The Charleston RiverDogs’ front office has made a name for itself over the years by rolling out wacky, unique and often edgy promotions for its minor league baseball games at Riley Park.

On Monday, the team announced its promotions for the upcoming season, and already there is controversy about one notable event: OJ Trial Night set for May 26.

Here's how the team describes the promotion on its website:

"The trial of the century gets a juicy new spin. We will finally receive the verdict that everyone has been waiting for … pulp or no pulp?

"Fans will act as our jury, voting with custom paddles to reach verdicts on various topics throughout the night. The eyes of the nation will be upon us. Fans will receive an “OJ Trial” shirt upon entering the stadium. If the shirt don’t fit, you must … see if we have a different size."

The trial of the century is a reference to former NFL star running back O.J. Simpson, who was acquitted of criminal murder charges in October 1995. Simpson was tried on two counts of murder for the slashing deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman.

For the RiverDogs’ purposes, “OJ” stands for orange juice.

Fans will be asked questions related to orange juice and pulp throughout the night, RiverDogs president Dave Echols said Tuesday.

“When you’re brainstorming, there’s a line you deem as one to cross or not cross,” Echols said Tuesday. “With this one, the topic being related to pulp and oranges, I think you kind of get where we’re going with it.”

Other promotions on the RiverDogs’ 2020 calendar include: Crossword Puzzle Day, an April 26 event in which players will don a Sunday crossword puzzle on the fronts of their jerseys; and Bobblection 2020 on Aug. 25, when fans will choose a presidential candidate by selecting a bobblehead doll. The first one to run out of dolls wins the election.

But it’s the OJ Trial promotion that could go sideways for the RiverDogs, a Class A affiliate of the New York Yankees' organization.

'Incredibly insensitive'

Tosha Connors said she was shocked to learn about the promotion. Connors is the CEO of My Sister’s House, a non-profit organization serving victims of domestic violence in Charleston, Dorchester and Berkeley counties.

She said the RiverDogs organization has been a longtime supporter of their mission and has hosted a Domestic Violence Awareness Night that allowed agencies to educate fans about their cause.

“That is why this OJ Trial night is more than a bit surprising that it has been sanctioned as a promotional event,” Connors said. “Frankly, I think the name of the event is in very poor taste and incredibly insensitive to the victims of that tragedy. They should most certainly rethink the event title.”

This isn’t the first time the RiverDogs have been called out because of a promotion. In 2007, the team announced Vasectomy Night as its Father's Day promotion. The RiverDogs were going to provide a free vasectomy to the winner of the promotion, but the event was quickly quashed because of the backlash.

In 2010, the team hosted “Go Back to Ohio” Night, which offered a one-way ticket to the Buckeye State for fans dressed in the most outlandish Ohioan gear. Some people were offended and said the promotion alienated fans from other states.

Another flap occurred in 2017 when Tim Tebow, the former NFL quarterback and University of Florida Heisman Trophy winner, came to town as a member of the Columbia Fireflies. The RiverDogs attempted to playfully heckle him by showing pictures of him crying during the 2009 loss to Alabama in the SEC title game. The team apologized for the ribbing after fans complained that the joke was over the top.

And last season, Charleston had to clarify an idea that would have sent hundreds of helium balloons into the air, creating uproar with environmentalists.

“We try hard to have new, engaging and, most of all, fun promotions that will appeal to everyone,” Echols said. “We believe the RiverDogs' 2020 promotional calendar will once again set the tone of the summer in Charleston.”

Cowboy Monkey Rodeo

The RiverDogs aren't the only minor league baseball organization to make headlines for striking out in the court of public opinion.

In 2016, PETA took issue with the Wilmington BlueRocks, among others, for a Cowboy Monkey Rodeo promotion. The event featured a monkey riding a dog around the field while dressed up like a cowboy. Several teams scrapped the idea after receiving complaints, but Wilmington decided to follow through.

In 2017, the Ogden (Utah) Raptors held Hourglass Appreciation Night. The idea was to make fun of the fact that baseball is a sport with no clock. But the team tried to create a visual by featuring “hourglass-shaped” women in the broadcast booth, which drew criticism for being sexist.

In 2018, the Montgomery Biscuits got blasted on Twitter for their Millennial Night. The team handed out participation ribbons, set up selfie stations and made it a point to promote midday naps.

One of the best

“We’ve had just as many failures as we’ve had successes,” Echols said. “That’s what kind of gives us the willingness to try new things.”

The RiverDogs were honored by MiLB last season for their Helen McGuckin Night, which was voted one of the best promotion ideas for 2019. The RiverDogs made light of a bad Google review posted by McGuckin, who didn’t actually review the organization. She simply wrote, “Just drove by” and gave the team two stars out of five.

In 2016, the RiverDogs made FOX Sports’ list of the 12 craziest promotions for two of their efforts: Nobody Night in 2002 that locked fans out of the ballpark until the fifth inning so the official attendance would be zero; and Silent Night in 2003, which forbid talking or cheering until the fifth inning.

In the end, Echols says the team never means to offend anyone. Promotions are supposed to be fun and add to the excitement of the game.

However, he admits that some can miss the mark.

“I think there’s always going to be some pros and cons generated from our brainstorms,” he said. “Our failures in that regard cause us to take a better look at promotions from all sides.”