Barnum and baseball

Spencer Patterson

Friday, June 25, 1999 | 10:22 a.m.

To this day, the Great Easter Egg Hunt of 1993 lives on in infamy in the Las Vegas Stars' executive offices.

"It wiped out the whole place," recalls Stars General Manager Don Logan.

Adds Jon Sandler, director of public relations: "We'll never make that mistake again."

It's the story of a baseball promotion gone horribly wrong -- the unfortunate combination of 90-degree weather on Easter Sunday, chocolate eggs in left field and more than 500 kids eager to find them.

While the incident may not compare to the Chicago White Sox's Disco Demolition Night or the Cleveland Indians' 10-cent beer night -- two of the most notorious promotions in baseball history -- it certainly ranks as the most bizarre in the Las Vegas Stars' 17-year history.

"It was a little warmer than we expected, and the eggs all melted and ruined (outfielder) D.J. Dozier's shoes and the outfield grass," Logan said.

Stars Assistant General Manager Mark Grenier also remembers it well.

"The kids ran out there and stomped the eggs right into the grass," Grenier said. "The outfielders were digging chocolate out of their cleats for a while."

Six seasons later, Stars Easter egg hunts are a thing of the past. Promotions, on the other hand, are very much alive and well at Cashman Field.

Like most minor league ballclubs, Las Vegas' triple-A franchise relies heavily on giveaways, theme nights and special concession deals to help draw fans to the stadium.

"Certainly this is great baseball, one step below the major leagues," Sandler said. "We do promote the quality of the baseball out here, but at the same time you have to promote the entertainment side of the product."

Striving to find the delicate balance between that entertainment side of baseball and the purity of the game on the field, however, is often easier said than done. As with the Easter eggs, it's usually a case of trial and error.

"There's a balance between the baseball and the antics, and some clubs take it too far," Logan said. "You don't want to turn it into a circus, although we may have done that at times in the past."

Sandler, who has worked with several minor league clubs over the years, agrees with Logan's assessment.

"There's a difference between A-ball and triple-A," Sandler said. "We did some crazy things in A-ball. But in triple-A, these are serious ballplayers and you hope the game promotes itself.

"You want to complement the event, not detract from it."

Over the years, nothing has been more successful for the Stars than fireworks shows -- which the club offers four times during the 1999 season, including twice during July 4 weekend.

"People like to see fireworks, and they know we do good fireworks shows," Logan said, estimating that the team's attendance triples on nights with postgame fireworks.

Giveaways also tend to draw fans to the ballpark, with beach towels, baseball bats and T-shirts among the most popular.

Like most of their minor league peers, the Stars also offer countless between-inning promotions, from the standard dizzy bat race and "Race the Mascot" to a version of "Let's Make a Deal."

"We try to make it fun," Grenier said. "At the minor-league level, you have no control over wins and losses, so you have to make it fun."

And though Stars officials agree that such quick-hitting promotions likely aren't going to draw new fans to Cashman, they hope they might keep people coming back for more.

"Nobody is going to come to the game to see the dizzy bat race or what the booby prize is in 'Let's Make a Deal,' but it might give them something to talk about once they leave," Sandler said.

The Stars also use promotions to boost product sales, such as "Very Fine Tuesdays," when the club gives away a baseball with the purchase of a fruit juice. According to Grenier, Very Fine sales have quadrupled since the promotion was introduced.

In an effort to keep their promotions from going stale, the Stars attend minor-league seminars at baseball's annual winter meetings, where teams share war stories about promotions, both successful and not.

"We brainstorm about what works and what doesn't," Grenier said. "If you come back with one or two new ideas, it pays for itself."

Last year, the Stars offered their first Mardis Gras night, a successful theme event that has returned in 1999.

New promotions for this season include Chicago Night (Friday) -- complete with Chicago-style music, food and beer, Camera Day (July 17) -- when fans will receive free disposable cameras, along with the opportunity to photograph players on the field -- and Paper Airplane Tosses (July 2 and 3) -- with accurate fans earning the chance to win free airline tickets.

"Anything is good, if you promote it right," Logan said.

So how do the Stars promote their promotions? Usually via advertisements on local radio and television stations, along with attempts to promote upcoming events to fans in the ballpark itself.

"The radio is our best, especially for giveaways," Grenier said. "But we also try to market right in the ballpark during the games."

And, as Sandler points out, in an entertainment-rich town such as Las Vegas, successful promotions can be the difference between a franchise that folds and a franchise that's closing in on 20 years in town.

"We've been lucky," Sandler said. "One of the reasons we've stuck around for 17 years while a lot of the other franchises in town have come and gone is because we've promoted these well."