Day 60—Fresno Grizzlies
June 6th, 2007 by Tim Riley
Let me start off by saying The Price is Right is probably best gameshow in the history of television. A month before the Tour started, I had a chance to go see Bob Barker and the Price is Right studio in all of its glory before Bob retired. It was as you could imagine pretty awesome. Tonight, the Fresno Grizzlies were paying tribute to the greatest show of all time by hosting a “Price is Right” Night at the ballpark. The Grizzlies pulled out all the stops—the players were even sporting a ridiculously bright green Price is Right jersey, with the signature “Pick me Bob” on the back. Everyone, including the players, were wearing the name tags. In addition, every fan got a bobblehead of Parker the mascot, dressed as Bob Barker—they called him “Bob Parker.” How cool is that? The Grizzlies were nice enough to give us one of these jerseys signed by the whole team for our raffle tonight. This was the first raffle prize that I actually wanted for myself, as was actually tempted to buy raffle tickets for my own prize.
During the game, a real full on Price is Right game was being hosted in between innings with people being called from their seats to “Come on Down!” and participate in pricing games. And wouldn’t you know it—I was actually called down to participate in the last pricing game of the night. With Bob off the show, this was about as close as I was going to get to actually winning anything on the Price is Right. The Ballpark Barker Beauties then showcased our item up for bid—a Louisville Slugger bat. I was faced with a dilemma. Louisville Slugger is of course the presenting sponsor of the Tour for the Cure. I knew how much the bat cost, almost down to the penny. I knew due to the nature of my knowledge of Louisville Slugger, it was a bit unfair to the other participants, so I made an outrageous bid (double the actual price) and of course did not win.
However, I would say Chris and I were rewarded in a different way—we raised the most amount ever (and I know I tend to write that a lot) but this time we crushed our old fundraising record by raising almost 2x as much. Thanks to Sarah for getting us such a great item and for such a fun night at the ballpark. Below are winners of the greatest jersey ever made:
Way to take the high road with the bid for the Louisville Slugger bat. Mom and Dad taught you well. They will probably tear up reading that entry. Anyway, hope you guys really had as much fun as the blog entry made it sound. Nice work with the fund raising! Tell Ashok I said hello!
Tim,
I know your schedule has you visiting the Red Sox on July 31 and the Paw Sox on August 2. I am beginning to think about ways to insure that the Boston area helps you raise the most money. However, before I make a call to anyone, let me know what the Red Sox organization has planned to help you raise funds. The old principal in the dunk tank might be a great starting place. Gleen Orway fron WEEI sports radio always has fund raisers on his afternoon program. His show, The Big Show, is number one in its time slot for the New England area. Either email or call me and we can talk about it. You guys can stay with me when you are in the area. Keep up the great work.
Uncle Matt
Great concept for a promotion, but Press Your Luck is the best game show of all time. Congrats on the big fundraising day.
THose kids want to sell that jersey? ANyone know where to get one…whether the team auctioned them off or whether they are on ebay or what….any info as i need one for my collection!