A minor-league promotion celebrating the female body? Bad idea | John Smallwood
The Ogden Raptors, a Dodgers affiliate, have canceled their "Hourglass Appreciation Night."
My instincts were correct in that it would not take long for the Ogden (Utah) Raptors to put a quick end to their "Hourglass Appreciation Night" promotion originally scheduled for Aug.11.
Once the context of the game promotion created by the Los Angeles Dodgers' affiliate in the rookie-level Pioneer League hit the national news wire and social media, it was doomed to extinction like the team's mascot.
On Tuesday, Raptors president Dave Baggott announced that the team called off the promotion that caused a firestorm when it was announced on Saturday because of its blatantly sexist degrading of women.
Baggott said in a statement that the Raptors would not answer questions but that the team "in no way supports or condones the objectification of women."
That was hard to tell from the initial press release announcing the promotion.
Billed as a celebration of the fact that baseball has no clock, the Raptors' true intentions came through loud and clear in the third paragraph.
"The home team hosts the Billings Mustangs, but the real thoroughbreds will join Raptors broadcaster A.P. Harreld in the booth. Since August is the eighth month of the calendar year, and an 8 looks tantalizingly similar to an hourglass, be there a better way to remind the world that baseball needs no clock than to feature 18 hourglass-shaped color commentators?
"That's right! Stars Talent Studio of Salt Lake City will provide a different stunner each half inning. And the Raptors will video-stream the broadcast booth — well, at least the better-looking half of it!"
The image for atop the press release featured a cartoon of three women with bikini tops.
That's right, in 2017, nearly 150 years after the seeds of the women's suffrage movement were planted. someone in the Raptors' hierarchy thought this would fly without angry objection.
Baggott said the promotion wasn't approved by the team manager or ownership.
Maybe it was the same person who created "Drag Nights" for the Raptors when men dressed as women would pull drag nets around the infield to smooth out the dirt. That promotion was canceled last season after too many fans complained.
You'd think somebody would have learned a lesson from that.
Minor league teams generally promote themselves as a family-friendly product at the fraction of the cost of attending a major league game.
What better way to attract families than to have a blatantly sexiest and misogynistic celebration of the female anatomy?
"Fans will have the opportunity to pose for pictures with the lovely ladies as we showcase seriously splendid visual appeal: Utah's legendary mountains, Dodgers and Reds farmhands — and gorgeous women whose curves rival those of any stud pitching prospect!
"Guys … get your tickets now!" is how the press release concludes.
I wonder how those guys who would have rushed for tickets would explain to the mother of their children that they were taking Jack Jr. to a baseball game to learn how to objectify women while Jill could get a head start on feeling insecure about not having the "ideal" body type.