Blaze wear Spongebob jerseys; auctioned off proceeds go to League of Dreams

To get through a long season in minor league baseball you need good promotions. The Blaze know this. 

 

This year, as the team continues to give away Throwback Thursday jerseys to celebrate 75 years of baseball in Bakersfield, the front office has found another one.

 

Last year Nickelodeon partnered with Major and Minor League Baseball to try and grow youth interest in the sport. During Friday night's game the team will wear uniforms inspired by the TV show "Spongebob Squarepants."

 

"We pretty much said, 'Give us something loud, something audacious, something subaquatic," said Dan Besbris, the Blaze's director of broadcasting. The jersey comes pretty close to checking all of those boxes.

 

While it's a unique look, it also gives the team a chance to give back. "They came to us and said, 'Hey-we have this fundraiser and we would love for you to be a part of it," Jessica Mathews, the executive director of League of Dreams, told 23ABC. 

 

The group was founded back in 2007 to give kids with disabilities the chance to play sports. "(To) make sure we can provide programs for kids who typically wouldn't have the chance to play sports," she said.

 

Friday night's jerseys will be auctioned off throughout the game with proceeds going to help provide equipment to kids playing at Bakersfield's first adaptive baseball field at Fruitvale Norris Park. "The smile on their face says it all," Mathews said. "You see joy, you see excitement."

 

Besbris calls the partnership a "quadruple whammy" as it's fun for the fans and players and good for the team and League of Dreams.

 

First pitch is at 7:30 PM. After the game fans who play the game Pokemon Go are invited onto the field for 30 minutes to try and catch Pokemon native to the park.

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