Trachsel Seeking Endorsements

Steve Trachsel couldn’t beat Mark McGwire, so he’s looking to join him.

The Chicago Cubs’ pitcher became a part of baseball infamy Tuesday night by allowing McGwire’s 62nd home run. Now he’s looking to stand alongside the St. Louis slugger in commercials and advertisements, his agent, Alan Meersand, told Bloomberg News.

Trachsel is taking a different approach than pitchers Ralph Branca, Al Downing, and Tracy Stallard, who gave up historic homers and initially didn’t want to be reminded of their misfortune. Trachsel, a career .500 pitcher at 51-51, could earn thousands in endorsements and quadruple his signing fee at baseball card shows, Meersand said.

“Steve’s teammates were coming up to him saying giving up the homer was like getting a $10,000 a year annuity for the rest of his life,” Meersand said. “Steve’s waiting to find out what endorsement opportunities might be available.”

So far, no one has called, Meersand said, and Trachsel’s agent hasn’t spoken with McGwire’s representatives about a joint venture. Robert Cohen, McGwire’s agent, didn’t return phone calls seeking comment.

Unless McGwire cooperates, Trachsel won’t significantly increase his endorsement earnings, said Bob Williams, president of Burns Sports Inc., a Chicago-based company that hires athletes as endorsers.

“I could see him landing with a company that targets a younger, hipper audience and has a history of using lighter, comedy-related ads prior to this,” Williams said. “Maybe the two could appear in a milk ad. A lot of it will depend on whether Mark is willing to do it.”

Until two months ago, Downing said he hadn’t made any money from allowing Hank Aaron’s record-breaking 715th home run in April of 1974. Downing said he was paid to appear with Aaron in July at a baseball card show in Raleigh, North Carolina, although the left-hander wouldn’t disclose his fee.

“I didn’t get paid as much as Hank, I know that,” Downing said.

The pitch will allow Trachsel, who has endorsement agreements with Nike Inc. and Rawlings Sporting Goods Co., to possibly sign more agreements as a pitchman and generate fees between $5,000 to $10,000 to appear at card shows, Meersand said. Trachsel usually gets $2,500 to sign autographs at shows, Meersand said.

Downing has said he was depressed after giving up Aaron’s record homer. Branca has said he didn’t want to go out in public after giving up a three-run homer to Bobby Thomson in 1951 that became known as “the shot heard ‘round the world.”’

Stallard, who gave up Maris’s 61st home run in 1961, has consistently declined interview requests made through the Major League Baseball Players Alumni.

Meersand said Trachsel isn’t concerned that he’ll be remembered for surrendering McGwire’s 341-foot line drive home run that broke Roger Maris’s record of 61 homers in 1961.

“Steve isn’t worried about it,” Meersand said. “He’s not the first to give up a homer to Mark. He threw a good fastball that wasn’t even a strike. It wasn’t nearly as bad as some of the moonshots McGwire has hit this year.”