Is there really any important difference between ads on the bases and ads behind the plate or on the outfield walls, or the big milk jug by the baggy, or the Cambria Home Runs and the Hormel Row of Fame and the Subway Select Seats, or the ball-drop game which lets Dodge roll out a truck onto the field 81 times a season, or the DQ Cap Nights and the ad on the back of your AJ bobblehead, etc.??

This is just plan, flat-out, wrong. Baseball bud, it's time to GO!

Spiderball says loudly and clearly that the game is for sale to any commercial interest, and for as relatively little as $50,000.

It also says MLB thinks it's okay to pay more to one team than another, even though the teams are supposed to be equal partners in the league. The disparity among teams in TV, radio and merchandise income already contributes to competitive imbalance and a stubborn attempt to narrow that gap is a big reason why many of us can't watch the Twins on TV right now. Another precedent that favors the Yankees, Red Sox, et. al., in the revenue stream department is a step in the wrong direction.

The game is already hopelessly commercialized in many respects and there probably won't be any turning back in those areas. But additional steps down that slope are not required and still can be prevented.

In answer to frightwig, yes. There's a line. Simple as that. I'm not sure where the line is, but being a Weiner Winner is on one side and ads on the damned bases are another. Admittedly, it's a shrewd marketing move because, although most fans wouldn't even be able to see ads on the base, the whole ado about it is generating tons of free press.

It's the slow reading players I worry about. How many of them will be thrown out at third as they slowly round second trying to sound out "psychological thriller" in the latest ad for some movie?

In unrelated news, check out who's going to be at Treasure Island Resort and Casino on May 30th:

http://www.treasureislandcasino.com/entertainment/calendar.asp

The Island is calling.

Even MLB acknowledges that "there's a line." As the story indicates, they'll have similarly "logo-ed" pitchers rubbers and home plates positioned over the actual ones prior to game time and remove them for the plain white ones prior to first pitch.

MLB has established a line. Just further south than most of us are comfortable with.

They also toyed with the idea of placing the ads on the screen behind home, eventually passing because they felt players might be distracted. Players??!?!?!? How about fans? In what many people regard as the prime seating locations, you'd have had trouble shifting your focus between the ad copy and the players beyond.

Maybe if we allow each player to get his own ad deal and wear the patch on his uniform, we could have alternate standings and instead of rooting for a geographic team, you could root for the Coke All-Stars. (Dave Parker, honorary captain)

I would add to the discussion if I wasn't so depressed about the A's. The Yankees are evil and mean.

You know, this whole baseball business would be a lot simpler and more profitable if they'd just play the games in an empty arena. They could cover each seat with advertising, each player could wear an advertisement on his breeches, where it could be clearly seen on TV, and the commercial breaks could be a lot longer. The fans screw everything up.

You're having a tough year, Russell. The Giants 5 games out in last place and the A's 5 1/2 out. But it's still early in the season. There's a lot of baseball left to play. Take it one game at a time and the good Lord willing, we'll win some ballgames. Um... sorry. I got carried away.

Batgirl, you're breaking my heart... you're shaking my confidence daily. I thought Legovision and "Troy" had the jump on MLB with the whole supplemental-revenues-via-movie tie-in thing. Besides, wouldn't Torii in a Spiderman outfit scaling the center-field wall to rob some NL East player's home run be instant 13-to-25 demographic magic? It would also, like, totally win an ESPY or something.

Fans of, say, Manchester United, *should* feel goofy for wearing a huge Vodafone logo on the fronts of their replica jerseys, but for some reason they just don't. For them, it's become as part of the background as Brad Radke or Carlos Silva acting as the "Carrier starting pitcher." Let's all resolve to savor every Geico Moment of this era of relative purity while it lasts, 'cause our sacrosanct fields of play are about to be just as 'mersh as the rest of the world's.

Regarding Vodafone...soccer matches run on television without commercials. For a sport in which play doesn't really stop (besides at halftime), having logos on the player's shirts is a trade I think most fans are willing to make in order to not have commercials interrupt their match on TV.

Having said that, baseball (with at least 17 breaks built into each game) doesn't seem to be in that situation. But I thought that MLB was considering putting sponsored logo patches on team's sleeves anyway. The players union has apparently balked because the team sponsors may clash with the players individual sponsors--something European soccer players don't seem to have a problem with.

Question: Is the Spiderman logo going to be on homeplate, too? Seems like the pitcher wouldn't like that.

You are so slow. I knew about this yesterday morning. Get on the ball Batgirl :P

I just BatGirl retains some sanity and keeps the logos off of Legovision. I would hate to see little Spiderman logos strewn across that sacred green sheet of plastic.

I think Bat Girl and Spidey should do battle.

I'll put my money Bat Girl.

Soccer games on TV aren't interrupted by commercials, but there are banner ads on the screen. ESPN/ABC prefers to post ads for 10-minute intervals next to the in-screen scoreboard. FSW has periodic pop-up banners at the bottom of the screen. That's in addition to the halftime commercials and billboards surrounding the pitch.

Most English grounds, however, have yet to cave in to the "naming rights" revenue streams. Put Vodofone on the shirts, but letting a tech company buy the right to put its name on Old Trafford would be over the line for them, I suppose.

Each of us has a line of tolerance for ads, but it is rather personal and arbitrary. Why do the ads on the backstop still bug me, while I feel that the Citgo sign beyond the Green Monster adds to the charm and character of Fenway Park? In fact, it disturbs me that the new Monster seating stand with its new understated signage now obscures the flashy gas station sign. Is there a rational, consistent reason for that? No, not really.

I'm hoping after a runner slides into base, he loosens the sticker a little bit, and as he stands up, he pulls the whole thing off, and then go crowd goes wild, like he's holding up the head of a defeated foe.

Anyways, I won't catch any of that happening since I'll be in NYC that weekend and the Yanks are removing the stickers during the game. They play the Padres that weekend.

There are other ways that Spiderman and Basball can live together.

Basbeall said it wanted to market to kids. Why don't they have give aways at the stadium. Spiderman Bobbleheads! Maybe giants foam fingers caught in a web. Maybe signs that fans can wave during the game

My tv screen is cluttered enough with the box in the corner with the score and inning. I really hate that thing. And the constant scrolls on the bottom (which are full of ads anyway). I don't want to see advertisements on the bases too