T-Bones Newest Promotion: Michael Vick Night

By ERIC BARTON

Former NFL quarterback and dog-fighting son of a bitch Michael Vick may be serving his prison sentence in the metro area, but has anybody really welcomed him to town? Not one car dealership has featured him in a commercial. Not one downtown loft has boasted that he has bought property there. And not one bar has claimed to be his favorite.

Sure, you might argue that his incarceration in Leavenworth on a 23-month sentence would prevent such promotion. But the T-Bones would like to prove otherwise.

Kansas City T-Bones spokesman Tommy Thrall tells The Pitch that the independent baseball team will hold a Michael Vick “Welcome to the Neighborhood” Night on May 28. The home team will don special black-and-white jerseys, and the visiting Gary South Shore RailCats will wear orange-jail-jumpsuit-inspired uniforms. The team will auction copies of the jerseys to benefit local animal shelters. Bring a photo of your pooch, and you can get two-for-one bleacher or berm tickets.

Thrall says the point is to “raise awareness about animal abuse.” Six or seven adoption groups will be on hand with animals in need of homes. “We want to use this to do something positive,” Thrall says.

Vick, you can assume, won’t be attending.