Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from the Baseball Traveler newsletter, presented by Circle K, is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
Welcome to the latest edition of Promo Preview, a monthly roundup of Minor League Baseball’s best giveaways and theme nights.
July highlights include clocks, crime, Christmas and, of course, much more.
5,000 Free Hot Dogs Night
Springfield Cardinals (Double-A STL), July 1
Sometimes all you need to know about a promotion is right there in the title. For further frankfurter fare, read on.
Coney Island Franks
Brooklyn Cyclones (High-A NYM), July 4
The Cyclones play in Coney Island, which is also the home of the original Nathan's Hot Dogs. Coney Island is therefore the cultural and spiritual epicenter of American hot dog consumption, so make a day of it: Watch Joey Chestnut and company stuff hot dogs into their gullets at Nathan's annual hot dog eating contest and then walk up the block to see the Cyclones assume their Franks alternate identity. The first 2,500 fans receive a Franks ballcap featuring removeable velcro patches of Hot Dog Racers Ketchup, Mustard and Relish, the holy hot dog triumvirate.
Citizenship Ceremony
Iowa Cubs (Triple-A CHC), July 3
One of the best traditions in Minor League Baseball returns for its 17th consecutive season, as the Iowa Cubs kick off their Independence Day festivities with an on-field citizenship ceremony. Last year's ceremony welcomed 29 individuals from six continents and 19 countries; dating back to 2009, 482 new citizens have been naturalized on the field at Principal Park. "It's just an incredibly moving ceremony, one of the great days of the year," former I-Cubs owner Michael Gartner told MiLB.com in 2020. "It combines baseball and citizenship and fireworks, everything American but Mom and the apple pie."
Nolan Ryan Bobblehead
Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Triple-A MIA), July 5
Nolan Ryan didn't pitch much in 1967, missing most of the season due to injury and a stint in the Army Reserve. He did manage to make three relief appearances for the Jacksonville Suns, striking out a whopping 18 batters over seven innings. Forty-nine years later, the Jumbo Shrimp are immortalizing the strikeout king's brief but dazzling stint in Jacksonville with a bobblehead giveaway. And there’s more where that came from…
Nolan Ryan Bobbleleg
Round Rock Express (Triple-A TEX), July 11
The Round Rock Express are co-owned by Ryan, who, in his playing days, was known as The Ryan Express. The Express have honored their namesake with dozens of bobbleheads over the past 25 years, and this year’s iteration keeps the head stationary in favor of bobbling the leg. You’ve got to change things up every once in a while.
True Crime Night
Great Lakes Loons (High-A LAD), July 10
The 2024 iteration of the Loons' True Crime Night, in which mascot Lou E. tried to track down his missing friend Rall E. Camel, was an immersive ballpark experience with interactive clues that included a car chase finale. The Loons won a Golden Bobblehead Award for this theatrical endeavor, but now that very same Golden Bobblehead has gone missing and Lou E. Loon is one of the suspects. Or perhaps he was framed? This can only mean one thing: It's time for True Crime Night, the sequel.
Christmas in July with Jhonkensy "Big Christmas" Noel Ugly Christmas Sweater Hooded Tee giveaway
Akron RubberDucks (Double-A CLE), July 12
Jhonkensy "Big Christmas" Noel played for the RubberDucks in 2022, two years prior to his debut with the parent Guardians. He is clearly the perfect player to feature in a "Christmas in July" giveaway, and the RubberDucks are going all out by giving away a souvenir item with possibly the longest name in the history of souvenir items. Just go with it, for Christmas in July only comes once a year.
Water Tower Bobblehead
Carolina Mudcats (High-A MIL), July 12
In Zebulon, N.C., at the intersection of Highway 264 and Highway 39, there stands a water tower painted to look like a baseball adorned with the Carolina Mudcats' logo. This water tower looms over the Mudcats' home of Five County Stadium, which opened in 1991 and is now in its final season hosting the team (in 2026, the Mudcats will move to nearby Wilson and play as the Warbirds). If you're looking for a keepsake from this, the final campaign, then it'd be hard to do better than a water tower bobblehead. Or would that be a water bobbletower? Bobblewater tower? Does it matter?
Dickory Docks alarm clock giveaway
Hickory Crawdads (Single-A TEX), July 19
In 2023, the Hickory Crawdads became the first Minor League team to unveil an alternate identity based on a nursery rhyme: The Hickory Dickory Docks. The team will play as such on both July 18 and 19, with the latter occasion featuring an alarm clock giveaway. This Hickory Dickory Docks clock does not come with a mouse, so if you want to complete the second line of the nursery rhyme you’ll have to place it in a rodent-infested area.
"The Natural" Night with postgame screening
Buffalo Bisons (Triple-A TOR, July 19)
Did you know that the 1984 baseball film "The Natural" was filmed in Buffalo, with the key baseball scenes taking place at the city’s (now demolished) War Memorial Stadium? The Bisons are celebrating this cinematic classic on the 19th, with the team wearing uniforms modeled after those worn by Roy Hobbs and his New York Knights teammates. The evening's game against the Omaha Storm Chasers (who are not allowed to use lightning forged bats) will be followed by a screening of the film.
Nothing Night
Louisville Bats (Triple-A CIN), July 22
Inland Empire 66ers (Single-A LAA), July 23
Nothing times two is still nothing, but it's gotta count for something that there will be two consecutive Nothing Nights this month. Nothing Night, for the uninitiated, is a ballpark experience stripped of its modern-day accoutrements. As the Louisville Bats put it, "No walk-up music, in-game promotions or activities, just baseball in its purest form!" Embrace the void.
Orange Trash Monster bobblehead giveaway
Portland Sea Dogs (Double-A BOS), July 29
The Portland Sea Dogs have played at Hadlock Field since their inaugural 1994 season. Throughout the entirety of the franchise's history, the ballpark has been home to a Trash Monster. Two of them, in fact, one green and one orange. The spotlight is on the Orange Trash Monster on July 29, as this fully functioning anthropomorphic garbage can will be honored with its own bobblehead. You won’t want to throw it away.