God I dislike the Phillies. But damn if their Triple-A affiliates, the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, don’t have the most creative and socially active creative team in professional sports. I not only have respect for their constantly moving and constantly producing creative, but I admittedly am a fan, even if they are a Phillies affiliate. I have two Iron Pigs baseball caps; excluding promotional gate giveaways that I mostly collect and don’t wear, I can’t even say the same about the Atlanta Braves, for whom I only have a single baseball cap, that’s almost literally been worn to death and doesn’t quite fit right anymore either.
But anyway, I got an email from the Iron Pigs because I’m apparently on their mailing list because of the cap I purchased from them over the internet. Usually I delete these emails instantaneously, and chide myself for not opening them, so I can go straight to the bottom and look for the unsubscribe button and then remind myself to unsubscribe the next time one comes in, to which the cycle repeats itself all over again. However, the subject line was something that caught my attention and instantly piqued my interest: BACON VS. TACOS.
I like bacon. I like tacos. Never did I think that I’d ever have to pick a side between the two; after all, you can even combine them and get some good tacos with bacon out of them. But apparently an ingenious promotion was birthed also involving the Fresno Grizzlies who have apparently re-branded themselves as the Fresno Tacos for some reason, but I am okay with that, because naming one’s self after food is always an entertaining idea in my opinion.
Complete with comprehensive website, it’s an absolutely amazing execution of cross-promotion that draws attention to the Iron Pigs, the Fresno Tacos, minor league baseball, and baseball in general. A person doesn’t even have to like baseball to get in on the bacon vs. tacos debate, because just about everyone can take a side in the debate, including the heathens that don’t eat meat. That’s ultimately the point too, because when people actually utilize the #TeamBacon or #TeamTacos, they’re going to be talking about baseball whether they’re aware/care or not.
The big payoff for this promotion is that the loser of the voting, has to wear the winner’s cap for a game, which as they proclaim is an unprecedented event in professional baseball. Like really, imagine if the New York Yankees had to wear Boston Red Sox caps for a game for losing a weekend series, or the ALCS? Or if the Los Angeles Dodgers had to wear San Francisco Giants caps for a game, because SF is full of techie hipsters that always game any online vote?
The big takeaway for me though, is the realization that the Fresno Tacos have an amazing fighting taco baseball cap, in conjunction with this promotion. I feel like I need to have this cap, because I am a child and am easily amused by food items being given googly eyes and anamorphic arms and legs. The fact that it’s also wearing a poncho as well is only a bonus.
Needless to say, I am most certainly on #TeamTacos, because when it comes down to it, as much as I like bacon, I know I’d eventually get sick of it. Tacos on the other hand, you can give to me at every single meal, and because they can be available in such a wide assortment and variety, there’s no limit to how many different ways they can be enjoyed. Plus, the Tacos are a Houston Astros affiliate, and I’ve kind of already decided that I’m going to be an Astros fan in 2017, because they have both Brian McCann and Evan Gattis, two former Braves catchers who I’ve always been a fan of.
The bottom line is that this is the kind of stuff that exists that really cements my opinion of why minor league baseball is vastly superior to major league. Ultimately at the root of everything, baseball is still a kid’s game, with the operative word being “game,” and games are supposed to be fun. Regardless of sport, once you get to the highest level, where the athletes are all overpaid gozillionaires and perceived as ridiculous commodities, the fun is completely lost and it’s seen as solely a stuffy, un-fun business that’s taken way, way, way too seriously.
Minor league baseball isn’t not a business in its own right, but at least they’re still allowed to operate with a modicum of autonomy, which often times means that they still know how to have fun.
