Everyone loves free stuff and looking back at some research done internally this off-season, at least some fans base their visiting schedule almost entirely on when they can get a little something extra for the price of admission. Being one of those people, I empathize and now present you with the best, the weirdest and the most repetitive Cleveland Indians promotions of the 2015 season.
Special Days
As mentioned in that earlier article, for some reason the Indians would rather completely pack the stadium on a few days than try to attract fans on generally poorly attended games and this year is no different as, outside of Opening Day, there are no promotions in April. Starting in May (in particular May 3rd against Toronto) every Sunday will be Kids’ Fun Day. This generally entails a party atmosphere in the plaza between Progressive Field and Quicken Loans Arena and, on many of the later dates in the season, also includes a child specialized giveaway.
In addition to those ten dates, there are thirteen fire works nights, including two special Rock ‘N Blast nights and fifteen Dollar Dog nights. All of the fire works displays will occur on Friday and Saturday nights (Rock ‘N Blast is scheduled for August 7th and 8th), many simultaneously with Dollar Dogs or giveaways. Possibly a little behind the times, especially compared to teams like the Arizona Diamondbacks who have a full dollar menu all year long, the Indians are test running a Dollar Soda night as well with two scheduled as of now during the Dollar Dog nights of June 5th and June 23rd.
Finally, the popular Weather Education Day will be returning during a noon start time game on May 27th. In the past, for this week day game many schools will have field trips to the stadium to learn about weather and watch some baseball. There is also a book giveaway associated with the day. As of now, it appears that there will be no Puppypalooza, a popular event in recent seasons where fans could bring their dogs to the ballpark.
Giveaways
On to the important promotions, the Indians have a ton of cool prizes for fans who decide to show up on the corner of Carnegie and Ontario. To begin the year, the Indians will be giving out their traditional magnet schedule on Opening Day along with a car magnet. As mentioned before, however, there will be nothing again until early May. For fans of nostalgia, 2015 will be the 20th anniversary of the 1995 World Series Indians team and many of the Indians giveaways will remind fans of that. Starting on May 9th, the Indians will give away a pennant from that season, then they will step things up with a 1995 shirt on June 20th, a replica Mike Hargrove jersey on June 22nd and, most likely the most popular offering, a replica Sandy Alomar jersey on July 11th.
For those younger or older fans, there will also be a few other giveaways honoring the past and the present. Of the modern team, there will be the ever popular bobbleheads including all of the Indians most productive players from 2014. The Cy Young winning Corey Kluber will receive his ultimate honor (the bobble head, not the award) on June 6th with the second bobble head being of Carlos Santana on July 8th and third place MVP finisher Michael Brantley‘s being given away on August 8th corresponding with the second Rock ‘N Blast night. For those saying, “but what about Yan Gomes?” don’t worry. His replica jersey will be given away on August 29th along with another fireworks show.
Before getting to the historical giveaways there are a few other nondescript giveaways. On May 12th, the Indians will be giving away a team tote bag and on August 26th a fan designed shirt for the second straight season. For the kids, there will be a shirt giveaway on Sunday, June 7th and June 21st along with the already mentioned Fun Days.
The winner of oddest giveaway this year will be given away on September 12th and is a bobble head of Terry Francona riding the scooter he made famous during his first Spring Training. Francona lives near Progressive Field and has often been sighted on his drive to the stadium. Now, he will be commemorated for all eternity with his own bobble scooter.
In addition to all those already mentioned, there will be three historical giveaways, including one that is really special. First, on May 23rd, the Indians will remember the Rick Manning era Tribe with a 1975 replica jersey against the Reds. Continuing in this trend, the Indians will hand out 1948 Bob Feller jerseys on August 11th.
For true long time Indians fans, the biggest day of the year will be July 25th. In addition to the fireworks show against the White Sox that day, the Indians will be unveiling the long overdue statue for Larry Doby. The opponent is fitting as Doby played three of his four seasons away from Cleveland with Chicago. The Hall of Famer, who along with Lou Boudreau, Napoleon Lajoie, Tris Speaker, Earl Averill and Jim Thome is one of the greatest hitters in Indians history will join the statues of Bob Feller and Thome already in place at Progressive Field. For this unveiling, the Indians will be giving away a replica statue, continuing the practice they started a few years ago with the Feller statue and in 2014 with Thome.
While there isn’t a whole lot to get excited about here, the Doby statue and Francona scooter are interesting enough to head to Cleveland for if Kluber and Brantley in human form aren’t enough reason. For those who can’t get to the stadium early, the Indians are offering a new option where a fan can pay a $5 fee in addition to the ticket price and have the Indians hold the giveaway for them. This Promo Pass is only good for six of the giveaways and still have to be picked up by the end of the third inning, so you’d likely be better off just getting to the game a little early.
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