As competitive as the pennant races are year-to-year, there is another less-publicized heated battle that is ongoing between Major League Baseball teams. World Series trophies are cool and all, but what some front office folks really want is to be thought of as the organization that gives away the coolest junk.

The list of notable giveaways in 2008 include cowbells (Rays), fishing lures (Twins), fake chin hair (Mariners) and cash (Indians).

I’m not real sure what inspires the people that create giveaways at Major League baseball games. They may be avid eBay shoppers who get off on seeing people fork over hundreds of dollars for their creations, they may be genuinely interested in giving kids something to look forward to, or maybe they just be think crap up in between bong rips.

In the case of the Kansas City Royals promotions manager, apparently they just really dig cheesy karate movies.

That’s really the only way to explain the item being given away during the I-70 Series between the Royals and the Cardinals this summer. At first it looked like a bizarre drumlike object designed to annoy the hell out of fans.





(photo courtesy Theresa Bayer)

Then it became clear. This wasn’t just a noisemaker, it was modern-day version of the freaky drum that Mr. Miyagi started spinning at the end of Karate Kid 2.





If it can inspire a geek like Daniel LaRusso to beat down Sato’s crazy nephew, well then it can certainly help the Royals beat the big, bad Cardinals, right?

Sadly, even with an angel by the name of Pat Morita shining down on them from the sky, the Royals lost the game 5-1.