For every baseball fan that’s ever walked into a minor league ballpark and has said, “yeah, but it will never happen” in regards to a promotional contest, take notice of Thursday night, June 10 at Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf, Maryland.


Southern Maryland Physical Therapy & Chiropractic sponsors the “Back-To-Back Jacks” promotion at the home of the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, and in the fifth inning of the game against the Newark Bears, they got plenty of promotional “bang for their buck,”…literally. 

If the Blue Crabs hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning at home at Regency Furniture Stadium, a lucky fan chosen at random before the game wins $5,000. David Prohaska, Jeremy Owens’s “host parent” here in Southern Maryland for the season, happened to have his number called last Thursday evening.

Down 1-0 at the beginning of the inning, Blue Crabs leftfielder Kody Kirkland slugged a solo home run to leftfield to tie the game. Then centerfielder Jeremy Owens homered to right-centerfield on the very first pitch of the next at bat, to make Prohaska $5,000 richer. Prohaska was recognized on the field as the winner with a big check presentation. Southern Maryland went on to score three runs in the inning, en-route to a 4-1 win.

This is the second year in a row a lucky fan has won the “Back-To-Back Jacks” promotion. Last season J.T. Hindle, a Blue Crabs 22-game plan holder, had his number called when Owens and catcher Lance Burkhart hit consecutive homers in a 13-0 win over the Long Island Ducks on May 13.

Prohaska couldn’t believe he was chosen for the contest, let alone winning it.

“I was totally surprised,” he said. “I just got tapped on the shoulder and was told I was the contestant. Then when Kody hit the first one I got kind of wound up and excited.”

Then, as if it were scripted, Owens belted the second homer to make his host parent a winner. “I just flat out couldn’t believe it,” Prohaska said. “We’ve always been big Blue Crab fans and supporters, and it was a very ironic, cool night.”

“It’s amazing that this happened two years in a row,” Blue Crabs General Manager Chris Allen said. “It’s great PR for our sponsor, and great for a fan to come away with a $5,000 check. We’re very happy for David, and it just goes to show it pays to be a Blue Crab fan and a host family!”