Myrtle Beach Pelicans Stadium’s ‘beer bat’ goes viral

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) - Nothing goes together like beer and baseball.

At the Myrtle Beach Pelicans’ home, TicketReturn.com Field, nearly 26 ounces of beer in a plastic baseball bat are available to fans at every home game.

While Pelicans fans along the Grand Strand have seen them before, the “beer bat” became a nationwide sensation over the weekend thanks to a college student visiting from Ohio.

Brad Leininger: “We’ve been tyring to promote them and all of a sudden one guy sticks his hand up for a picture and says cheers to dollar beers and we’re national news,” said Brad Leininger, director of food and beverage for the Pelicans.

It all started with a simple tweet. Bryan Kurp, a journalism student at the University of Ohio, sent out a tweet with a picture of his beer bat during his visit to Pelicans Ballpark on May 15th.

“I’m a big baseball guy and big sports guy. I wanted to show them that I enjoy going to Myrtle Beach games,” Kurp said.

He had no idea what was coming next.

“I think a few hours in the Pelicans retweeted it and later that night I saw my phone had over 100 notifications on Twitter with all the big baseball podcasts,” said Kurp.

Barstool Sports and even USA Today took notice of the plastic marvel.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans president and general manager Ryan Moore had no choice but to get in on the fun.

“I could actually just buy the bat with the beer and sit down on the beach and watch a game and drink the beer and send the game used bat to someone who Venmo’s me 25 dollars,” said Moore.

A spur of the moment idea that would also round the bases.

“Over 500 [requests] at this point and we’re continuing to see more interest come in.”

And while Kurp is enjoying his moment in the sun, he’s hoping this craze will bode well for the Birds in the future.

“You know it’s crazy but I’m kind of happy that the Pelicans get that kind of recognition now because I’m sure it’ll bring a lot more people down to the area to catch a baseball game,” Kurp said.

The Pelicans return to TicketReturn.Com Field on June 1 when they open their series against the Columbia Fireflies. During that series, capacity at the ballpark will return to 100 percent.

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