tells the story, the Emeralds took it upon themselves to educate fans about the explosive debacle of generations past, celebrating the legend of the exploding whale. When the club announced the alternate identity, statewide and even national news outlets made mention of the new Exploding Whales team name. The social media response was overwhelmingly popular, as were the nights when the team wore the Exploding Whales jerseys.

To say that Exploding Whale merchandise blew up would be an understatement, as the Emeralds saw a 11,441% increase in web traffic when the identity was announced in March. The club saw over $100,000 in online merchandise sales in March, and their line of Exploding Whales caps sold out in two minutes as over 600 people were visiting the online team store at one point. The caps were so popular, the Emeralds had a waiting list of over 950 fans.

The new identity also helped grow the Emeralds' digital marketing efforts, as nearly 3,000 fans signed up for Emeralds marketing emails following the launch. The club sold nearly 5,000 group tickets for the six Exploding Whales games, and those six nights accounted for 13% of Eugene's total attendance in 2023.

The club also welcomed the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University to PK Park and had researchers and professors provide information to fans about the whale population and the impact of climate change on whales and their migration patterns. The Emeralds worked with MMI to create a "Whale Wednesday" feature on the team's Facebook page and included fun facts about marine mammals and the work being done by the MMI.

On game days, the Emeralds brought in Florence elected officials and some fans with ties to the incident 50 years ago to throw out first pitches before Whales games. Among the participants was Paul Linnman, the reporter who covered the incident for the local TV station in 1950. Another first pitch was thrown by the grandson of Walter Umenhofer, the gentleman whose brand-new Oldsmobile 88 was crushed by a 300-pound chunk of dead whale following the explosion.

"We're truly thankful for this recognition as the Exploding Whales identity was a labor of love that took years to develop," said Emeralds General Manager Allan Benavides. "We owe a big thanks to our creative and merchandise team, as well as our friends in Florence and the Mammal Institute at Oregon State University. Hopefully, this will continue to expand the lore of the Exploding Whale and how not to discard a beached whale."

BEST COMMUNITY EVENT - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers, Starry Night On August 19, the Cannon Ballers hosted the third annual "Starry Night" game and day-long fundraiser benefiting the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. The event brought together children, parents, families and friends currently fighting the battle and raised over $35,000 of direct support for children across the nation.

The activities kicked off at sunrise with the Cannon Ballers' "Shooting Star 5K" race that takes runners through downtown Kannapolis and finishes at home plate of Atrium Health Ballpark. The 500 runners (Kannapolis' largest race of the year) generated over $8,000 before the day's events turned to the ballpark, where over 150 children and families impacted by brain tumors came out to enjoy a Cannon Ballers game.

This year the team welcomed over 150 children and families that have been impacted by brain tumors to the game, but it was a postgame lantern lighting ceremony that highlighted the evening. Three different colors of lanterns were lit and spread around the playing field by children and families impacted by brain tumors. The blue lanterns are the first color to be lit and are placed on the pitcher's mound by family members of children that tragically lost their battle to a brain tumor. Yellow lanterns representing all children currently fighting the battle are placed around the infield by all the families in attendance, and the final group of white lanterns are placed on the field by Cannon Ballers players and staff and are purchased by any member of the community that supports the cause.

Once the lanterns are set, the stadium lights are turned off to create a beautiful glowing ballpark that shows the children and families battling brain tumors that they are not alone in their fight.

In addition to the lantern ceremony, the Cannon Ballers wear special Starry Night theme jerseys and the team hosts a fundraising auction with the Chicago White Sox providing caps and numerous other items to be auctioned off on this special night. In the three years the Cannon Ballers have held the Starry Night event, it has raised over $85,000 for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.

"We are honored to be recognized with a Golden Bobblehead saluting our community efforts," said Cannon Ballers General Manager Matt Millward. "The Starry Night program started as a vision three years ago and we now hope this recognition allows us to join hands with the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation and bring this special event to other ballparks across our country."

BEST IN-GAME PROMOTION OR EVENT - Corpus Christi Hooks, "Mutton Bustin'" The Hooks took a staple of Texas, the rodeo, and mixed it with baseball for the top in-game promotion of 2023 by adding Mutton Bustin' to the festivities during Rodeo Weekend in Corpus Christi. The resulting promotion engaged fans and the local community with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for kids during the Buccaneer Days festival.

The promotion was so popular the registration to participate was full in four minutes and 10 children were selected as contestants. The Hooks wore specialty jerseys for the theme night as the game took on a rodeo atmosphere. The two-foot-tall trophy was as big as the majority of the contestants, who will have a Whataburger Field memory to last a lifetime.

"We are honored that our Mutton Bustin' promotion was recognized among our industry peers as a standout event," said Hooks General Manager Brady Ballard. "Our partnership with BUC Days and Texas Bridge Credit Union helped make this an awesome community event that highlights our alignment with the BUC Days Festival."

BEST NON-GAMEDAY EVENT - Fresno Grizzlies, Tequila Fest The Fresno Grizzlies host over 100 non-gameday events each season, but few have garnered more attention than Tequila Fest at Chukchansi Park. The event was headlined by rap music superstars T.I., Rick Ross and Lil Jon, creating perhaps the most recognizable lineup to play in a Minor League Baseball stadium this summer.

The May 20th event became the template for Tequila Fest's nationwide tour, utilizing various parts of the ballpark to highlight tequila vendors and other local artists and vendors, with product sampling available. Tequila Fest received an incredible response in the local community as within the first week after the festival was announced, the event garnered over 450,000 impressions across all media, including 15 local TV news hits, and saw over 6,500 people visit the event website.

With an attendance of 7,147 and 36 vendors and multiple musical guests, the event was a tremendous success in its inaugural year.

"I would like to extend my sincerest thank you to our staff for their commitment to making Chukchansi Park a year-around venue," said Grizzlies President Derek Franks. "This event was successful thanks to our community buying into a new concept, and we look forward to continuously bringing new and exciting events to downtown Fresno."

BEST THEME NIGHT COLLECTION OR SPECIALTY JERSEY - Hartford Yard Goats, Bouncing Pickles In 1948 in Connecticut, Sidney Sparer and Moses Dexler were arrested for selling rotten pickles "unfit for human consumption." After the men's arrest, Connecticut's food and drug commissioner shared a tip with reporters for weeding out good pickles from the bad: Drop them from a height of one foot, and if they bounce, they're safe to eat. The pickles in question did not bounce and Sparer and Dexler were fined $500 and their pickles were destroyed.

Soon after, Connecticut's bouncing-pickle regulation went into effect. Seventy-five years later, the Yard Goats celebrated this controversial "blue law" by becoming the Bouncing Pickles for one game. The announcement and ensuing coverage of the promotion surpassed even the Yard Goats' wildest dreams, garnering more than one million social media impressions.

The brand was a huge success, as the club has sold over 3,000 pieces of Bouncing Pickles merchandise. The team wore the uniforms on a Wednesday night, resulting in over 2,000 more fans compared to a non-Pickles Wednesday night, and one of the largest merchandise revenue nights in club history.

The night was such a hit, the club created a Bouncing Pickles bobblehead that was given to fans in attendance for Home Run Derby X in Hartford, and the club has plans for another Bouncing Pickles night in 2024.

"Once again, our fans embraced a fun new identity and allowed us to flex our creative muscle and we love their passion and commitment to the team," said Yard Goats General Manager Mike Abramson.

BEST DIGITAL CAMPAIGN OR ACTIVATION - Buffalo Bisons, Bisons Mark Bobblehead While most sports teams have a "superfan," Buffalo Bisons superfan Mark Aichinger is truly one of a kind. If you've ever been to a game at Sahlen Field, you certainly know Mark, a passionate 59-year-old season ticket holder from North Buffalo with physical and mental disabilities. But it was the Bisons' digital campaign surrounding Mark's night at the ballpark that made for such a special night.

Much like the videos showing players receiving their first big league call-up, the Bisons started the campaign with a video showing Bisons General Manager Anthony Sprague telling Mark that he was going to have a bobblehead night in his honor. The video drew comments from former Bisons players and fans around the world. The video in Sprague's office garnered over 1.1 million impressions on Facebook, over 625,000 more on X and over 38,000 on Instagram.

Following the announcement of Mark's night, September 2 quickly became the must-attend game of the year in Buffalo, where Mark's dance moves, cheers and catcalls to opposing players like "Hey, you stink!" have been a staple of the Buffalo Bisons experience for nearly 30 years.

The digital aspects of promoting Mark's night made it a huge success, with Mark starring in several promotional videos, including a night-before-the-announcement tease, followed by a 25-second video of Mark appearing through a cloud of smoke to scream 'Hey, You Stink!' The post made over 200,000 impressions combined on social media platforms, racking up nearly 12,000 engagements on X alone. The team also introduced the hashtag #YouStink, which was used throughout the promotion, and released the image of what the bobblehead would look like on their social platforms. Lastly, the team launched a seven-minute video highlighting Mark's day that chronicled what was far more than just a bobblehead day at the ballpark for Mark, the Bisons front office and their fans. Mark took batting practice, sold tickets in the box office and worked on the grounds crew and gameday production crew before the gates even opened.

"Mark is not only a part of the Bisons baseball family but is also an integral piece to the ballpark experience at Sahlen Field," said Sprague. "The passion that he brings to every Bisons game is unmatched, and if you don't see him or hear him yell at the visiting team you missed out on part of our experience. This is truly an unbelievable honor for our team to share with him."

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