Bryce Harper To Have a Sponsor

When it comes to baseball, we know of two types of sponsors. We know the Josh Hamilton kind and we know the kind that spends money branding themselves on stadiums, concession stands and players.

What? Players?

That’s right, players. Companies are now into sponsoring players.

A company called Miss Utility will be sponsoring each of Washington Nationals’ super prospect Bryce Harper’s at-bats in Single-A this season.

Miss Utility is a service for construction workers to contact for information before digging into underground utility mains.

Can’t make this stuff up, folks.

Here are some snippets from the press release courtesy of Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post:

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“Prior to each of Harper’s at-bats, the Hagerstown Suns will announce, “Now batting, Bryce Harper, brought to you by Miss Utility, reminding you to call 811 before you dig.”

They jumped at the opportunity to be connected with the top prospect in Major League Baseball, knowing that the window of opportunity as a nonprofit to be associated with an athlete of this caliber is very limited.”

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I can somewhat see the correlation of “digging into the plate” and reminding people to call 811 before they dig, but it’s a stretch. However, it wouldn’t shock me if this was the tip of the iceberg in terms of sponsoring players.

If this works for Miss Utility and it improves their business, what would stop other companies from doing the same with other minor league superstars or what would prevent Pepsi, Visa, or Road Runner sponsoring every Carl Crawford stolen base?

I think it’s a distinct possibility that this could happen in the future.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg