Description
Book SynopsisExamines the connection between baseball and advertising, as both constructors and reflectors of culture. Roberta Newman considers the simultaneous development of both industries, paying particular attention to the ways in which advertising spread the gospel of baseball and baseball helped develop consumers ready for advertising.
Trade Review"Whether you have an interest in baseball, advertising, history in general or pop culture Newman’s
Here’s the Pitch: The Amazing, True, New, and Improved Story of Baseball and Advertising is both an informative and entertaining read."—Mark McGee,
NINE"An excellent piece of historical research and sophisticated analysis."—Richard C. Crepeau,
Aethlon"[
Here's the Pitch] makes for entertaining reading for the serious fan interested in the nexus of the history of advertising and the national pastime."—Bob Komoroski,
Inside Game"Advertising can be subliminal, but its underlying influence among consumers is as strong today as it was when Cobb and Ruth urged fans to buy the products they were endorsing."—Bob D'Angelo,
Sport in American History“
Here’s the Pitch is a delight on every page. Dr. Newman offers a fascinating mosaic of American culture through the frame of the ‘nearly conjoined twins’ of baseball and advertising. . . . Readers will learn, reminisce, and laugh. Fans of baseball, American history, or advertising will find this an accessible book to add to their libraries, but only after loaning it and recommending it to their friends and associates. . . . Highly recommended.”—Robert Bellamy, professor of media and sports at Duquesne University
"Newman considers the role of product endorsements in the creation of the culture of celebrity, and of celebrity baseball players in particular, as well as the ways in which new technologies have impacted the intersection of the two industries."—Jason Schott,
Brooklyn Fans"Nine out of ten doctors recommend that you don't leave home without
Here's the Pitch. . . . Newman tells how these two industries were ideal mates in impacting the USA's collective consciousness."—John Vorperian, SABR Lajoie Chapter newsletter
"
Here’s the Pitch should be referenced in any study of the relationship between the grand old game and the world of consumer product promotion. It is a serious review of two industries that grew up together and remain important to each other."—Dennis Snelling,
New York Journal of Books“Studying the history of baseball without studying the history of its advertising partnership is like trying to learn rocketry without understanding rocket fuel. Newman offers an insightful history of baseball’s alliance with advertising that is both entertaining and accessible. Her authoritative analysis is the go-to source on the symbiotic bond between two American obsessions.”—James R. Walker, author of
Crack of the Bat: A History of Baseball on the Radio"You've got what's likely the definitive project dedicated to hardball and hawking, where "Mad Men" meet yesterday's Max Muncies."—Tom Hoffarth, fartheroffthewall.com
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Here’s the Pitch!
1. Hustlers, Hucksters, and Snake-Oil Salesmen: Two Industries Emerge
2. “It Pays to Be Personal”: Baseball and Endorsement Advertising in the First Golden Age
3. Breakfast of Champions: Tales of Depression-Era Baseball and Advertising
4. Pitching in Black and White: Baseball, Advertising, and the Color Line
5. Baseball, Hotdogs, Apple Pie, and Chevrolet . . . and Beer, Cigarettes, Cat Food, and Margarine: Tales of Television Advertising
6. “Let’s Just Say It Works for Me”: Major League Baseball, Viagra, and the Business of Pharmaceutical Advertising
7. Four Things We Love: Advertising, Identity, Big Papi, and the Image of the Afro-Latino Ballplayer
8. “Driven” to “RE2PECT”: Derek Jeter and the (Re)Branding of “All-American”
Epilogue: Pitching in the Future Game
Notes
Bibliography
Index
