Friday, May 2, 2014

The last time Hollywood produced Spider-Man 2, Bud Selig wanted to stick its logo on every base

Almost exactly 10 years ago, Bud Selig had a great idea for making money: Turn those useless, empty bases into revenue generating billboards! (But no ads on home plate: Bud was too much of a traditionalist.) Spider-Man 2 was the product. It would break baseball's Ad barrier, becoming the Jackie Robinson of on-field commercials. Baseball could be the next Nascar!

Guess who said no.

Yep. Old George. For my money, it was Steinbrenner's finest hour. A few teams capitulated at first, but George refused - flat-out said screw this - and Selig's plan went up in a poof. Thus, today, we're not celebrating the 10th anniversary of Spidey appearing on the bases, with Pepsi logos on helmets and golden arches mowed into the outfield grass. Ten years ago, damn near to the day. Just remembering...

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2 comments:

  1. KDMay 2, 2014 at 8:02 AM

    Part of my pinstriped pride is that we have no corporate name on our Stadium.

    ReplyDelete
  2. el duqueMay 2, 2014 at 11:14 AM

    Very true. I'd ragged about the new stadium many times, but at least they had the decency to keep the Yankees in "Yankee Stadium."

    ReplyDelete

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