Space Coast Stadium lives up to its name: This week in Minor League Baseball promotions
Explore space with this week's Minor League promotion
There are three certainties in life: death, taxes and most importantly, Minor League promotions. MiLB.com's Ben Hill has the inside scoop on the last of those certainties, and he'll be sharing a taste with us and you each and every week. Check out a unique upcoming promo below and read his full recap of the week's best promotions right here. You can follow Ben on Twitter @Bensbiz.
In last week's inaugural edition of this column in this space, I covered the glut of Star Wars promotions taking place as "May the Fourth" approached. But why should teams limit themselves to fictional intergalactic realms? Space is real, space is infinite and this weekend the Brevard County Manatees are going exploring.
May 7-9 is "Kennedy Space Center Weekend" at the Manatees' aptly named home of Space Coast Stadium. For these three ballgames the team will change its name to the "Space Explorers," while wearing caps and jerseys designed by Kennedy Space Center employee Angela Krenn. Both feature images from the Hubble Telescope, which was launched from, yes, the Kennedy Space Center.
"The shirt design uses images from the Hubble Space Telescope to show the Comet ISON against a backdrop of distant galaxies and stars," said Krenn, who is almost certainly the first NASA cryogenics engineer to be quoted in a Minor League Baseball press release.
The front of the cap, meanwhile, displays the 10,000-mile-wide storm front that is Jupiter's "Great Red Spot." The game-worn "Space Explorers" jerseys will be sold as part of an online charitable auction, while a limited number of the Jupiter caps are available now.
"We have always wanted to do something with Kennedy Space Center, as KSC and NASA have [made] a strong community impact," wrote Manatees assistant general manager Chad Lovitt in an email. "Our foul poles at the stadium have the space shuttles Columbia and Challenger on them. The May 9 game will be educational, as we will have [KSC employees] here doing demonstrations, handing out information and building model rockets."
It appears one detail was overlooked, however: The Brevard County "Space Explorers" will be playing the Tampa Yankees this weekend. Too bad they couldn't schedule it for when the Jupiter Hammerheads are in town.