The AAA Pawtucket Red Sox will have a promotion that fuels the rivalry between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. It is all based on the bench-clearing brawl that was sparked by Tyler Austin’s slide at second base and the brushback pitch by Joe Kelly.
In that particular game between the two hated rivals, Tyler Austin made a not so clean slide at second base, hitting Brock Holt with his left cleat. Pitcher Joe Kelly avenged as he threw a brushback pitch, hitting Austin on the elbow. Austin on his turn wasn’t all that pleased with this move by Kelly and started to rush for the mound which led to a massive bench-clearing brawl. It won’t come as a surprise that both players were suspended for several games.
The Pawtucket Red Sox wouldn’t be a minor league team if they would not have jumped into this. On the weekend of May 5 and 6, the team will have an “Evil Empire” weekend. Main gimmick of this weekend is that fans named Joe or Kelly are allowed to enter the ballpark but those with the name Tyler or Austin aren’t. If you are named Joe or Kelly, you are extra lucky as you are allowed to enter the ballpark for free.
To make it even worse, this promotion will be held on the weekend the RailRiders, the AAA team of the Yankees, are in town.
This is a brilliant promotion. It proves the team is able to jump into news items quite fast and make some funny event out of it. This is what Minor League Baseball is all about.
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