04/24/24
May 05, 2004
Caught in the web.: Spiderman 2 propaganda will be featured at baseball stadums thought the country, including ON THE BASES. Is anyone not bothered by this? On the other hand, is anyone surprised? Maybe Theo Epstein can find a corporate sponsor for Pedro's next contract.
More commentary at Doug's Business of Baseball Weblog regarding the rule that home plate and the pitching rubber must remain white. The "commemorative home plates and pitching rubbers" won't be used during the actual game. The bases will. I'd be all for more product placement, if it meant less commercials. Although with TiVo, I forget that games used to take 3+ hours.
posted by emoeby at 12:49 PM on May 05, 2004
Dumb. But when Viagra gets its name on the bats, I'm going to buy one on EBay.
posted by rcade at 02:45 PM on May 05, 2004
When is Doc Oc pitching? Or hitting?
posted by worldcup2002 at 03:49 PM on May 05, 2004
This sellout is lame on so many levels. Will someone please fire the commissioner?!
posted by dusted at 04:12 PM on May 05, 2004
I fail to see what the big deal is. How is putting something on the bases going to impact the game at all? We already get huge ads behind homeplate and ads all around the stadium. Shoving a logo on the bases has no impact on the game at all. I really don't understand how people can say this is selling out, unless you've been saying it since they first ran ads behind home plate and around the stadium. I mean really, what use is logos on the bases going to be? We won't see them on TV, and I doubt you can see them from the stands.
posted by Drood at 04:32 PM on May 05, 2004
I hear they're going to spraypaint the Superman logo on the outfield.
posted by worldcup2002 at 05:03 PM on May 05, 2004
I bet Shaq has a logo in his backyard. And here are the uniforms the Sox are going to wear. Is there no justice?
posted by usfbull at 05:27 PM on May 05, 2004
I heard outfielders are wearing Spidey masks under their caps.
posted by jerseygirl at 05:31 PM on May 05, 2004
Drood, this is the first time (other than the Ricoh logos on the uniforms in Japan) that advertising has been placed on the playing field. With this sellout, MLB is heading into NASCAR territory, and it bothers me a great deal.
posted by dusted at 06:04 PM on May 05, 2004
I hear outfielders will be using webshooters to catch the homers.
posted by worldcup2002 at 06:33 PM on May 05, 2004
I fail to see what the big deal is. How is putting something on the bases going to impact the game at all? We already get huge ads behind homeplate and ads all around the stadium. Shoving a logo on the bases has no impact on the game at all. slippery slope. we already have all that shit, corporate sponsorship of every kiosk, seating section, and half-inning, and a god damn commercial break every single time there's a pause in the game longer than five seconds. honest to god, drood, maybe you haven't, but i have had enough.
posted by kjh at 11:12 PM on May 05, 2004
Personalized marketing ideas for the MLB clubs are offered on page 2: Boston Red Sox: "A Fistful of Dollars" In this 1964 classic, a gunslinger rides into town and immediately escalates the battle between two warring factions in an effort to get rich off the blood feud. Hey, did you see the dollar figures in Curt Schilling's contract?
posted by CountZero at 01:43 AM on May 06, 2004
If relievers came out of the pen via the Spider Car, I'd be ok with that. Though the groundskeeper might not.
posted by yerfatma at 08:27 AM on May 06, 2004
I used to have a remote control Spider Car.
posted by worldcup2002 at 09:56 AM on May 06, 2004
i still have my remote control spider car.
posted by goddam at 10:11 AM on May 06, 2004
I'd be all for more product placement, if it meant less commercials. Although with TiVo, I forget that games used to take 3+ hours. Ahhh, you almost hit the nail on the head. Understand, the logos on the bases are probably a result of TIVO. I doubt it was a direct decision like the commisioner saying "we've got to find new revenue sources because of TIVO ... put adds on the bases." It's more likely that they've had discussions about the impact of digital recorders which resulted in them being more receptive to alternative forms of advertising. Believe me, TV has to change it's business model. It's coming, and what you're seeing is businesses taking the first tentative step towards adapting to the new world. Sports may the slowest to change because it's event driven (i.e. to some degree you're forced to watch live lest you find out who won before you watch the game) but I'll tell you, I am loath to start watching a game at tip-off. I still start an hour late and fast forward commercials.
posted by Mike McD at 11:11 AM on May 06, 2004
I don't want any advertisements during the game, you can play all the commericals you want, because I can flip to other channels during those, but don't put anything on the bases, and don't superimpose things behind the batter.
posted by corpse at 11:27 AM on May 06, 2004
Great point McD. Tivo's model is now copied by cable companies too, which get their revenues from customers, channel dues and ultimately the advertising on the underlying networks themselves. So they are biting the hand that feeds them. I think the end result is forcing advertising to become part of the event. I'm afraid "Spidey bases" might be the least of our concerns.
posted by usfbull at 01:26 PM on May 06, 2004
posted by goddam at 07:56 PM on May 06, 2004
"I thought it was good to pull it,'' Yankees outfielder Bernie Williams said. "For so many years, we've just had uniforms and bases with no logo." Yeah, until your own team broke that taboo earlier this year, fignuts.
posted by wfrazerjr at 09:05 PM on May 06, 2004
I was thinking the same thing wfrazerjr. I found it quite ironic the Yankees were the most vocal opponents (as an organization and even many of the player quotes in the articles were from Yankees) of this when they were the ones who essentially greased the slope down and took the first slide.
posted by pivo at 09:19 PM on May 06, 2004
the yankees weren't the ones that put the ricoh stuff on their uniforms. that was another MLB decision (tampa had it too). they did it when the met and cubs were in japan a few years ago as well.
posted by goddam at 09:28 PM on May 06, 2004
If a team came out wearing "Chico's Bail Bonds" (mentioned twice by players) on their jerseys though, that would be awesome.
posted by pivo at 09:29 PM on May 06, 2004
well pivo, now you can have a bail bonds shirt of your very own. or maybe the Baseball Furies
posted by goddam at 09:45 PM on May 06, 2004
and speaking of hollywood/baseball travesties relating to chico's bail bonds, billy bob thornton is set to star in a remake. WHAT THE FUCK BILLY BOB?
posted by goddam at 11:08 PM on May 06, 2004
i saw that on scriptsales.com the other day. they're also making a Moneyball movie. Title: Moneyball Log line: Billy Beane, the Oakland A's general manager, assembles a contending ballclub despite having a payroll much lower than other teams. Writer: Stan Chervin Agent: Jon Klane at the Jon Klane Agency Buyer: Sony Pictures Price: n/a Genre: Sports Drama Bio Logged: 5/5/04 More: To be adapted from Michael Lewis’ best-selling novel "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game." Specialty Films’ Rachael Horovitz will produce. Longfellow Pictures’ Andrew Karsch & Sidney Kimmel will executive produce.
posted by jerseygirl at 06:09 AM on May 07, 2004
the yankees weren't the ones that put the ricoh stuff on their uniforms. that was another MLB decision (tampa had it too). they did it when the met and cubs were in japan a few years ago as well. According to the story, the Yankees were the ones who squawked about having the ad on the bases, and helped force the issue here. I assume that, as the big kid on the block, had they bitched about Ricoh ads, MLB might have rethought that also, but it's a supposition. Boy, and I can't wait for the Billy Bob Thornton remake ... Little Kid: Coach, is it my turn to bat? BBT: Uhhhhhh huhhhhhhh.
posted by wfrazerjr at 09:00 AM on May 07, 2004
To be adapted from Michael Lewis’ best-selling novel "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game." Moneyball was a novel?
posted by dzot at 09:08 AM on May 07, 2004
the casting of Moneyball should be interesting.
posted by jerseygirl at 10:05 AM on May 07, 2004
Billy Ba-da-Beane is Ralphie Cifaretto.
posted by dusted at 11:27 AM on May 07, 2004
If there are any of the old Jabba the Hutt props left at LucasArts, there's your Steinbrenner right there.
posted by wfrazerjr at 11:42 AM on May 07, 2004
If there are any of the old Jabba the Hutt props left at LucasArts, there's your Steinbrenner right there. Larry David used to do Steinbrenner's voice on Seinfeld... he should get a chance to do it on the big screen. They could stuff him in a fatsuit.
posted by cobra! at 02:18 PM on May 07, 2004
I wonder how they'll handle the car chase near the end of the book, when Beane has the shootout with hired thugs from the commissioner's office. I'm thinking they'll probably cut out the part where Beane is fatally wounded, and instead end it with him marrying romantic interest Barry Zito.
posted by rocketman at 03:11 PM on May 07, 2004
Kind of lame. I got my little Red Sox pocket schedule at the game and pinned it to the wall. I had noticed that June 13 was Spide-Man 2 night, but didn't think much of it. They have a lot of giveaway nights and events at the home games, so it didn't phase me... but this... is lame. Spiderman has nothing to do with baseball. At least pull some theme-correlation here... also, following up on the issue of Pedro's contact since you mentioned it... :) While there may be disagreements as to the contract (i suspect its length of contract opposed to financials) another obstacle seems to be... no one wants to insure the contract.