The Kansas City Royals are in the middle of another extremely forgettable season. As of Friday morning, they are 19-43 and tied with the Baltimore Orioles for the worst record in Major League Baseball.
On Saturday, June 8, though, while playing the Chicago White Sox, the Royals will reward the first 10,000 fans with the most creative stadium giveaway of the summer.
The Whit Mitt is one of the most creative ideas to get fans out to the ballpark I have ever seen. Whit Merrifield wears a protective glove that looks like an oven mitt on his hand when he runs the bases to try and prevent injuries.
The baserunning glove also reminds me of a miniature Hamburger Helper Hand. And that’s probably because when I was younger I wore a goalie mitt over a broken hand one summer in order to pinch run for my summer baseball team.
The idea to incorporate this in-game quirk into a giveaway for fans is ingenious marketing. The only nitpick I have is that I wish it were partnered with a better pizza place than Papa John’s.
Merrifield has led the American League in stolen bases each of the last two seasons and is easily the best player on the Kansas City Royals. This season, though, he’s third on his own team in stolen bases. That’s what happens when your team adds a guy like Billy Hamilton who is only stopped from stealing bases because he has a hard time reaching first base.
It is supposed to be a nice day in Kansas City on Saturday, and it’s always great to enjoy a day baseball game. If you’re in the KC area, go get yourself a “Whit Mitt” and enjoy some day baseball between two teams that aren’t making the playoffs this year or probably anytime soon. Because of the lack of sex appeal of the matchup, there will probably be right around 10,000 fans in attendance, so you don’t have to get there too early to secure the best stadium giveaway of the summer.