Minor league baseball teams are known for their wild promotions to get fans into the stands, but what the Charlotte Stone Crabs tried to do last night crossed the line into poor taste. We might all not like Alex Rodriguez, but their attempt to hold an “A-Rod Juice Night” was just too much.
The Stone Crabs play in Port Charlotte, Florida and are a Class-A team in the Tampa Bay Rays farm system. According to the Tampa Bay Times, the team announced on its Facebook and Twitter pages that the first 500 fans would get a juice box at Friday night’s game. In addition, if you took any A-Rod shirts to the game, you could donate it to the Salvation Army for a free ticket.
The social media posts featured a picture of a woman drinking from one of the juice boxes, which had a label on it, calling it “The Sports Drink” that is “100% juiced.” They even listed side effects, which read, “tainted records, inflated ego, omission from the Hall of Fame, and more!”
The New York Yankees - who apparently don’t like A-Rod that much either - demanded an apology, which they got. The Stone Crabs also cancelled the juice box giveaway, but still took donations for the Salvation Army and the Charlotte County Homeless Coalition.
“On behalf of our entire organization I apologize to the New York Yankees, our affiliate club the Tampa Bay Rays, and all fans who may have taken offense," Stone Crabs General Manager Jared Forma told the Tampa Bay Times. "While our intent was to raise awareness for the Charlotte County Homeless Coalition and the Salvation Army, we realize this promotion may have been offensive to many and for that we are sorry and have decided to cancel the promotion. The Stone Crabs organization has the utmost respect for the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays organizations and wishes both organizations only the best in the future."
As Yahoo Sports notes, the Stone Crabs have earned national headlines for promotions in the past, including last year’s “Claw & Order” night, which made fun of quarterback Jameis Winston. But unlike that gag, this A-Rod one tried to make fun of an active MLB player who has already apologized for his mistakes.
image courtesy of INFevents.com