Edward Moss, who resides in Cleveland, wasn’t paying attention to the radio broadcast when his name was unexpectedly chosen. Despite this, he was the recipient of a new Hyundai car.
The Cleveland Guardians have not been performing well in their recent six games, only managing to win two out of six. However, they managed to avoid a sweep by defeating the Cincinnati Reds 11-2 on Wednesday. This victory resulted in a lucky fan winning big in the series finale.
In every third inning of a Guardians game, the “Hyundai Grand Slam Giveaway Inning” takes place. During this inning, Hyundai offers a new car to a randomly selected fan if a Cleveland player hits a grand slam home run. Grand slams are already rare occurrences, and the chances of one happening during this specific inning are slim. This means that most participants only get to hear their names mentioned by Tom Hamilton on the team’s radio broadcast, knowing that they won’t be walking away with a car.
On Wednesday, Hammy began the bottom of the third by wishing Cleveland resident Edward Moss good luck, for if someone on the Guardians could manage to belt a grand slam, Moss would be walking away with his own Hyundai. However, Moss wasn’t even listening to the game, having forgotten that first pitch was at 1:10 p.m. instead of in the evening like normal.
Luckily, he had a friend who was tuned in.
“I woke up and I got a ping on my phone stating I had a message on Facebook,” Moss recalled. “She said, ‘Did you just win a car?'”
Confused, Moss went to check for himself. Sure enough, with the bases loaded and one out, Carlos Santana hit Nick Lodolo’s outside changeup over the wall in right center to give the the Guards a 5-0 lead. As the Progressive Field crowd erupted, so too did Hamilton, who excitedly informed those listening at home what the grand slam meant.
“A brand-new Hyundai for Edward Moss of Cleveland!”
Moss soon saw the video of the home run, complete with Hammy’s call.
“He said my name; I started screaming,” Moss said with a laugh and a smile.
According to 3News media partner Cleveland.com, the club launched the Grand Slam Giveaway promotion in 2014, with Ford as the longtime title sponsor. Ironically, it was Santana who first won a car for a fan back in 2015, but the feat did not occur again until 2022, when Andrés Giménez (a man not known for his prodigious power) broke the drought on behalf of Sue Kelly of Ashland. One year later, a José Ramírez home run gifted a Ford Bronco Sport to Toledo’s Matt Gerken.
Who knows when the next lucky fan will hear Hammy congratulating them on the radio? For now, Moss will celebrate knowing it was him who played a small but fun role in Guardians history.
Along with Moss, Wadsworth’s Mike Marks also won four new tires from Conrad’s “Score 4 & Win 4” promotion. The rules of that giveaway are a tad simpler: If the Guardians score at least four runs in a single inning between the first and fourth innings of a game, one fan will walk away with a set of free tires.
Those who still want to try their luck and sign up for the Hyundai Grand Slam Giveaway can do so here, while the entry form for Conrad’s Score 4 & Win 4 can be found here.
