My Question To Major League Baseball

[love_that_reefer]

Now that ARod is no longer the golden boy or savior of baseball, will baseball finally market around the best player in the game, Albert Pujols? What else does this guy have to do?? Why is he not in Gatorade, McDonald's, or even Budweiser commercials given he plays in the home of Budweiser?? Why is he not the face of baseball? Why is Sportscenter not opening the show with his greatness?? Albert Pujols should have the game's top selling jersey, Starting Lineup and bobblehead. Kids should be fighting over his baseball card. Wheaties boxes should have his face all over it!! Go look at his Wikipedia page, he has five freaking nicknames!! Baseball can;t market around any of them?? Pujols is a ROY, Roberto Clemente Award recipient, world champion, Gold Glover and two time MVP and he should have more than that. He is off to the best start to any career in the history of baseball for heaven's sake! Pujols is one of the best men in baseball along with being THE best player in baseball. His charity work with Down Syndrome kids is down right amazing! Baseball does a horrible job of marketing itself and that needs to change immediately. Pujols is the best and should be the face of MLB going forward! Its a crime it hasn't happened already but baseball needs him now more than ever!

[HollywoodLeo]

He doesn't play in New York or Boston

[love_that_reefer]

And hopefully never will. You'd think playing in the middle of the country would make him more popular. Wonder why not? Oh yeah, baseball doesn;t market him!!

[cjkalt]

Reefer you are 100% correct, he should be but the east coast bias hurts teams and now players everytime

[rockin500]

And hopefully never will. You'd think playing in the middle of the country would make him more popular. Wonder why not? Oh yeah, baseball doesn;t market him!!

baseball doesnt market their stars like basketball does. At least not on a league wide scale. Its up to the networks (ESPN/FOX) to decide that (and regionally, its up to the teams themselves). Not to mention if you notice, Pujols is not one to toot his own horn, like Arod and some of the other big names out there.

[love_that_reefer]

That's my point rockin. Baseball hardly does anything to market the sport. Its not up to ESPN and FOX to do MLB any favors. MLB should push them but its not their doing. ALL ESPN and FOX do is complain when the Yankees and Red Sox don't make the playoffs and tell people not to care. MLB needs to get out and market their sport!! Put Pujols out there and let non-baseball fans know about this man's greatness. When was the last time you saw a baseball player on Dancing With the Stars or on a McDonald's commercial. All we get is Jeter in a Gatorade commercial. I see more NASCAR guys in commercials than MLB players!! Hell, they have Big Mac Land in Busch Stadium for christ's sake!! Selig needs to broaden his horizons and start taking lessons from the other sports. Everybody knows who football players are and they ****ing wear helmets the entire game. TO was in the NBA celebrity game, where was the MLB player? Pujols might not toot his own horn but MLB sure can.

[realmofotalk]

I love the game of baseball and more attention the better, but let's face it, the exciting highlight reel plays are mainly on defense, especially over the wall catches or diving catches. Pujols isn't an acrobat on the field, so that's why Jeter gets more air time, not to mention Pujols is as charismatic as John Stockton. The long ball isn't as marketable on TV as you would want it to because the ball going over the fence gets more face time than the guy who hit it.

[nyjunc]

He doesn't play in New York or Boston

So what was the excuse for ARod before he became a Yankee? I guess that was the Seattle/Arlington Bias.

I can't stand the whining from opposing fans about the perceived NY bias.

Would it surprise anyone if Pujols used?

[love_that_reefer]

I can't stand how you can only read the words "New York" and not the word "Boston". Your homerism is disgusting! Its not a NY bias, its an EAST COAST bias. There is no "perceived" East Coast bias, its real and everyone knows it. Guess everyone is just a Yankee basher even though we are bashing the media! Sorry Leo, you,re now falsely lumped with me

[love_that_reefer]

I love the game of baseball and more attention the better, but let's face it, the exciting highlight reel plays are mainly on defense, especially over the wall catches or diving catches. Pujols isn't an acrobat on the field, so that's why Jeter gets more air time, not to mention Pujols is as charismatic as John Stockton. The long ball isn't as marketable on TV as you would want it to because the ball going over the fence gets more face time than the guy who hit it.

Pujols is charismatic which makes my point. No one knows he is!! He hardly gets any real press. He is not flashy but he has one hell of a sense of humor and his love for the game spews all over the field. Plus he is one of the most exciting ABs since Bonds left. I get to hear him on the radio with Mike Shannon before the games and he is a great interview. Its not about highlight reels, its about marketing. Pujols' game winning homeruns and hits always make the highlight reels, there is just no follow up. 30 seconds each night isn;t what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the five minute segments that are used on the Red Sox and Yankees or Manny being *****. Every baseball expert will tell you who the best player is, why aren't they putting him in the spotlight?

[rockin500]

That's my point rockin. Baseball hardly does anything to market the sport. Its not up to ESPN and FOX to do MLB any favors. MLB should push them but its not their doing. ALL ESPN and FOX do is complain when the Yankees and Red Sox don't make the playoffs and tell people not to care. MLB needs to get out and market their sport!! Put Pujols out there and let non-baseball fans know about this man's greatness. When was the last time you saw a baseball player on Dancing With the Stars or on a McDonald's commercial. All we get is Jeter in a Gatorade commercial. I see more NASCAR guys in commercials than MLB players!! Hell, they have Big Mac Land in Busch Stadium for christ's sake!! Selig needs to broaden his horizons and start taking lessons from the other sports. Everybody knows who football players are and they ****ing wear helmets the entire game. TO was in the NBA celebrity game, where was the MLB player? Pujols might not toot his own horn but MLB sure can.

baseball really doesnt need to market itself. It lets its game speak for itself. As for other leagues, the NFL markets teams, it doesnt really market players. The NBA only markets a couple of teams while focusing on the player, and I think the league suffers for that. And the networks go along with it.

the NFL certainly didnt market Taylor for the dancing with the stars stuff. That is all on the player.

[love_that_reefer]

Is that a joke? Have you seen the ratings come playoff time?? The World Series is the least watched championship out of all the major sports (sorry hockey, you're not a major sport anymore). Baseball definitely needs to market itself more now than ever with the poor economy and Arod's outing. The NFL does market players and they do it very well. The NFL makes household names out of these guys. The NBA markets players and game as well. All the big stars in other sports get all the major endorsements, baseball does not.

You honestly don't think the NFL had anything to do with Emmitt Smith, Jerry Rice, Jason Taylor and now Lawrence Taylor on Dancing With the Stars? Please

[missionhockey21]

I love the game of baseball and more attention the better, but let's face it, the exciting highlight reel plays are mainly on defense, especially over the wall catches or diving catches. Pujols isn't an acrobat on the field, so that's why Jeter gets more air time, not to mention Pujols is as charismatic as John Stockton. The long ball isn't as marketable on TV as you would want it to because the ball going over the fence gets more face time than the guy who hit it.

I agree here for the most part mofo. The only way I can see Pujols being treated like a true star if he was chasing a record that the casual fan would care about and follow, .400 or the single season HR record.

Pujols does his job every season and does it damn well. He is the complete batter, a batter that neither old-school or stat-head fans can find fault with. Him having a great game at the plate is nice and I am sure most fans recognize him as a premier talent, but ESPN showing his big run producing hits 120, 130 days a year just doesn't make exciting TV for most. Most would appreciate that kind of prowess at the plate but its not something that burns into their memory like a great defensive effort or another tally toward a record.

What baseball, and Pujols, has though is history. History, in my opinion, does not hold the same weight in other sports as it does with baseball. As a marketing grad, if I worked for the MLB, I'd promote Pujols along with a few other of the defining players of this generation in a historical comparison context. Put promos on ESPN, MLB Network, FOX, etc and open the promo with a famous player like a Babe Ruth and compare what he did to the point that Pujols is in his career. Make people realize that Pujols is a special player that we are lucky to see (or unlucky if you are a NL Central fan) and is the kind of guy you would want to be able to tell your grandkids about, that he is that good.

The fact that he isn't an over the top personality or a CF leaping over walls doesn't help him get time on SportsCenter, but I really don't know if the common fan knows just how good he is.

[love_that_reefer]

Baseball has their history but now the history, recent as it may be, is tainted. Pujols on Sportscenter is just one tiny aspect. The All Star Game will be held in St. Louis this year. This is the perfect time to promote the best player in the game. Baseball needs to put MLB players out in the public eye and get excitement for the game going at much higher rate. I am tired of reading the horrid ratings for playoff baseball games due to lack of interest. Baseball does not build any interest! Baseball has one major star with major endorsements and that is Derek Jeter. One stinking MLB star in the public eye?? That's awful!! Baseball is failing while the NFL blows by in a rocket ship. Baseball and basketball were king in the 80's. Then the NFL took major steps in marketing their sport and it is now America's most popular sport. Baseball did some good things to reunite interest with the Wild Card and interleague play but hasn't done anything since. I could do a lot better job than MLB is doing.

[missionhockey21]

The fabled history, the history our grandfathers told us about is not tainted. Comparing Ruth and Pujols as I suggested isn't exactly akin to having an ad where an image of Mark McGuire fades into an image of Albert Pujols with text to follow saying "Passing the torch to the next generation."

Baseball does need innovation to build interest in the game though, especially now during this time. The nation needs a true national pastime and the only game who can answer that call is baseball. Some of the great promotional efforts for the game was created during the Great Depression, like the All-Star Game. And you make an excellent point with St. Louis hosting it this year. This year's game should be the Albert Pujols show and the good he does on and off the field should be what fans most learn about leading up and during ASG weekend.