LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. – Sometimes promotions take on a life of their own.
Consider the “silent inning” to honor a “silent birth” as a minor-league baseball team saluted Tom Cruise.
When the Lake Elsinore Storm played the High Desert Mavericks recently, no music was played and no batters were announced for one inning to mark the Church of Scientology-dictated “silent birth” of Suri, Cruise’s baby girl with Katie Holmes.
– Justice Anderson, Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia, quoted atWhat judges have to say about Scientology
“It was originally going to be a Top Gun . . . anniversary promotion and it just sort of evolved from there,” says Jeff Joseph, a spokesman for the Single-A California League team. Cruise’s character was named Maverick in the 1986 film.
Instead of the more traditional bobblehead, the team handed out a “bobble-couch” depicting Cruise’s couch-jumping incident on Oprah. A retrospective of Cruise’s career and a couch-jumping contest were also included in the night’s events.
And the team is no stranger to strange theme nights.
“One year, we had Dr. Seuss night,” Joseph says. “All the players wore red- and white-striped socks to dress up like the Cat in the Hat.”