Outside of catching a stray ball that makes its way into the stands or having the opportunity to meet a ballplayer, the closest one gets to feeling like they’re a part of the game is making their way onto the Jumbotron. One fan might feel otherwise after her appearance was clouded by a breakup message from her boyfriend.
For one sad woman, an appearance on the Jumbotron initiated by her significant other, might be one she’ll want to bury deep, deep down in the memory bank. While their typical purpose is to inform fans of statistics and information surrounding the game and its players, sometimes a park will give fans the opportunity to make an appearance either via video or through text. Onlookers can sometimes send a text to a number and their message will appear on the screen – i.e. ‘Happy Birthday’ or ‘Happy Anniversary’ or ‘Congratulations!’.
Although a bit humid, it was a beautiful evening in Akron, Ohio when Tim and Alyssa arrived to the RubberDucks baseball game for a date at the diamond. At some point during the game, fans were given the opportunity to send their messages to be displayed on the Jumbotron. Amid the typical congratulatory and fun “shout-outs”, “Alyssa, this relationship is OVER” scrolled across the screen, signed “Tim.”
Jack Haines, creative services coordinator for the RubberDucks, says fans can purchase shout-outs for $5. This message deviated from what they normally see. “Going through the list, going through the list then, what the heck?” said Jack. “The crowd went pretty crazy…they were pretty loud.”
Haines went on to say that this wasn’t the first time a breakup message had been sent to the Jumbotron and clarified that no one knows who “Alyssa” and “Tim” are. Furthermore, “[They] don’t ID anyone when they submit fan shoutouts,” he continued.
The legitimacy of the breakup remains in question, but if genuine, this writer hopes that “Alyssa” wasn’t too embarrassed or caught off-guard, and was able to stick around and enjoy the 11-2 shellacking the RubberDucks gave their opponent that night.