American LeagueIn the latest example of a sponsor's stamp on the sports world, ads for the movie Spider-Man 2 will be placed atop bases at US major league ballparks during games from June 11-13.
The promotion, announced Wednesday, is part of baseball's pitch to appeal to younger fans -- and make money along the way.
PHOTO: AP
But the New York Yankees, one of 15 teams at home that weekend, balked at the idea after the deal was announced. They will put ads on the bases only during batting practice, and then just for one game, team spokesman Rick Cerrone said.
While commemorative logos have been on bases for special events such as the All-Star game or World Series, the Hall of Fame knew of no other commercial ads on bases, spokesman Jeff Idelson said.
"This was a unique chance to combine what is a sort of a universally popular character and our broad fan base, including the youth market we're trying to reach out to," said Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer. "It doesn't impact the play or performance of the game."
Nowadays, ads can show up just about anywhere in sports.
Telecasts of major league and college football games, for example, include virtual ads visible just to TV viewers. College football bowl games are named for advertisers. Boxers' backs bear stenciled ads. Just last week, a court ruled that Kentucky Derby jockeys could wear sponsors' patches on their uniforms.
"I guess it's inevitable, but it's sad," said Fay Vincent, a former baseball commissioner and former president of Columbia Pictures, which is releasing Spider-Man 2.
"I'm old-fashioned. I'm a romanticist. I think the bases should be protected from this. I feel the same way I do when I see jockeys wears ads: Maybe this is progress, but there's something in me that regrets it very much," he added.
The ads, about 10cm-by-10cm with a red background and yellow webbing, won't appear on home plate. The Yankees did agree to allow ads in the on-deck circles during their series that weekend against San Diego.
Spider-Man 2 opens in the US June 30, and the weekend in early June was picked because it is during interleague play, which draws higher attendance than usual.
The movie promotion has been in the works for more than a year and will include ad buys and ballpark events, such as giving masks to fans, said Jacqueline Parkes, baseball's senior vice president for marketing and advertising.
"We need to reach out to a younger demographic to bring them to the ballpark," Parkes said. "They are looking for nontraditional breakthrough ways to convey Spider-Man messaging ... It's the future of how we generate excitement inside the stadium and about the game itself."
Baseball will receive about US$3.6 million in a deal negotiated by Major League Baseball Properties with Marvel Studios and Columbia Pictures, a division of Sony Inc, a high-ranking baseball executive said on condition of anonymity.
Chicago Cubs manager Dusty Baker didn't think the ads would make a difference.
"I don't care," he said. "You've still got to touch base, whether they got spiders, scorpions or snakes on them."
Blue Jays 10, Royals 3
Vernon Wells homered twice and tied a career high with five RBIs, and Roy Halladay pitched a strong game to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a 10-3 victory Wednesday night over the hapless Kansas City Royals.
Wells hit an RBI grounder in the first, a three-run homer in the second and a solo shot in the fourth.
Halladay (3-3) won his third straight start, allowing three runs on 11 hits, while striking out four and walking none in seven innings. Brian Anderson (1-3) lost for the Royals, who have dropped 16 of their last 20 games.
White Sox 6, Orioles 5
In Baltimore, Juan Uribe had an RBI triple in a decisive two-run seventh inning for Chicago, and reliever Billy Koch withstood a Baltimore rally in the ninth.
Down 6-4, the Orioles loaded the bases with no outs. Javy Lopez hit a sacrifice fly and a groundout moved the tying run to third. But Koch retired Luis Matos on a tapper to first for his fifth save.
Shingo Takatsu (2-0) won in relief, beating B.J. Ryan (1-1). Koch picked up his fifth save.
Jay Gibbons and Lopez homered, and rookie Darnell McDonald had three hits for the Orioles, who have lost seven of 10.
Red Sox 9, Indians 5
In Cleveland, Bill Mueller hit a tiebreaking three-run homer, and David Ortiz connected twice to help Boston break a five-game losing streak.
Bronson Arroyo (1-1) gave up one hit and struck out three in two scoreless innings of relief, and the Red Sox ended Cleveland's four-game winning streak.
Mueller snapped a 5-5 tie with his homer off reliever David Riske in the sixth. Ortiz had his six and seventh homers and four RBIs against Jeff D'Amico (1-2).
Rangers 6, Devil Rays 1
In Arlington, Texas, Ryan Drese threw 6 1-3 shutout innings, and Michael Young had four hits -- including a solo homer for rampaging Texas.
Drese (2-0) allowed only five singles, beating Doug Waechter (1-2).
Young had two singles, an RBI triple and the second of consecutive homers in the seventh -- following Rod Barajas. Mark Teixeira also homered in the Rangers' 10th win in 12 games.
Tampa Bay lost for the eighth time in 10 games.
Twins 5, Mariners 1
In Seattle, Minnesota's Carlos Silva took a shutout into the eighth inning, and Jacque Jones hit a two-run homer.
Silva (5-0), who lost his shutout bid on Scott Spiezio's RBI single, allowed five hits in eight innings, struck out five and walked one while beating Joel Pineiro (1-4). The victory ended a three-game losing streak.
Silva's performance was very important to the Twins, who used eight pitchers in a 4-3 loss in 16 innings Tuesday night., broke a three-game losing streak.
Angels 6, Tigers 3
In Anaheim, California, Jose Guillen homered and drove in three runs, and Troy Glaus tied for the major league lead with his 10th homer to help Anaheim to its fifth straight victory.
Kelvim Escobar (2-1) allowed three runs and four hits in 5 2-3 innings to improve to 5-0 in six starts against the Tigers in his career. Troy Percival got three outs for his ninth save in 10 tries.
Jason Johnson (1-5) allowed six runs, seven hits and four walks in five innings.
Yankees 4, Athletics 3
In Oakland, California, Tony Clark doubled in the go-ahead run with two outs in the ninth inning, and New York won its eighth straight game.
Alex Rodriguez tied the game at 3 with his solo homer leading off the ninth. Arthur Rhodes (0-1) blew the save.
Paul Quantrill (3-1) pitched 1 1-3 innings, and Mariano Rivera worked the ninth for his 11th save in as many chances after allowing first two runners to reach.
National League
Brad Penny pitched 7 2-3 shutout innings to become the Florida Marlins' career leader in victories, and they broke a four-game losing streak by beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-0 Wednesday night.
Penny (3-1) allowed four hits and a walk while beating Jeff Weaver (1-4). Penny broke a tie with Ryan Dempster with his 43rd victory for Florida, and Armando Benitez earned his 11th save.
Abraham Nunez had an RBI triple and Mike Lowell a run-scoring single in the first.
Rockies 2, Expos 0
In Montreal, Joe Kennedy allowed one hit in six innings for Colorado, which switched to a four-man rotation because its staff had a 6.38 ERA.
Kennedy (4-0), working with three days of rest, gave up only Juan Rivera's single in the second, struck out six and walked two. Shawn Chacon pitched the ninth for his seventh save in eight opportunities. Pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney doubled off Zach Day (2-3) for the game's only runs in the seventh.
Phillies 5, Cardinals 4
In Philadelphia, David Bell tied a career-high with four RBIs, including a three-run homer for Philadelphia.
Kevin Millwood (3-2) pitched seven innings and Marlon Byrd homered for the Phillies. Millwood gave up four runs and eight hits to beat Woody Williams (0-3). Billy Wagner pitched the ninth for his seventh save in eight chances.
Padres 2, Braves 0
In Atlanta, San Diego's David Wells remained undefeated with an ERA of 0.82 in three career starts against the Braves.
The portly left-hander (2-2) allowed five hits and stunned Atlanta by bunting for a single. Jaret Wright (2-2) took the loss.
Brian Giles had a run-scoring single in the fifth for the Padres and Mark Loretta added a sacrifice fly in the ninth. Trevor Hoffman pitched the ninth for his eighth save.
Reds 5, Brewers 4, 10 innings
In Cincinnati, Juan Castro's pinch homer allowed Cincinnati to end its five-game losing streak against Milwaukee.
Adam Dunn tied it with a solo homer in the eighth, and Castro's first of the season pinned the loss on Jeff Bennett (1-2). Danny Graves (1-2) pitched the last two innings to get the win, only Cincinnati's second in eight games.
Milwaukee starter Ben Sheets matched his career high by striking out 10 in six innings.
Diamondbacks 2, Cubs 0
In Chicago, Arizona rookie Casey Daigle outpitched Kerry Wood for his first career victory, and Arizona's Steve Finley continued to haunt Chicago.
Finley hit his sixth homer in nine days against the Cubs, added a sacrifice fly and made a clutch defensive play to end a Chicago rally in the eighth inning. Finley now has 19 career home runs against the Cubs.
Daigle (1-1) retired the first 10 batters and allowed four hits in 5 1-3 innings. Wood (3-2) struck out eight and allowed only three hits in seven innings.
Finley made a great catch of Jesus Alou's fly ball with the bases loaded against Jose Valverde, who got his his second save.
Astros 6, Pirates 2
In Houston, Roger Clemens moved into second place in strikeouts behind Nolan Ryan and became the first six-game winner in the majors.
Clemens (6-0) fanned Raul Mondesi in the fifth inning to pass Steve Carlton with No. 4,137, and finished the night with nine strikeouts to run his career total to 4,140. Ryan tops the strikeout list with 5,714.
Clemens won his 316th career game, allowing two runs on five hits.
Jeff Kent, Lance Berkman and Morgan Ensberg drove in two runs apiece to lead the Astros, who beat Kip Wells (2-4).
Mets 8, Giants 2
In New York, Mike Piazza set a major league record for home runs as a catcher, and Shane Spencer hit a tiebreaking, three-run shot in a six-run eighth inning for New York.
Barry Bonds was not in San Francisco's lineup for the third straight game because of a sinus infection.
Piazza broke Carlton Fisk's mark with his 352nd homer, connecting against Jerome Williams in the first. Mike Cameron added a two-run shot for the Mets.
David Weathers (2-1) beat Felix Rodriguez (1-2).
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