Fla. Minor League Team Planning Cork Giveaway For Fans
POSTED: 10:59 p.m. EDT June 4, 2003
FORT MYERS, Fla -- Sammy Sosa's use of a corked bat has sparked an unusual minor-league promotional giveaway plan.
The Fort Myers Miracle, Minnesota's Class A affiliate in the Florida State League, plans to hand out free pieces of cork to the first 505 fans through the gates on Thursday night.
Sosa, a six-time All-Star for the Chicago Cubs and one of baseball's most popular and marketable players, was ejected from Tuesday night's game against Tampa Bay after umpires found cork in his shattered bat.
Sosa's bat split open on a groundout and he later insisted that he meant to use the bat only for practice. Baseball officials confiscated Sosa's other 76 bats from Wrigley Field on Tuesday night. They were X-rayed Wednesday and showed no signs of cork.
Cork inside a wooden bat is thought by some to help players hit the ball farther and is against baseball rules.
"I think it makes light of the situation," Miracle spokesman Sean Aronson said. "If this were something more major, it would be a different story. ... We're not doing anything so outrageous that it's putting him in a bad light."
The team will also give away Cubs hats during Thursday's game, plus is offering free admission to anyone with the words 'Sammy,' 'Sosa' or 'Corky' in their name. Fans will even be offered instructions on how to cork a bat.
"We felt this was the best way to honor him during this unfortunate incident," Miracle general manager David Burke said. "
The team is also giving away mini cork bats to the 21st, 66th and 505th fans to enter Hammond Stadium. Those numbers represent Sosa's jersey number, the number of home runs he hit in 1998 and his career home-run total, respectively.
"Sosa's a great player. No one's going to deny him that," Aronson said. "We're not trying to kick a guy when he's down. It's just our way of trying to make light of this situation."
The Fort Myers Miracle, Minnesota's Class A affiliate in the Florida State League, plans to hand out free pieces of cork to the first 505 fans through the gates on Thursday night.
Sosa, a six-time All-Star for the Chicago Cubs and one of baseball's most popular and marketable players, was ejected from Tuesday night's game against Tampa Bay after umpires found cork in his shattered bat.
Sosa's bat split open on a groundout and he later insisted that he meant to use the bat only for practice. Baseball officials confiscated Sosa's other 76 bats from Wrigley Field on Tuesday night. They were X-rayed Wednesday and showed no signs of cork.
Cork inside a wooden bat is thought by some to help players hit the ball farther and is against baseball rules.
"I think it makes light of the situation," Miracle spokesman Sean Aronson said. "If this were something more major, it would be a different story. ... We're not doing anything so outrageous that it's putting him in a bad light."
The team will also give away Cubs hats during Thursday's game, plus is offering free admission to anyone with the words 'Sammy,' 'Sosa' or 'Corky' in their name. Fans will even be offered instructions on how to cork a bat.
"We felt this was the best way to honor him during this unfortunate incident," Miracle general manager David Burke said. "
The team is also giving away mini cork bats to the 21st, 66th and 505th fans to enter Hammond Stadium. Those numbers represent Sosa's jersey number, the number of home runs he hit in 1998 and his career home-run total, respectively.
"Sosa's a great player. No one's going to deny him that," Aronson said. "We're not trying to kick a guy when he's down. It's just our way of trying to make light of this situation."
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