The best of the Yankees’ minor league affiliate promotions in 2023

As we come up on the end of April, we are now fully into the 2023 baseball season. While we’ve spent a lot of time talking about the Yankees so far, today we’re going to focus on the minor league levels of the organization.

Now, if you’re looking for in-depth analysis of how the Yankees’ top prospects are doing, I’m afraid this isn’t it (Marcus has you covered there). Today, we’re going to take a look at the lighter side of MiLB and preview the best promotions the Yankees’ minor league affiliates are set to offer fans in the 2023 season.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

The Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate will offer an array of weekly-occurring days, including “Thirsty Thursdays” which features special beer prices, and “Waggin’ Wednesdays” which allow you to bring a dog and sit in the outfield lawn section. Yours truly and my dog have already partaken in one of those earlier this year.

The giveaways include a “Boonie Hat,” which sadly probably won’t be a hat that looks like Yankees’ major league manager Aaron Boone. Speaking of managers, the RailRiders’ one for this season is former Yankee Shelly Duncan, whose likeness will be used for June 10th’s “Shelley Duncan Bobble Gnome” giveaway. While he may have moved on to the majors, an Anthony Volpe bobblehead will be handed out on July 22nd, while Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza will get dual bobbleheads on August 12th.

Somerset Patriots

The Yankees’ Double-A team will also be giving out a Volpe bobblehead, with theirs coming on July 26th. Collect them both, if you can. Speaking of top prospects, you can get a Jasson Domínguez pennant if you attend Somerset’s game on May 16th. Two days later, they have a potentially chaotic scene of having a “Bark in the Park” night the same day that they give away Patriots’ branded tennis balls.

There are a couple Somerset games that season that will feature a performance by some sort of act called “Tyler’s Amazing Balancing Act.” On August 8th is “1,000 Pizzas Giveaway” which is that the first 1,000 people will get a coupon for a free pie from a participating pizzeria. However, it would’ve been funnier if one person was given 1,000 pizzas.

Hudson Valley Renegades

Hudson Valley are pretty chock full of stuff, with nearly every game featuring at least two promotions, deals, or giveaways.

Among the events is “Survival Of The Fans” on June 28th, which appears to be some sort of Survivor-like competition. Something called “Mascot Singer” is on July 2nd. August 9th is “Goth Wednesday,” which hopefully will feature this video set to “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” On September 9th, Snooki from the seminal 2000s/2010s MTV show “Jersey Shore” will make an appearance at the ballpark.

To top everything off, “Tyler’s Amazing Balancing Act” will also make his way to a Renegades’ game on June 30th. There’s also a lot more stuff on a very full schedule for Hudson Valley this year.

Tampa Tarpons

Tampa don’t have a lot in the giveaway realm, but they do have a lot of weekly themed days. Their version of a Bark in the Park nights are “Tail Waggin’ Tuesday,” and “Wacky Deal Wednesday” can get you a coupon for a local car washing business.

Even if you don’t live near a Yankees’ minor league affiliate, you should try to get to a minor league game this season. They are almost always a lot of fun, even if the on the field play isn’t great on a given day.