Louisville Slugger is Ridiculous

[HawaiiSportsNut]

Talk about corporate greed.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/mlb-whiffs-by-banning-competitors--pink-bats-on-mother-s-day-013725273.html?utm_content=buffer6cab1&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=linkedin&utm_campaign=Buffer

[mdube16]

Re: Louisville Slugger is Ridiculous

I read this and really think LVS is getting bad PR for no reason. They paid for an exclusive corporate sponsorship with the money being donated to charity. The other companies can still do pink bats with restrictions but the ignored the rules which they knew and caused a stink.

[Phil316]

Re: Louisville Slugger is Ridiculous

So basically Louisville Slugger only wanted people to see their brand being used on Mother's Day. They paid for the banning of all other logos on pink bats for Mother's Day.

That is why I noticed a crap load of players NOT using pink bats today.

[R. C. Walker]

Re: Louisville Slugger is Ridiculous

According to the article:

"To get that designation, Hillerich & Bradsby, the parent company of Louisville Slugger, made what one source deemed "a sizable donation" to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the league's charitable partner. The terms of the donation included other manufacturers being able to make pink bats but not stamp the bat with their logos."

Sounds to me MLB is partially to blame as well as the other bat brands riding the Pink Bat advertisement train on Louisville Sluggers dime.

[Mark17]

Re: Louisville Slugger is Ridiculous

So who gets hurt? The charity gets a sizeable donation, enough players are out there with pink bats to call attention to the cause, and H&B, a company I personally love, receives some advertising.

Honestly, some people seem to get upset over almost anything these days. Does it really matter to breast cancer awareness if not every single player uses a pink bat? I look at the situation and see it as win-win-win all around.

-Mark

[Phil316]

Re: Louisville Slugger is Ridiculous

Breast cancer awareness loses because now the players who would have used a pink max bat or Sam bat used their normal bat. That would bring BCA less money at MLB auctions would it not?

[Mark17]

Re: Louisville Slugger is Ridiculous

Enough to offset the "sizeable donation"?

[Phil316]

Re: Louisville Slugger is Ridiculous

Enough to offset the "sizeable donation"?

Who knows what they donated.

[frikativ54]

Re: Louisville Slugger is Ridiculous

Breast cancer awareness loses because now the players who would have used a pink max bat or Sam bat used their normal bat. That would bring BCA less money at MLB auctions would it not?

+1.

The whole pink bat thing is about everybody making that personal connection to Mother's Day and breast cancer. Instead of getting to share their stories, ballplayers who were under contract by other bat companies were effectively silenced by Louisville Slugger.

You say it's only a bat? A bat is a key signifier of Major League hitting prowess. You say that they could have used other companies' bats, but not shown their logos? To not allow other companies to publicly associate their brand with breast cancer awareness is patently absurd.

I've lost all respect for LVS, no matter how large the donation was. This is not just a donation; it is a blatant attempt by a company to silence brands, as well as ballplayers not under their contract.

[Mark17]

Re: Louisville Slugger is Ridiculous

+1.

Instead of getting to share their stories, ballplayers who were under contract by other bat companies were effectively silenced by Louisville Slugger....

Are you serious? Is using a non-pink bat really the same as being "effectively silenced"? Were the players who didn't use pink bats not allowed to speak to reporters?

If displaying pink is so important, can't they wear pink sweatbands, pink batting gloves, use pink fielding gloves, pink catchers' gear, drive a pink car, or for that matter, use pink bats on other days of the season?

Equating the use of a pink bat on one day of the season as making some huge statement, to me, is really a stretch. Does anybody really think the players using non-pink bats don't love their mothers, wives, daughters, or don't care about breast cancer research?

I think you're getting worked up over nothing. A quality, class company, synonymous with baseball for over 100 years, sponsors the day with a "sizeable" donation, and some people "lose all respect" for them. Wow. I thought what H&B did, sponsoring the day, was pretty good of them.

[GoTigers]

Re: Louisville Slugger is Ridiculous

So you are all mad at H&B.. Are you ignoring that this tradition started with them and was their brain child? So every other bat manufacturer jumps on board.. And MLB jumps on board.. And the ball maufacturer, and shoes, and so on.. And it all started with H&B all these other companies pile on and increase sales from an HB idea.. Not to mention the millions raised for breast cancer, and when it all comes full circle and HB wants an exclusive agreement to something they started.. Everyone piles on. If anyone's to blame its MLB and Susan G Komen for putting a price on it in the first place.. But this is Susan G Komen we're talking about..

[Birdbats]

Re: Louisville Slugger is Ridiculous

So you are all mad at H&B.. Are you ignoring that this tradition started with them and was their brain child? So every other bat manufacturer jumps on board.. And MLB jumps on board.. And the ball maufacturer, and shoes, and so on.. And it all started with H&B all these other companies pile on and increase sales from an HB idea.. Not to mention the millions raised for breast cancer, and when it all comes full circle and HB wants an exclusive agreement to something they started.. Everyone piles on. If anyone's to blame its MLB and Susan G Komen for putting a price on it in the first place.. But this is Susan G Komen we're talking about..

Jimmy is absolutely right. H&B started the pink bat/breast cancer awareness tradition. I'm not sure if something like a bat color can be trademarked or copyrighted, so I'm not sure what steps they could have taken to protect their intellectual property. Obviously, other companies copied what H&B started. So, H&B "bought" the exclusive rights to an idea that was theirs to begin with. You might not like the idea that fund-raising and disease awareness can be "branded" or "owned" by one organization, but it has happened over and over. I'm pretty sure Komen has gone to court more than once to protect it's "Walk for the Cure" brand/event. Philanthropy almost always has ulterior motives in the business world, which means H&B isn't sinister, it's just a typical American business.

[Phil316]

Re: Louisville Slugger is Ridiculous

I can see both points.

[G1X]

Re: Louisville Slugger is Ridiculous

Having been employed by a major non-profit organization for many years, let me share that viewpoint.

I would think that the donation was quite sizeable and would easily offset the money raised through MLB Auctions. I am sure if any of the other bat makers would have been first to step up to the plate and made the same (or similar) offer, Susan G. Komen and MLB would have accepted that company's offer and everyone else would have been shut out (including Louisville Slugger) in the same manner.

I can assure you that this is nothing but a win-win for Komen. Not only do they get the money guaranteed upfront, they still get the publicity through MLB. It is nothing that Louisville Slugger would (or should) be ashamed of as they are contributing funds to a worthy organization. It's about raising money, and I am sure that the deal made perfect sense to Komen or they would not have entered into the agreement.

At the Washington Nationals game today, pink was everywhere as nearly all the players were wearing pink wristbands, and some were wearing pink sleeves while a few wore pink shoes. Pink Komen advertisements flashed on the stadium scoreboards throughout the game. At the Nationals' game-used stand, there were "team-issued" pink bats for sale of several prominent Nats players. One sold while I was standing there. Bases from the game with pink writing were also available at the GU stand. I am making the assumption that the sales from the pink bats and bases were contributed to Komen. Most non-profits can only dream of this type of exposure at a major sporting event, much less 14 other venues on the same day.

This is BUSINESS folks! I know that some collectors tend to have a negative reaction almost anytime the "B" word rears its head in our hobby, but that door opened a long time ago and it is never going to be shut again - like it or not.

Here is the question I ask any of you.
1. For those of you who make a regular donation to Susan G. Komen (outside of MLB Auctions), will you still donate to Komen after learning of this deal?
2. For those of you who still play baseball or softball, will this deal encourage you to stop using Louisville Slugger bats or other products?

I can't answer for any of you, but this deal will not affect my donations to Komen in the least bit, and it won't stop me from using my favorite C271 bats.

Remember what is most important here.

Mark Hayne
Gridiron Exchange
gixc@verizon.net

[joelsabi]

Re: Louisville Slugger is Ridiculous

Having been employed by a major non-profit organization for many years, let me share that viewpoint.

I would think that the donation was quite sizeable and would easily offset the money raised through MLB Auctions. I am sure if any of the other bat makers would have been first to step up to the plate and made the same (or similar) offer, Susan G. Komen and MLB would have accepted that company's offer and everyone else would have been shut out (including Louisville Slugger) in the same manner.

I can assure you that this is nothing but a win-win for Komen. Not only do they get the money guaranteed upfront, they still get the publicity through MLB. It is nothing that Louisville Slugger would (or should) be ashamed of as they are contributing funds to a worthy organization. It's about raising money, and I am sure that the deal made perfect sense to Komen or they would not have entered into the agreement.

At the Washington Nationals game today, pink was everywhere as nearly all the players were wearing pink wristbands, and some were wearing pink sleeves while a few wore pink shoes. Pink Komen advertisements flashed on the stadium scoreboards throughout the game. At the Nationals' game-used stand, there were "team-issued" pink bats for sale of several prominent Nats players. One sold while I was standing there. Bases from the game with pink writing were also available at the GU stand. I am making the assumption that the sales from the pink bats and bases were contributed to Komen. Most non-profits can only dream of this type of exposure at a major sporting event, much less 14 other venues on the same day.

This is BUSINESS folks! I know that some collectors tend to have a negative reaction almost anytime the "B" word rears its head in our hobby, but that door opened a long time ago and it is never going to be shut again - like it or not.

Here is the question I ask any of you.
1. For those of you who make a regular donation to Susan G. Komen (outside of MLB Auctions), will you still donate to Komen after learning of this deal?
2. For those of you who still play baseball or softball, will this deal encourage you to stop using Louisville Slugger bats or other products?

I can't answer for any of you, but this deal will not affect my donations to Komen in the least bit, and it won't stop me from using my favorite C271 bats.

Remember what is most important here.

Mark Hayne
Gridiron Exchange
gixc@verizon.net

nice post. business is business.

seems as though Max Bat was given a memo not to send bats with label and ignored the mandate from MLB. The could have still delivered the pink bats to the players just without the company logo.