Baseball’s No. 1 fan resides in Minot.
At least that’s the title awarded this week to Dan Cunliffe II after he won Chevy’s No. 1 Fan competition.
The contest ran on MLB.com for the first half of the baseball season. Entrants submitted a photo and an essay. Last week, Cunliffe was informed by MLB.com that the judges selected him as the winner.
“I was so excited,” says Cunliffe. “I ran around the store (Republic Jewelry in Auburn, which is operated by his family) telling everyone I had won.”
Cunliffe didn’t enter the competition until the last minute. One advantage he had was seeing what the other entrants had done. For game No. 1 of the 2004 World Series, he had a banner professionally made and brought it to Fenway Park. The banner read, “We Mainers Believe” and had it signed by more than 100 “Maine-ahs.” His photo showed him posing in front of the banner.
“A lot of people had entered a photo of themselves in front of all their memorabilia,” says Cunliffe. “I really wanted to try something different. I like to share my passion with others. I brought their spirit to the game with me.”
Part of his essay told the story of the signatures. One of those belonged to Sox fan Stephen King, who Cunliffe ran into at Fenway. Initially, King refused to sign the banner fearing Cunliffe was an autograph seeker. When he found out the signatures were all Red Sox fans from Maine, he wanted a piece of the action.
As the winner, Cunliffe won a free trip for two to the All-Star game tonight in Pittsburgh, along with tickets for the Home Run Derby, Fan Fest and an all-star gala.
Accompanying him is his 10 year-old son Corey.
“He is huge into baseball,” says Cunliffe. “Alex Rodriguez is his favorite player. A-Rod’s having a free baseball clinic and he’ll be there for that. Just going with my son to a baseball event is exciting.”
Another perk will be an appearance in Chevrolet’s “Love Affair” commercial.
Winning a national contest is nothing new to the father of four. He recently captured an “American Idol” sponsored event.
“It’s totally different,” says Cunliffe. “With American Idol it was like, here’s your check. There was no pizzazz. With this, you get a total experience to remember for the rest of your life. We’re really looking forward to it.”
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