The countdown is on for en epic battle of the big-boned mascots in Fresno.

It will be a matchup for the ages on Saturday night in Fresno, as the best mascot in the Majors will go up against the best mascot in the Minors in a battle for costumed character supremacy.

Representing the Major Leagues is the Phillie Phanatic, perhaps the most recognizable mascot in all of sports. His “opponent” for the evening will be hometown hero Parker, an affable bear who has served as the Grizzlies’ mascot for the past three seasons.

You can read the full story from Benjamin Hill at MiLB.com. As always Benjamin has his finger on the pulse of minor league baseball promotions.I am actually really interested in how the Grizziles present this. I toured minor league basketball for years as an NBA mascot and there is always an interesting dymanic with the hometown mascots. You didn’t want to overshadow then or make them look bad, but you had to balance that with putting on the best show you could.

Having the promoted “battle” between them puts the comparison at the very forefront of the evening. The Grizzlies have a lot of directions to go with this….however, the smartest part of the promotion is that Parker is being “defined up” win, lose or draw just by being compared to the legendary Phanatic.

I will be looking for the blow by blow results of Saturday night….and I don’t say that about many mascot promotions.

–Cudo

Thanks to Benjamin Hill for the link. If you don’t regularly, check out Ben’s tremendous blog here: http://bensbiz.mlblogs.com/

With the all out promotion and attention on this story, it is nominated for Best Game Day Promotion.