FanPost Friday: Your favorite Mariners giveaways of all time
The Mariners have done many memorable promos over the years, but which one sticks out the most in your memories?
Hello and welcome back to FanPost Friday! The Mariners are in first place and the Houston Astros have lost 19 games before May. I’ve discovered the floor (ceiling?) of my pettiness as a fan because I’m enjoying the fact that the Astros are playing so poorly even more than I’m enjoying the fact that the Mariners are playing pretty well the last week. Now, I will believe the Astros are truly dead when I see the body (so I can further desecrate it), but until then this will do nicely.
Cubs just finished a sweep of Houston. The bottom of the MLB standings:
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 25, 2024
White Sox: 3-22
Marlins: 6-20
Rockies: 6-19
Astros: 7-19
A's: 9-16
Bottom 5 by run differential:
White Sox: -85
Rockies: -57
Marlins: -47
A's: -40
Astros: -36
Houston is in trouble. And it's not yet May.
(avert your eyes from whatever is going on with White Sox, my god)
Anyways, it’s an all-around interesting start to the 2024 MLB season. But, that’s not what we’re gathered here to talk about today. Tonight the Mariners are back home versus the Diamondbacks and they are giving away this delightful (seemingly not Fanatics-made) reproduction of the famous Turn Ahead the Clock Night jersey to the first 15,000 fans through the gates:
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Nice touch with the synergy of Griffey’s number and the year. Take notes, marketing students. I missed the original TATC night at the Kingdome when I was a kid, but I love the outsized lore it holds in Mariners fandom. I was lucky enough to be there at the 2018 version of the TATC night and it was a blast. So, if you went to that and still have the free hat they gave away, now you can snatch up the matching free jersey. Given the slow-motion car crash calamity that is Fanatics in 2024, the Mariners will almost certainly not be wearing the TATC uniforms on field (also why would we want to give Fanatics the opportunity to besmirch a good memory?), but at least fans can look cool and futuristic in the stands tonight.
This got me thinking about some of the best and most popular promo giveaways the Mariners have done over the course of the team’s existence. Before my time, there was the funny nose & glasses giveaway. And then there was the beloved Buhner Buzz Night that Bee recently wrote about, which was extremely important to many low income families because it increased accessibility to the team and created countless core memories for budding Mariners fans across the region. There’s always the ever-popular bobbleheads, the free hats, the fanny packs, the kids jerseys and shirts, and so on.
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Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images
So, what’s your favorite Mariners promo item of all time? Give us your picks in the comments or perhaps tell a funny story about an unintended result of a Mariners giveaway (the potting soil on the way out comes to mind...)
And here’s a massive poll just for funsies.
Have a great weekend at the ballpark or wherever you enjoy baseball. Go Mariners.