TORONTO — Fans attending Game 2 of the American League division series on Friday were given free Blue Jays rally towels and miniature Canadian flags. There was another gift on hand for anyone walking by Rogers Centre on the street in a stroke of promotional creativity.
Also today, free armbands so you can be just like @Encadwin! pic.twitter.com/YqMRYVzzKU
— Jesse Spector (@jessespector) October 9, 2015FAGAN: Blue Jays all the way? | MORE: Ranking AL postseason pitching staffs
On the routes leading to the ballpark, pedestrians were handed paperboard armbands featuring Iago, the parrot from the movie Aladdin, which comes out on Blu-ray next week, information handily contained on the back of the armband, with the hashtag #WalkingTheParrot.
Why would Blue Jays fans want cartoon bird armbands? To celebrate Edwin Encarnacion’s home run trots. Encarnacion, who hit 39 homers this season and has 197 dingers in his Blue Jays career — sixth on the team’s all-time list — celebrates going deep by raising his arm as if carrying a parrot around the bases.
The celebration has previously been commemorated on t-shirts, and in GIF form with a blue jay in place of a parrot, which is actually even better.
