Watch Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw lead off MLB’s 2017 ad campaign
Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw as the faces of baseball?
Trout, the Angels’ center fielder and two-time American League most valuable player, and Kershaw, the Dodgers’ ace and three-time National League Cy Young Award winner, are the first two players you see in the commercial spot that launches the 2017 Major League Baseball advertising campaign.
The spots are designed to showcase “the suspense, twist and turns and must-see moments that can be recapped, teased and talked about like a season of the most entertaining show on television,” according to the league. MLB is expected to formally release this spot on Monday.
MLB’s new advertising campaign for the 2017 season »
“This season on baseball, Mike Trout goes to work,” the spot starts, as viewers see Trout grimacing through a workout routine that includes lifting a tire.
“Clayton’s mad, and he’s throwing like it,” the spot continues, as viewers see Kershaw firing a fastball for which the radar gun reading is “DANG.”
The spot features some of baseball’s brightest young personalities, including Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo of the Chicago Cubs, Mookie Betts of the Boston Red Sox, Carlos Correa of the Houston Astros and Francisco Lindor of the Cleveland Indians.
However, the first face viewers see is that of a grizzled veteran: beloved Angels athletic trainer Rick Smith, in his 40th season on the team’s training staff.
Follow Bill Shaikin on Twitter @BillShaikin
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