THE MARKETING OF : WALLY JOYNER : Angel Rookie May Be Hot but He Also Is Wholesome and Isn’t Chasing Pitches

So it’s a Wally World, huh?

That’s what the bed-sheet banners hanging from the upper deck inform all who pass through Anaheim Stadium, curious for a personal viewing of Angel first baseman Wally Joyner, rookie phenom.

Well, truth in advertising is apparently a concept taken slightly less seriously than the Texas Rangers in Anaheim these days. Real fame, in America, in the mid-1980s, is measured by the length of your product line, by your Q rating, by the number of your commercials currently in heavy rotation on MTV.

And, so far, Joyner has drawn the collar on Madison Avenue.

Go to your local supermarket today and you will not find:

--The paperback version of “The Wally Joyner Story.” Or the hardback.

--Wally Bars.

--WallyVision.

--Air Joyner footwear.

--A Wally doll.

--A Wally workout tape.

Right now, you cannot buy a Wally anything. So what gives? Isn’t this kid, who drinks milk and smiles and hits home runs and wins many games for the California Angels, the hottest new baseball property to hit Hollywood since the first wave of Fernandomania?

Well, yes and no.

As evidenced by the 980,000 fans who voted Joyner into the American League’s starting All-Star lineup, the interest is assuredly there. Joyner’s agent, Steve Freyer of Sports Advisors Group in Boston, said the endorsement offers for his client continue to pile up in his office.

“Our company has represented a lot of big names--Greg Luzinski, Jerry Reuss, Larry Bowa--but none has ever exploded like Wally has,” Freyer said. “Wally has met up with every kind of shyster in the world--’Hey, have I got a deal for you.’ And Wally, being the nice guy that he is, sits and listens to them.

“Now, he finally tells them: ‘Look, it sounds great, but why don’t you call my agent?’ ”

So far, virtually all offers for Joyner have been put on hold. Striking while the iron is hot may make sound business sense, but Freyer and Joyner have agreed to step lightly into the land of billboards and 30-second spots.

There are a number of reasons for this.

One is Joyner’s newness to the public eye--and to public life.

“Wally has been playing (pro) baseball basically only for two years,” Freyer said. “We’re concerned about conserving his strength and his resources. Let him concentrate on baseball and do the other things after the season. The fewer significant issues he has to deal with outside of baseball during the season, the better.”

Said Joyner: “If someone wants me to do a commercial and I like the idea, there’d be no problem doing it. But not now. I imagine that will come after the season. Right now, my job is to play baseball.”

Another reason is Joyner’s religion. Joyner, who attended Brigham Young University, is Mormon and automatically has to reject certain endorsement offers that come his way.

“I had a chance to do something for the California State Lottery, but because that’s gambling, I couldn’t do it,” Joyner said. “Also, alcoholic beverages, tobacco.”

But Joyner’s faith doesn’t prohibit him from pitching products in front of a camera altogether. “Donnie and Marie Osmond did Hawaiian Punch, didn’t they?” Joyner noted.

So what type of endorsable goods meet the Wally seal of approval?

“Oh, maybe ice cream,” he said with a grin. “Or a Honda commercial, like the one Jim McMahon does. I think that’d be a lot of fun. But I could never do it as good as him.”

Joyner and McMahon are both BYU alumni, but all similarities between the athletes abruptly end there. Wally on a motorcycle?

Outrageous!

Freyer laughs at the thought.

“We also represent (Montreal Expos infielder) Vance Law, who is Mormon, and a broadcaster who’s Mormon,” Freyer said. “They say you can’t imagine the shame they bear from the fact that McMahon is from BYU.”

With Joyner, Freyer admits that he has a definite marketing strategy in mind, with a strong emphasis on wholesome.

“In my mind, Wally Joyner can become the next Steve Garvey,” Freyer said. “Obviously, he’s got a long way to go before he even approaches Steve Garvey. But the image is there.

“He’s a family man, a classic young guy with two little girls. He treats people nicely. With all the publicity about Len Bias and Don Rogers and contract disputes and holdouts, I think people would welcome a legitimate star with those qualities.”

Some plans are already in the works.

A Wally World T-shirt has been designed and approved, with the production line already rolling. The shirts are scheduled to be sold during the next home stand at Anaheim Stadium.

A commemorative plate, recognizing Joyner as the first rookie to be voted into the All-Star game as a starter by the fans, has been commissioned. “It’s a limited edition,” Freyer said. “There will be only 313 of them.”

Why 313?

“That was his batting average at the All-Star break,” Freyer said.

This week, Joyner filmed a couple of commercials for Big Brothers of America and appeared as a judge on a segment of “Dance Fever,” to be aired in the fall.

According to Freyer, Joyner also has been asked to return to “The Today Show” when the Angels visit New York later this month. Joyner first appeared on the show for an interview with Bryant Gumbel during the All-Star break.

Even plans for a quickie biography, a la Fernando Valenzuela and Carl Lewis, have been considered.

“We were contacted by a publisher, but we put the idea in limbo,” Freyer said. “For one, it’s too late for Wally to start a diary; it’d have to be all recall from spring training on. Secondly, it’d be apple pie and motherhood, steadfastly centered around baseball or his family.”

Sorry, no glimpses into the secret lives of the Angel bullpen. Just Wally and ball.

Not exactly the kind of stuff that sends publishing houses scrambling for the checkbook.

So, the world will have to wait for the full-scale marketing of Wally Joyner. But that’s also in line with the blueprint.

“There was tremendous sentiment on the part of the Angels to have the Wally World shirt out before the (All-Star) break,” Freyer said. “But we held off because we thought it presumptuous and, theoretically, it could backfire on us. What if Wally hits a sudden trough or slump? We want to take it slowly but, naturally, hopefully without recriminations down the road.”

Joyner, however, admits a curiosity about being in front of a television camera.

“It’s no different than giving an interview,” he said. “If you can play baseball in front of 60,000 people, you can do that.”

So, maybe there will be a Honda commercial in Wally Joyner’s future.

Is the world ready for . . . Wally Wheels?