Welcome to Promo Preview, a monthly round-up of the best promotions taking place throughout Minor League Baseball. July highlights include enigmatic vegetables, 19-letter team names and the anticipated return of a bizarre theatrical production.
Canada Day with Jonah Tong "Canadian Cannon" bobblehead
Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Double-A NYM), July 1
Canada Day, commemorating the country's "birthday," takes place on July 1 every year. The Binghamton Mets are celebrating with a bobblehead featuring Ontario native Jonah "The Canadian Cannon" Tong pitching atop a maple leaf. Tong was given that nickname by the Rumble Ponies booster club last season due to his otherworldly propensity for strikeouts (162 in 102 innings). This season the Canadian Cannon was included in Nickname Knockout, a fan-voted tournament to determine the best nickname in Minor League Baseball. Tong finished in eighth place, with Peyton "The Iowa Meat Truck" Williams winning it all.
Wyatt "Florida Man" Langford bobblehead
Frisco RoughRiders (Double-A TEX), July 3
Rangers outfielder Wyatt Langford, a Florida native, was a Florida Gators phenom prior to being selected in the first round of the 2023 Draft. This has inspired the RoughRiders, for whom Langford played a handful of games during his meteoric rise through the Minors, to give away a bobblehead in which he is holding a literal gator. This is, according to stereotype, the sort of thing that Florida men do. Langford is nothing if not a Florida man.
Semiquincentennials Weekend
Somerset Patriots (Double-A NYY), July 3-5
Virtually every Minor League team is celebrating America's 250th birthday this month. The Patriots -- named for their New Jersey region's role in the Revolutionary War -- are going the extra mile by playing as the Semiquincentennials from July 3-5. This nineteen-letter mouthful of a word literally means "250th anniversary."
"It's a ridiculous word that we're really only going to use one time in our country's history," said Hal Hansen, Patriots senior director of sales and marketing. "So, let's capitalize on it and do something fun with it. ... And, we thought it was cool that we could claim to be the longest team name in, potentially, sports history."
Trey Yesavage Hometown Hero bobblehead
Reading Fightin Phils (Double-A PHI), July 5
Whereas the aforementioned Jonah Tong grew up in Canada and is now pitching in the northeastern United States, Trey Yesavage went the opposite direction. The 22-year-old grew up in Berks County, Pa., and is now pitching in Canada for the Toronto Blue Jays. The Reading Fightin Phils, who proudly operate out of Berks County, are giving away a "Hometown Hero" bobblehead on July 5 featuring Yesavage wearing the uniform of his Boyertown Bears high school team. It will also be Boyertown Night at the ballpark. The entire town (population 4,000) could attend, and there'd still be room to spare.
Renegades, the Musical!
Hudson Valley Renegades (High-A NYY), July 10
After a successful debut last season baseball's only between-inning theatrical production is back for another go-round. In "Renegades, the Musical!" actors regale the crown in 90-second increments, singing original songs while furthering a plot that centers around the ballpark experience. The Renegades play in Wappingers Falls, just 75 miles from midtown Manhattan. Could a Broadway run be in the future?
King of Queens Night with Doug Heffernan bobblehead
Brooklyn Cyclones (High-A NYM), July 11
The Cyclones are well known for their annual "Seinfeld" promotion, with this year's iteration taking place on Aug. 1. In the meantime they're dipping their toes in another sitcom's waters, celebrating "The King of Queens". The team will wear specialty jerseys inspired by the show and give away a bobblehead featuring Doug Heffernan (played by Kevin James) and his ill-fated attempt to scale Shea Stadium's outfield wall. And did you know? Prior to arriving in Brooklyn in 2001 the Cyclones franchise spent one season in Queens. They were known that year as the Queens Kings.
Erie Moon Mammoths Weekend, featuring John Oliver bobblehead
Erie SeaWolves (Double-A DET), July 11-13
Last season the SeaWolves played as the Moon Mammoths, an alternate identity created for the team by John Oliver and his staff on "Last Week Tonight." This moniker, and its corresponding deep purple logo set, celebrates a man named George Moon and his discovery of mammoth bones at the bottom of Erie's Lake Pleasant. The Moon Mammoths have returned in 2026 and this time around the SeaWolves are paying tribute to the man who made it all happen. Attendees at July 11's game receive a John Oliver bobblehead
Christmas Eve in July with Jumbo Shrimp Nutcracker
Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Triple-A MIA), July 11
You've heard of Christmas in July. The Jumbo Shrimp are tweaking that premise ever-so-slightly with Christmas Eve in July. The team promises a "cozy" night at the ballpark, highlighted by a Jumbo Shrimp Nutcracker giveaway. While this item might sound too strange to replicate elsewhere, please note that there are at least two other Minor League teams giving away nutcrackers this month: The El Paso Chihuahuas (July 17) and, naturally, the Lansing Lugnuts (July 25).
Celerybration
Wilmington Blue Rocks (High-A WAS), July 18
Mr. Celery is Minor League Baseball's most enigmatic mascot. No one knows where he came from, and he doesn't engage in traditional mascot duties. He simply emerges from his lair after the Blue Rocks score, dancing energetically to the strains of Blur's "Song No. 2" before returning to his self-imposed isolation. Despite, or perhaps because of, this baffling modus operandi, he has become the face of the Blue Rocks franchise. On July 18 they'll stage a Celerybration, simply because Mr. Celery "deserves a whole game dedicated to his greatness."
One Million Calories of Free Bratwurst Night
Springfield Cardinals (Double-A STL), July 30
The Springfield Cardinals are playing as their new Snipe Hunters alternate identity on July 30, but there's something bigger going on at the ballpark that night: the distribution of one million calories worth of free bratwurst. A bratwurst is approximately 300 calories, so that means the Cardinals will be giving away more than 3000 links. You can trust them. They promise that "we will do our wurst."
