Phillies Merch Staff Tackles Challenge Posed By Ostensibly Flexible 2015 Roster
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- As spring training begins, the Phillies merchandising staff is preparing this year's list of giveaways at Citizens Bank Park. It's not quite as easy as it used to be.
Ballpark freebies for 2015 include the old standbys - baseball caps and T-shirts - and some new wrinkles, such as the Mother's Day wristlet for women or the Phillie Phanatic stirrup socks for kids.
"We've been doing it through big seasons, through down seasons," says merchandise director Scott Brandreth. We just like the fact that most of the Sundays, there's something either for mother or for father or for the kids."
With so much uncertainty on the roster this season, Brandreth says one thing not on the list right now is a giveaway tied to a particular player.
"It was fairly easy in the past. We knew exactly, with guys' long-term deals or whatever. And we could pretty much plug 'em in right away. But it's different right now. That's why we kind of left ourselves some flexibility there later in the season," he says.
Brandreth says there will be player-specific giveaways, including a T-shirt June 7...bearing the name of a player to be named later.