The reason? It was the 11th punchout of the game for Latos, meaning it was time for LaRosa’s Pizza and United Dairy Farmers to pay up.
Both Cincinnati-based sponsors have a promotion with the Reds called Strike Outs for Slices and Scoops. The Reds pitching staff must strike out 11 or more batters in a nine-inning game.
If they do, everyone at the ballpark with a ticket for that game gets a small LaRosa’s pizza with up to four toppings and one scoop of ice cream from participating UDF stores. Individuals have seven days from the date of the game to take advantage of the offer.
The marketing people from both companies could not have been happy with what may have been a $400,000-plus strikeout. If everyone in the park that night got a loaded pizza worth $6.79 (cost at Dayton-area stores), the cost to LaRosa’s would have been $234,153.15. One scoop of UDF ice cream at Dayton-area stores is $4.88. That is $168,286.80 total.
The Latos strikeout could have brought the tab for pizza and ice cream to a grand total of $402,449.95.
Going into the All-Star break, Reds pitchers had hit the magic number of 11 strikeouts five times.
Marketing folks at both companies have yet to return phone calls, emails or text messages regarding the average number of people who take advantage of the promotion. They’re probably too busy explaining to their bosses who came up with what turned out to be such an expensive idea.
So next time you’re at a Reds game, pay attention to strikeouts. They could mean free food.
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