As the leader of the United Cardinal Bloggers, it’s typically on my plate to pick the projects that we are going to do each month. Many of our projects are pretty standard, but there are a few months that give us the freedom to do something different. August is one of those months and, when I put out a call for help on picking out something, Diane from Women Who Love Cardinal Baseball was there to answer the bell with a great one.
Diane noted that in the last few years, the Cardinals have really expanded out their “Theme Night” offerings. You can see a list of those over at this portion of the official site. Nights for the major colleges in the area, Christian Family Night, a Jewish Night, all sorts of different interests and themes for you to indulge in. There was only one problem with Diane’s idea.
I had absolutely no clue what I was going to suggest.
I mean, what would I ask for? They’ve already done Star Wars night the last three years (with, as we know, dangerous results). What other interests to I have besides baseball and a galaxy far, far away? I’d suggest tying in with superheroes, but they had Superhero Night earlier this season as well. There was no way I was going to be able to keep up with the wonderful suggestions the rest of our group had.
So, when you can’t innovate, steal. Isn’t that the idea?
One of the great things the Kansas City Royals have had for the past few years is their “Dressed To The Nines” game as a way of honoring the Negro Leagues, which obviously have been very important in Kansas City’s history. I’d love to see the Cardinals promote something similar. Not only to honor those that played in those leagues, but just to do a bit of a throwback to the early days of baseball.
It’d be similar to Diane’s idea of a ’60s throwback game except we’d go back much farther. I thought it’d be a tough thing to sell a ticket to, but then again, not everyone has to participate. There’s no doubt Star Wars took over the ballpark but you still had a majority of people not buying the special theme ticket. Those that did got a shirt in the case of Star Wars–it looks like KC has given out different hats before. I think the fedora for the guys and necklaces for the girls would be a nice idea for a giveaway. Perhaps all the tickets could be in the same area so those that came in that attire could mingle with others similarly dressed.
I think a lot of us would like to have a game with a different vibe to it anyway. No walkup music or entertainment between innings. Minimal graphics on the scoreboard. Old time videos playing showing the Gas House Gang, the teams of the ’40s, etc. A focus on the game instead of some of the circus surrounding it. I think everyone could get by for one night, don’t you?
Again, you might have to modify this some not to steal the Royals’ thunder on it (and, indeed, it’s always going to mean more on the other side of the state) but something like this could be a lot of fun!
