It's pure marketing genius from the independent-league St. Paul Saints, a team partially owned, of course, by Mike Veeck and Bill Murray. The players, coaches and fans will presumably tweet their way to a loss next Thursday. But everyone will have fun! And that's the point of independent league baseball, last time we checked. After all, the Saints are also the bumbling squadron of fun known for their innovative giveaways: a Franken-Coleman doublesided bobbleheading concoction; a Bud Selig tie; rubber dog toys to honor Michael Vick; and, the cream of the crop, a bobblefoot to honor Larry Craig.

Twitter-My-Face, though, is not bobbleheadable, which leads us to this excerpted (and sic'd) press release below:

On July 23, players, coaches, fans and employees will be asked to update their facebook status, post photos and send tweets so that baseball fans around the world will know exactly what is going on at Midway Stadium.

Phew! I thought I might be missing out.

Saints pitching coach Jason Verdugo is expected to tweet during a trip to the mound to speak with one of his pitchers and other players and coaches are expected to tweet from the dugout. Fans will get to see the Saints updated facebook, MySpace and twitter pages during the game displayed on the Saints videoboard. Fans will check out the live status of Saints players. For example, when Saints first baseman Jason Cooper comes to bat, his facebook status may appear on the videoboard stating "Jason Cooper is…at the plate" or "Jason Cooper is…upset at that last strike call."

Jason Cooper is... waiting to get the call-up to a real minor league team, where all he has to do is sign a few autographs during his at-bat.

Popular Saints staff members and ushertainers such as Mudonna, famous massaging nun Sister Ros, beer vendor Trixster and Superfan will let provide a unique perspecitive with updates during the evening.

I am so there, if only to learn the meaning of the euphemism "famous massaging nun." Twitpics are encouraged.

Saints Embrace Social Media With Twitter-My-Face [St. Paul Saints]

Welcome to another Sunday Funday edition of Deadspin. Wherever you are, I hope it's warmer than St. Paul, Minnesota, the only town loco enough to play exhibition baseball in Feburary. An intrepid tipster, sends this report:

Just wanted to share a couple pictures from the Saint Paul (MN) Saints exhibition game they held yesterday (Feb 28). The temperature at gametime was 18 degrees with a windchill of 5.

... The visiting team [was] the St. Croix Base Ball Club ... They are an 1860s style base ball club consisting of members of the Washington County Historical Society. You may note in the second pic [above] that T.C. the bear (the Twins official mascot) is playing 2nd base for the Saints team. Why he is not in Ft. Myers, FL, with the Twins for spring training is foolish on his part. Also in the foreground in the 2nd picture is Muddonna, the Saints pig mascot.

Oh yeah, and you may notice a ton of snow on the ground. We just got about 6 inches of fresh snow on Thursday. Does that stop us from playing exhibition baseball for charity? Fuck no. For we are Minnesota. And we embrace the stupid shit like this that we do.

I did not get a picture of my beer freezing as the cold temps caused
my camera battery to die rather quickly.

Don't you wish you lived in Minnesota?

Seth

P.S. The game ended in a 4-4 tie.

Lovely. I think I will stay indoors today and if you choose to do likewise, let Deadspin be your cup of hot cocoa on this icy winter morn.

What's that? It's March, you say? Ugh....

Due to the citizens of the Northstar State being unable to fill in an oval with a No. 2 pencil, the U.S. Senate race between Coleman and Franken is deadlocked at 42 percent each, facilitating a recount. With a little less than 50 percent of the ballots re-tabulated, Coleman's lead is down to 136 votes. And so the Saints, an Independent American Association baseball team, have their first promotional idea for the 2009 season.

The figurine will consist of one head with Coleman’s face on one side and Franken’s on the other. The body of the doll features that of the famous Sesame Street Count (Count von Count) with a suit, bow tie and cape. The head will spin reminding fans of the dizzying experience that has been this state’s U.S. Senate race.

"We realize that by the time we hand these out in May, the election will, hopefully, be decided," Saints director of media relations Sean Aronson told Deadspin. "But fans are going to want these as collector's items, just as in past promotions. We also came up with the Senator Larry Craig Bobbleleg Doll during the offseason."

Yes, that was a classic.

The first 2,500 fans through the gates on May 23 for the Saints game against the Sioux Falls Canaries will get a doll, with me right behind on eBay. There will also be a coloring competition where the winner will be the person who can correctly color inside of an oval shaped object. And following the third inning, no matter the score, the Saints will claim victory.

Of course the whole reason this race is tied in the first place is due to Independent Senate candidate Dean Barkley, who siphoned off 12 percent of the vote. Barkley had this to say about the Saints' promotion:

“The Saints have really outdone themselves with this one. I am glad, however, they decided not to make this a talking doll. Norm-Al will look great on someone’s shelf — silently.”

Awesome. Let's just skip the other two and put him in.

Saints Will "Re"Count Coleman-Franken Race [St. Paul Saints]
Day 3: Recount Resumes With Coleman Still In Lead [Minnesapolis Star Tribune]

It's pretty safe to say that Midway Stadium in St. Paul, Minn., is the only minor league ballpark in America where one can get a professional massage from a real Catholic nun. Pictured here is Sister Rosalind, who has been doling out massage therapy at St. Paul Saints games since 1993 ($8 per ten minutes. Please form an orderly line). But fans don't bat an eye, because the spectacle of a grown man getting a massage from a nun in the mezzanine section is really nothing special here.

In fact it's hard to imagine something that would surprise a Saints fan at this point. After all, this is the team that has a pig bring out game balls to the home plate umpire between innings, and employs Mrs. Stepford, a prim and proper 1950s-era housewife who serves as an usherette. And don't forget Guy Tracy, a Sam Spade-style private detective who wanders the stands investigating mysteries.

But to truly get a taste of what the Saints are about, you have to take a look at their promotional calendar. Of particular note is Sunday, May 25, when St. Paul will play host to the Fort Worth Cats. That'll be National Tap Dance Day at Midway Stadium, when 2,500 lucky fans will receive Bobblefoot dolls. In this update of the traditional bobblehead, the Saints will hand out toys in which a bobbing foot is extended below the partition of a bathroom stall, meant to commemorate the day that Sen. Larry Craig was arrested for tapping his foot at an undercover police officer in a Minneapolis airport bathroom.

"People have come to expect that kind of thing from us, so the pressure is on every season to try and top ourselves," said Sean Aronson, the Saints' director of media relations who also doubles as the team's radio play-by-play broadcaster. "When a news item like the Larry Craig incident breaks, we actually have media people calling us the next day asking what we're going to do with it."

Indeed, among past Saints promotions have been Michael Vick Night, in which fans received a Michael Vick doggie chew toy; Love Boat Night, commemorating the Minnesota Vikings infamous love boat sex cruise on Lake Minnetonka; Randy Moss Hood Ornament Night; and Bud Selig Seat Cushion Giveaway, in which fans could sit on a picture of Selig's face.

Such a creative approach should really be no surprise, considering that two of the men behind the team are Mike Veeck, son of legendary major league promoter Bill Veeck, and comedian Bill Murray, part-owner of the Saints. Veeck is President of the Goldklang Group, which represents marketing and promotional rights for the Charleston RiverDogs, Hudson Valley Renegades, Ft. Myers Miracle, Sioux Falls Canaries, Brockton Rox and the Saints, the latter the group's flagship franchise. The Saints drew 297,000 fans last season; 102 percent of stadium capacity.

Aronson (pictured), a 31-year-old University of Colorado graduate, has been with the Saints for two years, after a similar stint with the Miracle. In addition to National Tap Dance Day, the upcoming home stand beginning May 22 will include Thursday's Salute to Ramen Noodles; Friday's appearance by Zap of the American Gladiators (sponsored by the Minnesota Asthma Coalition); and Saturday's Tribute to famous mime Marcel Marceau.

"I have Mike Veeck's book, Fun Is Good, on my desk, and I live that philosophy," Aronson said. "He comes to St. Paul a couple of times a month, and he's an inspiration. There is an atmosphere here that promotes creativity. They want us to take chances."

Of course there have been some ideas that haven't worked out, such as the infamous Mime Day about eight years ago.

"This was before I came to St. Paul, but we had a game in which we put mimes on the roof of the home dugout to act as instant replay, reenacting plays," Aronson said. "But then this kid threw a hot dog and hit one of the mimes; it also happened to be Dollar Hot Dog Night. The mimes were getting pelted with hot dogs, which was good for concessions, but the team never did that again.

"You have to remember what kind of a market St. Paul is," Aronson said. "This area has the Twins and the Timberwolves, Lynx and the Wild, plus several college teams. We're competing with a lot, so we have to be innovative and give people something they haven't seen."

One of those glorious ideas will come on July 16, when the Saints stage their promotion entitled A Monkey Can Do That!

"We're going to bring in a real monkey, who will perform several of the tasks that we usually do," Aronson said. "The monkey will help drag the infield, take tickets, and may even sit in on the TV side of our game broadcast. It's really one of the most basic ideas you can come up with."

Um, sure it is ...

But please, folks, do not throw hot dogs at the monkey. Thanks.

UPDATE: Reader Max2068 shares action photos of his personal nun massage at a Saints game. Awesome!

Contact us with any minor league photos, game reports or news on promotions at RickChand@GMail.com. Thank you, my son.

As a half-promotional, half-oh-what-the-hell gimmick, the St. Paul Saints have invited to camp a 53-year-old knuckleball pitcher named Jon Secrist.

"I really feel good, and I'll give it my best," Secrist said before it was eventually announced the weather was forcing the Saints to push the tryout until 9 a.m. today. "I'll be ecstatic if I make it. At my age, it's a one-in-a-million chance just to try out and a one-in-a-billion chance to make the club."

He'd received a sniff here and there from a scout or two, but never the call he's been waiting for. Until Saints part-owner Mike Veeck, who has contacts in Los Angeles, rang in December.

We don't understand why, if someone has perfected the knuckleball — and it's hardly clear that Secrist has — they couldn't pitch until they were 90. The knuckleball is the one thing in sports that can beat age, gender, all of it. Why isn't everyone trying to throw one?

Even At 53, Pitcher Ready To Give It A Go With Saints [Minneapolis Star-Tribune]