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ESPN Baseball Tonight | "Speed Trap"
May 12, 2003
Wieden + Kennedy/New York |
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"Lights. Camera. Baseball" always seemed like a good idea: Insert Karl Ravech, Peter Gammons and Harold Reynolds into baseball movie scenes and have some fun. Unfortunately, the three hosts are not funny people, and Baseball Tonight's image campaign could only muster warning-track power. Enter Bobby Valentine, the much-maligned former manager of the New York Mets. Apart from Valentine's brutally honest commentary on Baseball Tonight -- he's burning every baseball bridge he ever built -- the guy can emote. Mimicking Dennis Quaid's portrayal of pitcher Jim Morris in The Rookie, Bobby V. throws a baseball past a traffic sign equipped with a radar gun. It registers 76 miles per hour, a really bad number for a major-league pitching hopeful. Valentine's face says it all, showing the disappointment of a man who knows his dream is on a respirator. In the end, of course, the dream lives. The pitch actually clocked 96 -- a couple of flickering bulbs caused the discrepancy -- and Morris would later experience a cup of coffee with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. If ESPN is smart, Valentine will get more airtime on the show -- and face time in the advertising.
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| Credits: |
| Agency/Location |
| Wieden + Kennedy/New York |
| Executive Creative Directors |
| Ty Montague, Todd Waterbury |
| Art Director |
| Jesse Coulter |
| Copywriter |
| Kevin Proudfoot |
| Agency Producer |
| Temma Shoaf |
| Production Company |
| Epoch Films |
| Director |
| Stacy Wall |
| Director of Photography |
| Mott Hupfel |
| Editor |
| Jun Diaz/MacKenzie Cutler |
| Composer |
| Ray Loewy/Tonefarmer |
| Sound Designer |
| Peter Holcomb/Sound Lounge |
| Visual Effects |
| Matthew Monson/Schmigital |
| Principal Talent |
| Bobby Valentine |
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