# Minor League Baseball Honors 2022 Golden Bobblehead Award Winners

- Link: https://www.nyrdcast.com/minor-league-baseball-honors-2022-golden-bobblehead-award-winners/
- Published: 2022-12-06T15:15:35-06:00
- Author: Eugene Tierney

**Minor League Baseball Honors 2022 Golden Bobblehead Award Winners**

_Awards honor top promotional efforts of 2022 season_

**SAN DIEGO, Dec. 5, 2022 —** Minor League Baseball (MiLB) announced today the winners
of the 2022 Golden Bobblehead Awards for top promotional activities and events in
six categories.

**BEST PROMOTION or EVENT – St. Paul Saints, Marathon Sunday Runday**
During a Sunday
afternoon game in May, the St. Paul Saints executed a promotion that included a 
feel-good comeback story, a first-of-its-kind promotion and a charitable component
all in one with the “Marathon Sunday Runday.” **Seigo Masubuchi** is a staple at
Saints games, where he has a cult following for his between-innings promotion “Singing
with Seigo” where he sings a song based upon the theme of the night, something he
has done for more than 20 years. Seigo is also an avid marathon runner, having finished
over 90 marathons, including the Boston Marathon. Prior to the pandemic, the Saints
planned to have Seigo run his 100^(th) marathon at CHS Field. Sadly, Seigo was sidelined
with COVID and hospitalized again for a serious heart issue, putting his running
on hold.

Fast forward to 2022 with Seigo healthy again, and the Saints held their annual 
Running of the Pigs races. This includes three separate runs: Kids Race, 0K, and
5K. The Kids Race was a simple lap around the field, and the 0K was a new race where
racers sign up, get a T-shirt, stand at the starting line, the starter gun goes 
off and the race is over. The “racers” then enjoy their cold beverage of choice 
while rooting on the 5K racers. Once the Running of the Pigs races were over, it
was time for the main event of the day, where Seigo Masabuchi would run a marathon
at CHS Field as a Saints game was taking place.

The marathon was officially certified and was named the Rebecca Veeck Marathon Course
at CHS Field, named after Saints owner Mike Veeck’s daughter, who passed away in
2019 from Batten’s Disease. Seigo was also running to help raise money for the Batten
Foundation and fans could give a donation or donate money to run a lap with Seigo.
The course was 84 laps around the concourse of CHS Field. In the end, he raised 
more than $5,500. Stanchions and course marshals were placed around the concourse
so fans wouldn’t impede Seigo’s running. In order for Seigo to finish during the
game, he began about 90 minutes prior to first pitch and managed to throw out the
ceremonial first pitch from the track and still do his normal “Singing with Siego”
promotion, performing “Born to Run.”

The videoboard kept fans updated on Seigo’s progress throughout the game as he completed
each lap. In the seventh inning, and four hours and 17 minutes after he started,
Seigo crossed the finish line, 26.2 miles, 84 laps around CHS Field to an incredible
ovation not just by the fans, but by players and coaches from both teams.

“We were all very proud to see this promotion finally come to fruition because it
meant so much to our staff to make this a meaningful event for Seigo and our owner,**
Mike Veeck**,” said Saints Assistant General Manager, VP of Brand Marketing and 
Experience **Sierra Bailey**. “The Saints are known for coming up with fun promotions
and being able to do something fun like this, while also raising funds and awareness
for Batten’s Disease was really great.” 

**BEST COMMUNITY EVENT – San Antonio Missions, Uvalde Community Healing Night**

After the unspeakable tragedy at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, last May
that took the lives of 21 students and teachers, the Missions immediately went into
action, planning Uvalde Community Healing Night. The club worked with Uvalde city
officials and the Uvalde Superintendent’s office to plan a memorable night for the
Uvalde community that featured the Missions wearing uniforms that were replicas 
of Uvalde High School’s baseball uniforms.

The Uvalde High School baseball team joined the Missions on the field for a pregame
team picture, and the game was attended by nearly 2,000 more fans than the Missions’
nightly average. The Missions won the game on a walk-off base hit and the families
of the two slain teachers joined the team on the field for a moment of prayer and
reflection after the win. The Missions auctioned off the game-used uniforms and 
raised $50,357, which was donated to the Robb Elementary Memorial Fund to assist
the families of the victims. The club provided the Uvalde superintendent with a 
framed team-signed jersey that will be included in a tribute to Robb Elementary.

“This award really caps the event for what we were trying to do, which was put the
spotlight on the community of Uvalde,” said Missions General Manager **Dave Gasaway**.“
We wanted to do something for that community and having a lot of them join us at
the ballpark and many of them told us it was the first time since the incident that
had been able to smile, which really meant a lot to us.”

**BEST IN-GAME PROMOTION OR EVENT – South Bend Cubs, Spin to Win Saturdays**
The
South Bend Cubs modernized a staple of their promotional calendar from previous 
years, using technology and improved prizes to attract more participants, while 
also saving their staff hundreds of hours of data entry. After giving away a flat
screen TV every inning on Saturdays in previous years, in 2022 the club offered 
fans a chance to spin the wheel for a shot to win a 50” smart TV, a $100 Visa Gift
Card, an iPad, PlayStation5 or Xbox One or a $150 grocery gift card, among other
prizes. Instead of having fans sign up by writing down their name, phone number 
and email address on a slip of paper (which later had to be entered into their CRM
system by hand), the club created a QR code to allow fans to sign up using their
smart phone. Participants were notified by text message and the following inning
would spin the wheel live on the videoboard for the entire ballpark to watch. On
the rare occasion the fan would win a “dud prize” (hot dog or soda) the team would
surprise them with a real prize. Using the simple QR code to register fans led to
thousands of new contacts in their customer database and provided additional sponsorship
opportunities for the club.

“We work in an amazing industry that is always creating new and innovative promotions
on an annual basis, so to be selected as this year’s winner is very humbling and
we are incredibly honored to receive our first Golden Bobblehead,” said South Bend
Cubs President Joe Hart. “Spin to Win Saturday has become a popular promotion and
has created a new level of excitement at the ballpark.”

**BEST NON-GAMEDAY EVENT – Las Vegas Aviators, Enchant Christmas at Las Vegas Ballpark**

The Las Vegas Aviators turned Las Vegas Ballpark into a winter wonderland last fall
as one of four locations in the country to host Enchant Christmas (joining Nationals
Park, Tropicana Field and the Cotton Bowl Stadium). Billed as the largest lighted
holiday maze, the event drew 267,000 people to the ballpark over 38 event nights
from Black Friday through New Year’s Day, creating an emotional and memorable holiday
moment for thousands of families to enjoy together. The extended event in the ballpark
created revenues that far exceeded the team’s annual holiday party business, and
its popularity helped create an opportunity for additional MiLB teams to host similar
events in their facilities this fall and winter.

“The Aviators are grateful to be a recipient of a Golden Bobblehead Award as non-
gameday activations at Las Vegas Ballpark are a priority for our very talented special
events team,” said Aviators General Manager **Chuck Johnson**. “Our staff sacrificed
a lot of family time to make this event so incredible and showcase the versatility
of our ballpark for the community.” 

**BEST THEME NIGHT COLLECTION OR SPECIALTY JERSEY – Tacoma Rainiers, Slammin’ Sam**

While Throwback Weekend is an annual occurrence at Tacoma’s Cheney Stadium, in 2022
the Rainiers changed things and ended up creating one of the most popular team identities
among their fanbase.

With salmon being a unique and storied contributor to culture in the Pacific Northwest
and South Sound, Slammin’ Sam was born with a Louisville Slugger in his fins and
a regal red Rainiers hat atop his head. The fast-talking fish is a representative
for the South Sound area. The internet screamed its approval of the concept, proving
Slammin’ Sam’s relevance outside of Tacoma alone and creating immediate demand for
jerseys and other products. After three rounds of merchandise orders, the club decided
to add the Slammin’ Sam to their Authentic Collection lineup for 2024.

“This is a great honor for our creative team and our merchandise staff as it was
their idea, and I actually fought them on it for a while, but it’s a testament to
our staff fighting for something, and they were totally right,” said Rainiers President**
Aaron Artman**. “It’s a clean logo and as much of a lifestyle brand as it is a sports
team brand and it’s so popular with our fans, we will make it part of our on-field
uniform collection in the years ahead.” 

**BEST DIGITAL CAMPAIGN OR ACTIVATION – Indianapolis Indians, Joey Jaws**
With hopes
of adding a little flavor to one of Victory Field’s already-popular daily deals –
the Tuesday Dollar Menu featuring hot dogs, peanuts, potato chips, Cracker Jack 
and popcorn all available for $1 – the Indianapolis Indians partnered with the World’s
Greatest Competitive Eater, Joey Chestnut, for a “Joey Jaws”-dropping promotion.
Chestnut’s first appearance was a series of one-minute, in-game eating challenges
to prepare for his world record popcorn-eating attempt the following week.

The day before Chestnut’s first appearance, the media blitz garnered live in-studio
hits with Chestnut and Indians personnel on several local TV news programs, several
radio shows and written articles in most local news outlets. In total, the Joey 
Chestnut vs. Dollar Menu promotion received more earned media coverage than any 
other promotion at Victory Field in 2022.

Thanks to Chestnut’s popularity and the creativity of the posts promoting his appearances,
some of the Indians’ most successful social media posts from the 2022 season stemmed
from the Joey Chestnut vs. Dollar Menu promotion. The 17 Facebook posts garnered
493,189 total impressions and 37,105 total engagements, while the 14 Instagram posts
garnered 255,937 total impressions and 17,440 total engagements. The club’s 15 tweets
drew 147,496 total impressions and 4,375 total engagements.

Chestnut participated in pregame meet and greets with fans as well as the one-minute
eating challenges and signed bottles of various sauces.

“Anytime you are recognized by your peers it certainly means a lot, and for us to
tap into a national celebrity who just moved to the Indianapolis area, like Joey
Chestnut, was fun for us and our fans,” said Indians President and General Manager**
Randy Lewandowski**. “To be able to highlight the fun of Minor League Baseball is
why we do what we do every day.”

**###**

**About Minor League Baseball **
Minor League Baseball (“MiLB”) consists of 120 
teams across four classification levels (Single-A, High-A, Double-A and Triple-A)
that are affiliated with Major League Baseball’s 30 teams. Fans flock to MiLB games
to see baseball’s future stars and experience the affordable family-friendly entertainment
that has been a staple of MiLB since its inception in 1901. For more information,
visit [MiLB.com](https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.milb.com&d=DwMFAg&c=wveiQRxe0XcXhet-EEJuzw&r=U8lEQ4f0JaHQkP5sTu8A_fsPj1AEcG2jw4IKmA7C6f4&m=gx82ctM9mgoG5g09fj0lduE62Q8_i_GEBKBDEA8mmRY&s=cyYnwERtqZARX25_hnVmAc7UHpqtu7ffOOe7FLrwvfg&e=).
Follow MiLB on [Facebook](https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.facebook.com_MiLB&d=DwMFAg&c=wveiQRxe0XcXhet-EEJuzw&r=U8lEQ4f0JaHQkP5sTu8A_fsPj1AEcG2jw4IKmA7C6f4&m=gx82ctM9mgoG5g09fj0lduE62Q8_i_GEBKBDEA8mmRY&s=PcQshWKzQ9xOCDK-7A3xPslIPVGX_0FwbHqOtH0kzBM&e=),
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