ALLENTOWN, Pa.—Bill Hirschman had no qualms entering an essay contest to win a funeral, a promotion offered by the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, triple-A team of the Philadelphia Phillies.

His wife, Carol, said he was nuts. "I said, why not?" says the healthy 61-year-old, whose 117-word entry listed four points on why he should be selected, including a willingness to wear an IronPigs T-shirt at his funeral. "This way, my family will have more money to play with when I'm gone." The funeral voucher, currently worth...