The Geek Daddy Picks the Best Kids Clubs in Major League Baseball

Many parents enjoy America's past time with our children by taking them to the ballpark or watching games on television to cheer on our favorite baseball team.   Another fun way to catch a child's interest in becoming a fan of major league baseball is to enroll them in a team's "KIDS CLUB."   Of the 31 MLB teams, 27 have kids programs to encourage children to become fans of the team and develop an interest in the sport of baseball.  All of these KIDS CLUBS vary in the price of membership and the publications, programs, events, and swag provided to participants who enroll in the team's kids club.  I've taken a look at each of the current programs offered by MLB teams and have ranked my Top 5 below:

      1.  TORONTO BLUE JAYS – their Kids Club is priced decently, provides some nice team swag for its members to enjoy, and has nice events to ensure that its members receive some special treatment; providing a trifecta of benefits that gives the Blue Jays the #1 ranking this year.  For $19.99 children 3 – 12 can become part of the Junior Jays Club presented by Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes.  The Junior Jays’ membership kit comes with a Mascot Baseball, Oyo Blue Jays Mini Figurine, Blue Jays Adjustable Baseball Cap, ACE the Mascot Themed Stationary Set, a Voucher Coupon Book with various discount opportunities, Newsletter Subscription, and a 2013 Membership Card.  Members are also invited to 3 super exclusive kid events:  a private autograph session with Blue Jays players in May; a special free t-shirt giveaway day in July; and a season wrap-up party in September hosted by the Blue Jays’ mascot ACE featuring inflatables and other fun activities.

2.  CINCINNATI REDS -  for a $25 membership the Reds have the best swag of any MLB club.  The team calls their children’s program the RED HEADS and kids receive an exclusive members-only cap, team replica jersey, and catchers backpack.  The Red Heads membership kit also comes with a 2013 membership card, a lanyard to display so they can proudly display the card at the ballpark, and a pennant your child can display at home on their bedroom wall.  They also host exclusive autograph sessions throughout the season for the kids who have joined the Red Heads (but while the kids are free to attend their guardians who accompany them to these events are charged a $5 entry fee which knocked the team down to #2 in the Geek Daddy’s ratings).  A nice feature of this kids club is that each member is provided vouchers to attend 4 games for free (of course the adult taking the kids to the game still has to buy a ticket but hey if you are planning a family trip to the ballpark this is a nice savings to take advantage of).

       3.  ST. LOUIS CARDINALS – Most of the MLB teams focus their kids clubs towards children 3 – 13 and so does St. Louis, but they also have created a special unique program for teen fans as well called the VARSITY CLUB which gives them the #3 spot in this review.  The Varsity Club is for teens 14 – 19 and costs $35 to join.  Each member gets an official Cardinals cap and backpack plus two tickets to Varsity Club Day at the Ballpark on August 14^thwhen the Cards take on the Pirates at Busch Stadium.  There will be lots of special exclusive events for members during their special day at the ballpark.

1    4. ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS – earned this spot because their program stands out for being FREE!  You don’t get swag sent to you in the mail, but if you sign up for the program and buy tickets to go to the games your children can pickup free stuff determined by how many games they’ve attended during the season.  Going to 1 game gets your child a game schedule poster, 2 games a free upper level ticket to attend another game,  4 games a souvenir cup, 5 games a baseball bat key chain and so on ranging up to jelly-fish yoyo at 18 games.  Hey if you are going to take your family to the ball game anyways why not sign up for an extra benefit?!  The D-Backs also have another nice program called the No Chew Crew.  Children 15 and younger who sign a pledge to say NO to using spit tobacco receive a FREE toothbrush and a ticket to one of several designated games  sponsored by Delta Dental of Arizona.

1    5.  MIAMI MARLINS & PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES – we have a tie at the #5 spot for two teams that created kids club programs revolving around their mascots. 

Miami’s Billy the Marlin is the highlight of its kids club program.  Members receive an Official Billy’s Bunch Membership Card, Billy the Marlin poster, Billy Lunch Cooler, Billy’s Bunch T-shirt, and Billy’s Fanoculars, along with 2 free tickets to a 2013 Marlins game and a coupon for a free Kids Meal from Duffy’s Sports Grill.  If you live in the Miami area (Miami-Dade, Palm Beach or Broward) guess what parents – it gets better – enrolling your kids is FREE !!!!  A little bit of a return on your investment for your property taxes subsidizing the team’s new stadium I guess so take advantage of the program.

For $12 your child can become a member of the Phanatic MVP Club for Philly fans.  It’s membership kit includes a 2013 special edition PhanaticMVP Bobblehead, collectable magnet, full color Phanatic Poster, a birthday card sent to your child from the Phanatic, a Membership Card and e-mail newsletters.  Members also receive exclusive opportunities for autographed items, Phanatic birthday boxes, and invites to Phanatic Meet & Greets.

HONORABLE MENTION:

LOS ANGELES ANGELS – When I was a kid my parents taking us to a movie was a special treat that ended with a trip to a Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour.  Alas they are all gone here in Michigan but when I saw the Angels Kids Club was sponsored by Farrell’s all I could think of was  how SWEET that was and that I wanted to take a trip out to LA.   Members receive Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour Gifts, an exclusive MIKE TROUT youth jersey, an official 2013 Jr. Angels Kids Club Membership Passport and 2 tickets to attend an Angels home game.

DETROIT TIGERS - Our family roots for the team that sports the Old English D so I had to include them on the list.  For $17 the Detroit Tigers Kids Club provides an exclusive Miguel Cabrera Triple Crown Drawstring Backpack, a “triple crown” for your little one to wear, a coloring & activity book, a Detroit Tigers Min Fathead, a birthday card from the team to your child, and three issues of their PAWSPrints newsletter.  They also provide the opportunity to win exclusive Kids Club experiences like throwing the ceremonial first pitch. Not a bad deal but sorry Tigers there is a lot of room for improvement when compared to the competition.  That being said, let’s focus on winning the World Series first!!!

CLICK HERE for a listing of all the MLB team’s website kids’ sections.  Some of these teams have kids clubs and others just have information of interest to kids posted online.

Cheering on your favorite sporting team can be a great bonding experience and fun way to spend time together as a family.  These Kids Clubs are a nice way to introduce your children to the team you cheer for and encourage them to join you as a fan.  If you haven’t checked them out for your local team, I encourage you to do so.  Summer’s here and baseball’s back in town – maybe we’ll see you at the ballpark!

World Baseball Classic is a break from monotony of Spring Training

I'm a big Detroit Tigers fan and pay a lot of attention to baseball during the Major League (MLB) season, but I have to admit that I normally tune out spring training and don't start following the action until after the first pitch of Opening Day.  This year though the upcoming World Baseball Classic has caught my attention and I'm looking forward to watching some ball games and checking out stats & scores this March in a tournament that matches up national teams from across the globe in a competition to see who will win the bragging rights as the country with the best baseball players.

The World Baseball Classic is hoping to create an expanded reach and appeal for the game in a similar format to what the World Cup has done for soccer.  FIFA, the world athletic governing body for soccer, holds a championship every four years called the World Cup which pit countries fielding teams with their nation's best players in patriotic competition against one another fighting to be the global champ!  Almost all the players for all the team's in the World Cup are top tier professional athletes who play in leagues in various countries but they come home to play for their national teams in this respected tournament.  You may think of the Super Bowl as the most watched sporting event, but in fact the most watched sporting event is the World Cup which had more than 700 million viewers tune in to watch its 2010 championship game that took place in South Africa. The baseball community has taken note and is working to emulate the World Cup with its own tournament, the World Baseball Classic.

This will be the third World Baseball Classic with previous tournaments being held in 2006 & 2009 and each year the competition and talent participating gets better.  While the rosters may still not be the "best of the best" some notable players are participating this year and all the teams consist of players who are on professional teams (Japan's players are all professional players from their country's version of our Major League) or full-time national squads (Cuba fields a team that plays exclusively in international matches for their country).  The countries fielding teams in 2013 are:  Australia , Brazil , Canada , China , Cuba , the Dominican Republic , Spain , Italy , Japan , South Korea , Mexico , the Kingdom of the Netherlands , Puerto Rico , Taiwan , Venezuela and the United States.

What spurred my interest in the World Baseball Classic this year was hearing about some of the big name Detroit Tigers that will be playing for Venezuela in the tournament.  The Tiger's MLB Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera and starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez will be playing for Team Venezuela.  Venezuela has more than 95 players on MLB rosters and their lineup will be full of MLB talent including power hitter Pablo Sandoval who led the San Francisco Giants in their World Series victory against the Tigers in 2012.  This team will be fun to watch and has a great chance of winning the Classic.


Japan is a predicted favorite this year after winning the tournament the last two times it has been played in 2006 & 2009.  Japan defeated Cuba in 2006 and South Korea in 2009 championship games to win the title of "World Champion" by the tournament's sanctioning body, the International Baseball Federation (IBAF).  Japan's team will consist entirely of professional baseball players who are on the roster's of clubs within the country's own pro league.  It will be fun and interesting to see how these players match up against the MLB talent that will be in the tournament.

The Dominican Republic will be fielding a great team that also has a great chance of winning it all.  Well known MLB players Adrian Beltre, Robinson Cano, Jose Reyes, Melky Cabrera, and Nelson Cruz will be taking the field for the Dominican Republic.  Miguel Tejada who was the American League MVP in 2002 and the MLB All-Star Game in 2005 will be playing for the team as well hoping that it will spur some attention to get a Major League team to pick him up for a comeback after he wasn't invited to Spring Training by any club this year.  Another player on this team hoping it will aid him in a MLB comeback is Jose Valverde.  Valverde was the closer for the Detroit Tigers and one of the best closers in the MLB during the 2011 season but in 2012 his pitching fell apart causing him to be benched and killing the Tigers chances to win the World Series.  He'll be playing in the World Baseball Classic hoping to redeem his reputation and generate some interest from a MLB club to pick him up for the 2013 season.  This team is full of talent and is sure to play some enjoyable games to watch.

Excuse my borrowing a phrase from the NCAA's March Madness but the "Cinderella Team" for this tournament appears to be the Dutch National Team.  I would have never thought of the Netherlands as a baseball powerhouse but this team is the all-time leader in European Championship titles and has won that title 5 of the 7 last years.  In 2009 the team made it to the second round of the World Baseball Classic and defeated the Dominican Republic twice during the tournament in dramatic wins.  This is a team that could slip under the radar and move deep into the tournament.

The United States squad isn't full of All-Star Game names but it has a solid line-up of MLB talent that will give the team a good chance of winning the World Baseball Classic.  The team has the New York Mets 20 game winner R.A. Dickey on the roster along with Ryan Vogelsong and Jeremy Afeld pitchers from World Series champs the Giants.  Joe Mauer and Ryan Braun provide some big bats that can score runs.  I'm bummed we don't have a Tiger on the roster (Justin Verlander did give it some serious consideration but I don't think the Detroit front office was keen on having their number one asset risk an injury) but am still looking forward to watching our home team play against international competition.  The U.S. does have an edge too with the fact that is has the weakest pool in the first round (playing against Mexico, Italy and Canada) and is guaranteed games played in the United States in every round.  It will play Round 1 games in Phoenix and if it makes it to Round 2 will play in Miami.  The tournament championship game will be played in San Francisco on March 19, 2013. Let's go USA!!!

All the World Baseball Classic games will be televised on the Major League Baseball cable tv network.  I'm bummed that the games won't be on ESPN or FoxSports because MLBtv isn't included in my cable package from WOW! but I'll probably subscribe to their online service so I can watch the games on my iPad on my own schedule.  For more info on MLBtv visit http://mlb.mlb.com/network/

The IBAF on their website describes the World Baseball Classic:

The tournament is the first of its kind to have national baseball teams feature professional players from the major leagues around the world including Major League Baseball; the Summer Olympics had regularly featured college and minor-league players because the Games conflict with the major league seasons in both North America and Asia, and the Baseball World Cup historically did not have major leaguers participate. In addition to providing a format for the best baseball players in the world to compete against one another while representing their home countries, the World Baseball Classic was created in order to further promote the game around the globe.

To check out the schedule of games and rosters for the teams visit: http://web.worldbaseballclassic.com/index.jsp

Book Review: GOODNIGHT BASEBALL

I’ve been a Detroit Tigers fan since I was a little kid with an attachment to the team and the game  of baseball developed through the connection to time I spent with my grandfather and father enjoying the national pastime.  Some of my fondest memories of time spent with my grandpa involved sitting on his back porch with him drinking out of glass bottles a multitude of different Towne Club  soda pop flavors …I think there were 24 flavors in all that my grandparents bought in big wooden grates…while listening  to the Tigers’ games on the radio.  And what young boy doesn’t cherish the ball games their Dad takes them to.   I have such great memories of eating hot dogs with my Dad at the old Tiger Stadium on Woodward & Trumbull while watching Sweet Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell turn double plays. 

As a parent now myself, I’ve shared my love of the game with my children as a bonding experience with them.  We’ve enjoyed some cherished family moments enjoying games together at the Tiger’s new home Comerica Park and watching on television as a new generation of heroes named Cabrera, Ordonez, Fielder, Avila & Verlander take the field and lead the team to division championships and the playoffs.  I believe that \ my children like the excitement associated with the sport but what they really enjoy is the quality time with me that watching these games together represents.    Enjoying baseball is an important pastime for our family.

With all these baseball memories in mind, I recently discovered a book that ties into our family’s enjoyment of the game published by CAPSTONE YOUNG READERS in partnership with SPORTS ILLUSTRATED KIDS called “Goodnight Baseball”.   I’ve been reading the book to my 4 year old twins this week at bed time, literally all week because they’ve asked me to reread it to them every night, and the kids love it.  I enjoy reading it to them because it is a nice nostalgic tale that our family can relate to about a father taking a son to his first baseball game.

The story written by Michael Dahl explores the sights and sounds of baseball through a fun rhyme that makes the book an easy and fun bedtime read for a parent.  Also because of the rhyme type storytelling there isn’t a lot of text which allows you to really enjoy and focus on the great illustrations in the book by ChristinaForshay.   “Good Night Baseball” does a really nice job of portraying the excitement through a kid’s perspective of experiencing his or her first trip to a Major League ballpark through Dahl’s rhymes and Forshay’s sketches.   Reader’s experience the sights and sounds of a  trip to the ballpark starting from pulling into the stadium parking lot and wrapping up with a Daddy carrying his tucked out son up to bed when they get home.

I appreciated that Christina Forshay’s illustrations had a classic 1960s/1970s feel to them that reminded me of the animation style of cartoons like “Woody Wood Pecker” & “Tom & Jerry” and Disney movies such as “Alice in Wonderland” and “the Fox & the Hound” that I enjoyed when I was a little kid.  Forshay’s drawings drew my kids’ attention into the book artwork rather than me just reading the words to them and allowed aspects of the story to pop out of the pages at them.  Three of my children and mine’s favorite images were a display of the ball diamond that made it seem as if you were sitting in the outfield taking the whole field in; a picture of the daddy taking a photo of his son with a lifelike team mascot; and the last page of the book that shows the son falling asleep in his room holding a stuffed toy of the mascot as the moon is displayed in the child’s window looking as if it is a baseball.  Forshay does an exceptional job portraying the story through the eyes of a child.

Something I thought was funny that caught my attention while reading the book was how Michael Dahl has the young boy say “goodbye” to all the different things at the ballpark as they are leaving the stadium.  He says goodbye to the players, their equipment, the field, the seats, and the trash of the ground as they are leaving.  My son does exactly that when we go out places – saying goodbye to all sorts of people, animals and objects when we are out and about.  For example we were at the grocery store the other day and as we headed to the car he said good bye to the cashier, than the shopping cart, and the food we didn’t buy, and finally to the building as we pulled out of the parking lot – so Dahl’s inclusion of that angle into his story really hit home.  I also appreciated how the author included things that would excite children about going to a stadium such as showing your tickets at the gate, buying snacks, meeting a team mascot, getting a chance to walk the bases and see a dugout, catching a foul ball.  Including the “goodnight” angle too really makes this a great bedtime story because it keeps the kids attention and entertains them but it closes out getting them ready to go to bed themselves – excellent!

The downside for us was that we read “Goodnight Baseball” as an e-book on my iPad.  I really don’t like reading bedtime stories from my tablet to the kids because they have a tendency for me to want to play apps with them instead and it just doesn’t seem as nice to read to them from as a printed book.  Some of the pages weren’t as aligned on the screen and had to toggle the screen somewhat to see the whole picture.  I have a feeling that the book’s images would display better and look a little nicer in print versus digital.  That being said we did find the e-book overall to be a very enjoyable read that my children repeatedly went out of their way to ask me to share with them again at bedtime after I read it to them the first time.

“Goodnight Baseball” hits store retail shelves in March as a hardcover book for $14.95 and is aimed for children ages 4 – 7.  If you are looking for a good bedtime reading book to share with your children the Geek Daddy highly recommends you check it out!

Disclaimer:  I received a free advance copy digital e-book of “Goodnight Baseball” from the publisher to review.  The thoughts and opinions in the review are my own.