All your base are belong to us! Spiderman style!

[astro]

Baseball sells out to Spider-Man

In a move that has purists howling, Major League Baseball has agreed to decorate its bases -- and pitching-mound rubbers and on-deck circles -- with a spider-web pattern as part of a promotion for the release of Sony Corp.'s "Spider-Man 2" next month.

The superhero sequel is set to open in theaters June 30. "'Spider-Man 2' Weekend" will start Friday, June 11, and all 15 MLB teams playing at home have agreed to participate for one or more games.

The deal is baseball's latest attempt to develop a splashier national marketing image. "In an ultracompetitive sports-entertainment environment, you have to take risks," says Tim Brosnan, MLB's executive vice president for business.

Outfield walls have been billboards since the 19th century. In the 1990s, the Florida Marlins painted their stadium's foul poles to look like pencils for a Office Depot sponsorship. But the Spider-Man promotion is believed to be the first time ads will appear on the bases. "It's not something we've ever come across," says Claudette Burke, a reference librarian at the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Under a design nearing approval by MLB, the center of the top of first, second and third bases will be adorned with a 7.5-inch-square "Spider-Man 2" logo consisting of black and yellow webbing against a bright red background. Home plate will remain white.

[robgruver]

Ogdammit! Is nothing sacred anymore?

Base cameras I can deal with. The ads behind the batters and on the outfield fence I can deal with. Ads on the bases I can't deal with... *sigh*

"Oooo. Bagwell pops up to third. That pop up brought to you by Pop Tarts! A great breakfast!"

[MLS]

Disgusting. It also violates a rule in baseball that the bases must be white. All white. Not white-with-a-pattern-on-it.

[voguevixen]

No big deal. Last year at Pac Bell Park they had some sort of deal with Yahoo! where instead of saying "play ball" they played the "Yahoo!" yodel. THAT was freaky.

Frankly, the more interesting things to look at during a ball game the better.