As the Houston Astros do their best to handle the backlash over their cheating scandal, various measures are occurring to remind them of their shameful conduct. As if a Pennsylvania Little League district’s idea to ban the team’s nickname among teams were not embarrassing enough, the club’s contemporaries are joining in the ribbing, with the St. Paul Saints, a member of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, planning a bobblehead giveaway that pokes fun at the Astros’ trash can-based cheating tactics.
Saints July 31 Game Brought To You By The Letters "C" And "S" As First 1,500 Fans Will Receive Astro The Grouch Talking Bobblehead https://t.co/Pp1CnaI4hE pic.twitter.com/SYPNnf1bdD
— St. Paul Saints (@StPaulSaints) February 25, 2020
Back when all seemed well in their organization, we gave the Astros favorable coverage, finding in them a team to root for following some wretched campaigns, including the 2011-2013 seasons in which they lost 324 games. Since the conclusion of last year’s World Series, which they lost in seven games, though, it’s been tough for anyone to summon the will to write anything positive about them. It’s become en vogue to take shots at them, and that has extended to the promo world. Last week, for example, we explored the Staten Island Yankees’ decision to give away mini trash cans to roast the Astros, and while those items will certainly go over well come their Sept. 3 distribution, we think the Saints’ July 31 promo execution will be the talk of the summer as far as minor league/independent league baseball promos go.
Thanks to Astro the Grouch, the first 1,500 fans will pick up a collectible that will let them know, “with a bang of two, what pitch is coming – once for a fastball and twice for a curveball. Sometimes, he’ll just tell you what’s coming by saying ‘fastball’ or ‘curveball.’” Talk about a burn! Aside from media scrutiny and disgust from fellow players, the Astros have not, relatively speaking, suffered that much, as Major League Baseball has not stripped them of their 2017 World Series title and has decided not to discipline any players. Therefore, other baseball entities are doling out their own form of justice, so the fact that two clubs have announced promo jabs within the last week makes us wonder what other organizations have in mind.
Thus far, the Staten Island Yankees and St. Paul Saints have let the Astros know that their peers’ disgust toward them will be as hot as 1,000 Texas summers, so will other teams look to outdo those two and issue more daring promos? Our curiosity is at its apex when we debate on whether any Major League club will have the nerve to issue a scathing promotional retaliation. For example, the Washington Nationals, who vanquished the Astros in last year’s World Series, host the American League team July 3-5, so that could be an exceptional opportunity to pull off the best “take that!” promo reply of them all. We hope so.
