The past two seasons haven’t been the norm for the Cardinals. A franchise that has prided itself on being a model of consistency for years has struggled as of late. Last season the Cardinals fell short of expectations. Despite being picked by many to win the NL Central, they finished in 71-91. It was the first time the team finished under .500 since 2007 and the lowest win total since 1990.
Things haven’t gone much better in 2024. Sure, a record of 31-33 doesn’t seem terrible. However, they’re 6.5 games out of first place. Yes, they are tied for the final Wild Card spot, but that’s more about how bad the National League is. There are seven teams bunched together for the final two spots. Plus, they have also seen star players like Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arendao struggle.
So the Cardinals have to figure out ways to get their fans in the ballpark. The easiest way would be to have creative promotional nights to drive up interest. However, through these creative ideas, we might have gotten the worst promotional night of all time.
What is this Terrible Promotional Night by the Cardinals?
Now one of the most common giveaways is offering some sort of shirt. We’ve seen teams do things like free shirt Fridays, or have a different sports jersey. Like if you’re a baseball team, you might give away a basketball jersey with your logo on it. All simple fun stuff. However usually when you get this, you want a guarantee that it will fit. Well, the Cardinals took this idea and threw it out the window.
On Saturday, June 29th the first 25,000 fans will get a mystery-size Cardinals jersey. You read that right a mystery-size jersey, meaning that it could be anywhere from a small to an XXL. Don’t believe me here is a screenshot from the Cardinals website describing the event.
Please explain to me why this is a good idea. Watch any MLB game and you’ll see former promotional items in the stands. At least once every Mets game, I see a former giveaway somewhere in the crowd. However, with this giveaway, there is no guarantee you’ll be able to wear it. There is a possibility you’re just going to get a free ring. No one is going to wear a jersey that doesn’t fit. This just seems like a lazy attempt to try and move some unsold cheap jerseys. Haven’t Cardinals fans been put through enough embarrassment these past two seasons?
Thanks for reading! Credit for my feature image goes to Scott Kane. You can find more MLB content at Belly Up Sports and follow me on Twitter/X.
