Thursday, January 22, 2009

A’s Announce “Rickey Weekend”

I’ve been patiently waiting for the A’s to announce their promotional schedule for 2009, and they finally released it today. I knew that they had to do something for Rickey this year, and they didn’t disappoint. It all looks very promising!

“Another recent staple in Oakland has been replica-jersey giveaways, and the highlight this season will feature Rickey Henderson, who was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame last week. On "Rickey Day," set for Saturday, Aug. 1, Henderson jerseys will be handed out -- No. 24 -- before the "Man of Steal" is honored in a ceremony on the field. The following day, on Sunday, Aug. 2, the A's have plans for a Rickey banner giveaway.”



The Campy Campaneris retro-jersey the A’s gave away in 2008 was one of the nicer promotional jerseys that I’ve seen. Hopefully the Rickey jersey will be just as nice.



Although they don’t say it directly, it’s pretty safe to assume that the “ceremony on the field” is going to be the A’s retiring of Rickey’s number 24. I’m going to have some busy weekends at the end of July / beginning of August, with my son turning 1 year old on July 16th, the Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cooperstown on July 26th, and now the A’s own ceremony on August 1st. I can’t wait!



I’m interested to see what the “Rickey banner” looks like, and have to figure out if I’ll be able to go to that game as well. Hopefully they A’s decide to “sponsor” the banner themselves, and not cover it in giant logos of Tide or Arrowhead, as is the case with most giveaways. The Campy jersey only includes a small Cache Creek logo on the back, which is not entirely objectionable. Although I understand that these are promotional items, I hope they decide to honor Rickey without all of the corporate sponsorship.

5 comments:

funksteady said...

Attending Rickey's induction is gonna be such an amazing experience for you man! Very happy for you. I'm sure you won't forget to record the whole thing and post some of it for us here that aren't as blessed to be present for that unique glorious baseball moment in history! My most memorable Rickey moment was to be at the 1982 All-Star game in Montreal, I'll never forget it, Rickey had 3 hits and 1 SB!

Anonymous said...

Don't worry, the HOF will have all the Induction videos on their site, as well as, you can buy it on DVD after the event from the HOF Store.

robe024 said...

Hey Brad,
Thanks to your blog, and since I wasn't able to go to Cooperstown (you lucky dog, you!), my wife and I will be going to Rickey weekend in Oakland!
Who knows, maybe we'll even cross paths while we're there! Look for me, I'll be wearing the Rickey Henderson jersey! lol!
Hope all's well with you and the fmaily!
-Brian

ManOfSteal said...

I know I'll be able to purchase the video afterwards, but I will be taking pictures and video of my own. I just got a new laptop, so hope to post updates as the weekend progresses.

Unknown said...

I am definitely excited for that weekend. I will be getting back from the East Coast after watching Rickey get inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Jenny