Tag Archives: baseball

Kansas City Royals combine Epilepsy Awareness Night with fireworks show

From nydailynews.com:

“Boom!

The Kansas City Royals are hosting Epilepsy Awareness Night on August 5 — the same evening they’re planning a massive fireworks display.

The World Series champions have Summer Fireworks scheduled after all Friday home games, but clearly the team needs to rethink their game plan.”

Well that’s one way to do it.

No better way to raise awareness for a disease than trying to get as many people who suffer from it in a single location, then do something that is a well-known trigger for it. That’s what I always say.

Our investigative team here at Bottlegate managed to round up some of the other ideas that apparently didn’t make it past the Royals Marketing Team’s cutting room floor:

  • Obesity Awareness Night featuring dollar hot dogs
  • Anti-Bullying Night, first 1,000 fans get free mini bat
  • Alcoholics Anonymous Night, first beer free with purchase of ticket
  • Throwing out the first pitch at Bark at the Park night – Michael Vick
  • Hypochondria Awareness Night with promotional medical kit giveaway
  • Kids Run the Bases presented by Subway
  • Here to perform the National Anthem on Prostate Cancer Awareness Night, Kanye West!
  • Lucky to have NFL Broadcaster Phil Simms here in the booth with us on Deaf Awareness Night
  • Native American Heritage night at Progressive Field

And before I could post this puppy, the Royals decided they would rather their fans not be aware of epilepsy.

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The Internet always wins.

 

PS Their new spring training caps are a lot cooler than having Epilepsy Awareness Night on a fireworks night

Whoever runs the Indians Facebook page is having themself a day

I know, I don’t really go on Facebook anymore either, so s/o to our friend @JL_Baseball for (unintentionally) tipping us off to this via Twitter.

It started when the team posted an article from MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince. In it, he lists 5 teams who have quietly had good winters so far, and the Indians are numero uno. The comments section….did not agree.

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They cite this article more than a few times, though I’m sure none of these scholars clicked it. The whole headline is, “MLB teams continue to spend, despite evidence that it does not help them win.”

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I make this argument all the time too. There are multiple ways to improve your chances of winning a baseball game. Score more runs, or prevent the other team from scoring more runs. Sure, power bats help one of those strategies. But that’s not the strategy this particular team implements. And neither have any of the recent teams that have made it to the World Series.fb2

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Boom. Roasted.

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This this THIS, times one thousand million. Challenge yourself to get past the accepted narrative about our team. There’s not a lazier group of fans in the city of Cleveland, maybe in professional sports, than the “Dolans are cheap” crowd. Have a thought process, back it up with facts, I’ll listen to you all day. I love having those conversations. But I throw up in my mouth every time someone complains about the Dolans not opening their wallets, period, end of argument. Put some work into forming an actual informed opinion. Bet it ends up being a different one.

 

KEEP THE CHIEF

 

Royals vs. Mets World Series Drinking Game

 

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(By the time you’re reading this it’ll probably be game 2 since everyone will be watching the Cavs opener tonight but we’re nothing if not punctual here at Bottlegate)

For the 64th time in the past 68 years, the Cleveland Indians will not be playing in the World Series. But I love baseball, and I’ll be DAMNED if I let that stop me from enjoying the Fall Classic.  As always, bring us in Johnny!

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Ladies and gentlemen, your second annual Bottlegate World Series Drinking Game! The New York Mets and the Kansas City Royals square off in game 1 tonight at 8:07 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.  I usually play a different drinking game when I’m watching a game that Harold Reynolds is announcing (it’s called “drink”), but this is certainly a special occasion. So without further adieu…

Take a sip when…

  • Alex Rodriguez talks about being old
  • Someone mentions an “unwritten rule”
  • The hair of Jacob deGrom or Noah Syndergaard is shown/talked about
    • Healthy gulp if it’s both at the same time
  • Yoenis Cespedes or Johnny Cueto is referred to as a “rental”
  • Reynolds says something you can easily disprove using basic reasoning and logic
  • Anyone mentions how close the Cubs came/that they’ll be back next year/for years to come
  • A Royals batter gets a hit on a fastball
  • A Royals batter strikes out
  • Jerry Seinfeld shown

Healthy gulp if…

  • Matt Harvey and “innings limit” are mentioned in the same sentence
  • Any announcer implies or flat out says that David Wright deserves a World Series title
  • Thor’s hammer is shown in any way
  • A Statcast graphic is used
  • Announcers debate whether or not a player flipped his bat after a HR
    • Finish your drink if the Jose Bautista bat flip is shown
  • Yordano Ventura hits a batter
  • The broadcast shows weird iPad guy
  • Jerry Seinfeld interviewed
  • Jim Breuer video is mentioned/shown

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Stories you must drink from start to finish during:

  • Wilmer Flores crying at the trade deadline
  • Royals fan SungWoo Lee from South Korea
  • Steven Matz growing up a Mets fan
  • The trials and tribulations of David Wright

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Finish your drink

  • David Murphy hits a home run
  • (Repeat from last year) Alex Gordon concusses himself
  • Mets pitcher knocks a run in
  • 20-year-old Royals rookie shortstop Raul Mondesi makes his major league debut in the World Series
  • Harold Reynolds makes a joke about “Matz” sounding like “Mets”

and finally….

  • Bartolo Colon gets on base

Bottoms up.

Shoot any additional ideas over to @Bottlegate or bottlegatecle@gmail.com and we’ll add em’.