La Vida Baseball

2018 La Vida Awards: Promotion of the Year

By Andy Martinez

Editor’s Note: Over the coming week, La Vida Baseball is proud to introduce the 2018 La Vida Awards. We will celebrate the greatest giveaways, personalities, social media accounts and food across the baseball landscape. Let us know if you agree, disagree or have a suggestion for something we missed! 

Promotion of the Year

Latino faces have long dotted ballparks across Major League Baseball. But even though roughly 30 percent of MLB players are Latinos, the representation in the stands doesn’t necessarily reflect that number. In order to better reflect that, teams get creative to attract more Latinos into los estadios.

The simplest way to do that? ¡Cosas gratis! Free stuff!

The 2018 season presented some of the best promotions this season, but which were was the best? Here are La Vida Baseball’s choices:

HONORABLE MENTION:
Ketel Marte Luchador Bobblehead

Bobbleheads are a popular giveaway. So how do you spice it up? Why not put one of your players in a luchador outfit? El Pike has a luchador mask, cape and wrestling boots. Luchadores are a popular Mexican tradition dating back to the early 20th century and it’s spread to other parts of Latin American and the world. Combining Ketel Marte and luchadores was a hit!

HONORABLE MENTION:
Javy Báez bubblegum bobblehead

In 2017, a photo of Javy Báez hitting a jonrón while blowing a bubble went viral. Báez, showed his versatility in that moment: he can run and chew gum at the same time! The Cubs honored the versatility of Báez with a bobblehead that captured the moment perfectly. ¡Wepa!

Winner:
MiLB’s Copa de la Diversión

OK, OK, it’s not a team that we’re giving the campeonato to, but no organization showed a greater commitment to the Latino fan base than Minor League Baseball. MiLB launched the Copa de la Diversión with 33 teams, fun names (Cucuys, Raspas and Flying Chanclas were some of our favoritos) and modest goals. When it was all said and done, MiLB announced it was coming back in 2019 with 72 teams with more identities (hopefully some arepas, conchas or tostones).

They went in with a merchandise goal of $533,000. As of November, the revenues sat at $3.7 million.

Featured Image: La Vida Baseball