Twelve Craziest Minor League Promotions

The New Britain Rock Cats, Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, held a speed dating night in the stands during a game in 2007. Eligible bachelors and bachelorettes changed seats every inning and documented their encounters on scorecards, which were sent to a dating company to set up possible second dates.

The Altoona Curve, Double-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, have hosted on several occasions an 'Awful Night' which is made to purposely give fans a terrible ballgame experience. Sporks (fork, spoon combination) were handed out at the gates instead of the typical calendar or T-shirt and everyone was encouraged to wear awful clothes. The P.A. announcer consistently reads players' names incorrectly and terrible music blares out of the ballpark speakers.

The now defunct Nashua Pride baseball team hosted at 'Who Wants to be a Turkish Millionaire' night during the 2002 season. Fans played a version of the hit 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' game show during the ballgame and the winner was awarded one million Turkish Lira, which amounted to significantly less than $1 million US.

The Hudson Valley Renegades held a 'Toilet Seat Cushion Night' in 2007 where the first 3,000 fans through the gates were given toilet seats as a handout. The cushions did have a ballpark purpose as they doubled as a stadium seat. The promotional night was a follow-up to the teams' plunger giveaway one year prior in 2006.

The Lowell Spinners, Class-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, once hosted a night where political correctness was taken to the max. The first baseman was referred to as the 'first-base person' all night and errors were not attributed to any particular player during the game on the scoreboard.

In 2009, the Dunedin Blue Jays, Class-A Advanced affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, hosted 'Office Space Night.' The evening inspired by the cult classic movie released in 1999 gave fans the opportunity to participate in a 'flair' contest (15 pieces minimum), along with trivia contests with questions from the movie and the chance to smash a printer with a bat. Fans also received a discount for saying the word 'stapler' at the box office.

The Fort Myers Miracles have done numerous wacky promotions over the years, and 'Mike Tyson Ear Night' is one of the strangest. Plastic ears were given out at the gates in honor of the famous boxer's most infamous move of biting Evander Holyfield's ear during a fight. Yes, it had nothing to do with baseball, but was still a fun night for all in attendance.

Most baseball fans would love opportunity to lace up the cleats and step into the batter's box for their favorite team, and in 2004, St. Paul Saints fan Marc Turndorf bought himself the chance for $5,601 in an eBay auction put up by the team. The 35-year-old fan took his at-bat in the eighth inning of the game and popped out to the catcher, he did impress enough to get an invitation to play in an exhibition game the following night against a Japanese team.

The Charleston RiverDogs, Class A-affiliate of the New York Yankees, held a 'Nobody Night' in 2002 where fans were purposefully locked out of the stadium until the fifth inning, therefore resulting in the official attendance being zero.

In 2003, the Fort Myers Miracle, the Class-A Advanced minor league team for the Minnesota Twins, held a 'George Constanza Night' -- inspired by the 'Seinfeld' episode where Constanza did everything opposite for one day. In the episode, Constanza reversed his typical bad luck by doing the opposite and in the process landed a new girlfriend and a job with the New York Yankees. The Miracle did the opposite by wearing road uniforms, running the scoreboard from the ninth inning to first, paying customers to park cars in the lots, switching the men's and women's restroom and having players ask the fans for autographs.

As president of the Charleston RiverDogs, Mike Veeck has been known for delivering some of the best promotional nights in baseball at his team's ballpark, but his 'Silent Night' in 2003 may take the cake. Already having recorded the lowest attendance record with 'Nobody Night', the RiverDogs' 'Silent Night' had talking and cheering forbidden until the fifth inning during the game, with many fans creating signs to cheer and boo, along with several signs to signal the beer vendor along the aisle. Librarians replaced the ushers and golf marshals were on hand to hold 'quiet please' signs.

Jose Canseco played for several independent league teams since the end of his MLB career. The independent Fullerton Flyers in California gave away juice boxes to fans at the gates when the slugger came to town as a member of the Long Beach Armada. Get it?