Rockies SS Trevor Story, who made MLB history by hitting seven home runs in his first six games, has managed to “stir up the kind of excitement Rockies haven’t had in a few years,” and merchandise bearing the rookie's name “is in very high demand,” according to Noel Brennan of Denver-based KUSA-NBC. Six of the Rockies' Dugout team stores "were sold out of Story jerseys by Saturday afternoon." Meanwhile, Colorado-based Mike's Stadium Sportscards owner Mike Fruitman said that he "already sold out of 50 Trevor Story baseball cards." Metropolitan State Univ. marketing professor Darrin Duber-Smith: "To have a rookie shortstop to do something, initially in the vein that we saw [former Rockies SS Troy] Tulowitzki do not that many years ago -- it’s gotten a lot of people excited. And excited people tend to open their wallets" (9NEWS.com, 4/10). Denver-based KCNC-CBS' Howard Nathan noted the demand "is so high for a Story shirt, sporting goods stores sold out last Thursday." Fruitman, referencing the Rockies' only World Series appearance, said, "We’ve seen Shaq mania and LeBron mania, but for the Rockies we haven’t seen interest like this since 2007." Nathan noted fans are "taping Story’s name over Tulo’s and a No. 7 placed next to Tulo’s old No. 2 to make 27, the number Story wears now" (DENVER.CBSLOCAL.com, 4/10).
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT: In Seattle, Coral Garnick reported the Mariners' merchandise team has been "stocking the team stores with Ken Griffey Jr. swag since he was voted into" the Baseball HOF in January, and they "expect sales this season to increase because of it." Mariners Dir of Retail Merchandising Julie McGillivray said, "We are going to sell so much Griffey product. People love him." The team "would not say specifically how big of a boost in sales it expects from Griffey gear." But a team spokesperson said that they "expect it will bring in seven figures and be a bump" of 7-10% for the year's total sales (BIZJOURNALS.com, 4/9).
