Giancarlo Stanton produced an awesome display of power hitting to win the Home Run Derby on Monday night – a performance that caused a sheepish Miami Marlins organization to renege on a ticket offer linked to his hitting heroics.
Earlier in the day, the Marlins sent an offer to their fans advertising a discount for future tickets based on how well Stanton did in the Home Run Derby. It read: “When Giancarlo homers, you score!”
The offer claimed that “each time G launches a home run out of Petco Park, we’ll knock a percentage point off future Marlins tickets.”
But they probably didn’t anticipate a record-breaking evening.
Stanton crunched 61 home runs in San Diego, shattering the single-night mark of 41 by Bobby Abreu in 2005, and doing so in a ballpark not known for being kind to hitters. He sent several balls just below the giant scoreboard high atop the left-field stands and several over the bullpens in left-center.
But that created a problem for the Marlins’ marketing team. Despite their initial boast, it turned out that the team were not prepared to knock 61% off tickets for the Marlins’ remaining 35 games.
The fine print indicated a “maximum discount of 25% off regular pricing” – which meant each homer Stanton hit over 25 had no bearing on the ticket offer.
Team president David Samson told ESPN that, although the terms were not specified in the initial email to fans, Major League Baseball Advanced Media, which runs team websites, usually sets the maximum discount at 25%.
“What Giancarlo did was so cool that we are working on an additional offer,” Samson said. “We’re thinking about picking a game and offering 61% off.”
Late Monday night, the Marlins did announce a 61% discount, but only for one game – the 29 June contest against the Cardinals.
Stanton’s longest shot was estimated at 497 feet. He hit the eight longest homers of the competition and 20 of the 21 deepest drives.
“When I get a few in a row I would kind of bump it up 5 to 10%” he said. “But most the time I stuck at 80-90%. I knew I could do it endurance-wise. I was just hoping my swing didn’t fall about.”
Stanton, who is not on the NL roster for Tuesday night after a disappointing season batting .233 with just 20 homers (although he has come into form lately), can defend his title at home next year when the Marlins host the All-Star Game.
“That is where I got my childhood memories, watching the Home Run Derby as a kid,” said Stanton, who grew up in California. “Maybe some kids are watching me. I would like to return that.”
