Orignal themed jersey by Jumbo Shrimp
With all the food-themed promotions many minor league clubs will have during the upcoming season, the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp will have a refreshing and original one. To celebrate Scrabble’s 70h anniversary, the team will wear Scrabble-themed jerseys and hats on July 15.
During a “Words with fans night”, the North American Scrabble champion will try to set a new world record for simultaneously played Scrabble games. The club will give away
8-point tile Scrabble coasters as well.
The original game was invented by architect Alfred Mosher Buts in 1938. Mosher Butts called it Criss-Crosswords. But ten years later, James Brunot from Connecticut bought the rights to produce the game in exchange for royalties for every unit sold. He made a few adaptions and changed the name into Scrabble. The big breakthrough came in 1952 when Jack Straus, president of Macy’s, played the game on vacation. Upon returning from vacation, he was surprised to find that his store did not carry the game. He placed a large order and within a year, “everyone had to have one.” The game became so popular, Mosher Butts could not meet the demands so he sold the manufacturing rights to Selchow and Righter in 1952. After two years, nearly four million games were sold.
The caps can be pre-ordered through the webshop of the Jumbo Shrimp and according to their Twitter account, the caps will be shipped on July 10.
The 2018 season will be filled with promotions. For example, the Jumbo Shrimp will celebrate Jacksonville’s history by handing out two bobbleheads of local heroes: Ronnie van Zant (Lynyrd Skinyrd) and Hank Aaron, who played for the Jacksonville Braves in
1953.
The Jumbo Shrimp will also don throwback uniforms as they will wear the unis of the Jacksonville Red Caps, the Negro League team that called Jacksonville home in the 1930s and 1940s.
For dog owners it is possible to bring your dog to the ballpark on May 7, June 11, July 10
and August 22 during the Bark in the Park nights. The jumbo shrimp will wear new guy Harvey-themed jerseys on April 28 to be auctioned for the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation. On Ace Ventura Night, the first 2,000 fans will be handed a Hawaiian shirt.
Even though I still loathe the name Jumbo Shrimp, I must admit the Scrabble themed jerseys are very cool and they are refreshing next to all the food-themed ones. The Scrabble jerseys will be auctioned through the Jumbo Shrimp website, starting July 15.