This is Your Baseball On Drugs

Minutes after Barry Bonds tied Hank Aaron's record of 755 home runs, this commercial from The Partnership for a Drug Free America aired.

Oh, the irony.

Japan Runs on Dunkin' and Dice-K

Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Red Sox's pricey Eastern import, made his home debut last night along with many ads targeted to the hordes of Eastern fans tuning in for the game.

Dunkin' Donuts replaced its traditional signage in the right-center-field bleachers with one that reads, in Japanese, "Welcome to Fenway Park." There were also a few ads behind the plate written in Japanese.

Dice-K mania also extends outside the frenzy of Fenway. There's Nike's TV spot and Bank of America's billboard touting them as the "official sponsor of the gyroball," Dice-K's mystical pitch. Sorry, no "One Bank" references here. I don't want to get hit with a cease and desist.

Red October

The St. Louis Cardinals are the 2006 world champs! Going to the World Series was everything I hoped it would be, even though I was cheated out of my destiny. I had tickets for game five, but due to the rain, my game became game four and game five was played the next night. So I wasn't there in person, but I did see them win it from the biology lab at Visitation High School. I got tickets to my sister's musical, so we watched her and then ran into the other room to see the end of the game on TV. That'll make a good story for the grandkids.

I don't have all of the photos up yet, but you can get a little preview here. I'll try to get all of them up soon, but first, I've gotta get caught up.

I'm Going to the World Series

It's official. I'm going to fulfill one of my life-long dreams tomorrow night. I'm off to St. Louis to see my Cardinals play in the World Series! The picture above shows you where I'll be sitting.

After 22 long years of hardship, failure and infancy preventing me from seeing my team in the World Series, my day has finally come. However, it turns out these aren't the toughest tickets in town.

My sister is in the Sound of Music and it's sold out. It's ridiculous. I got tickets to the World Series, but I can't get in to see my little sister's musical. So I know one of you out there has two tickets you'd be willing to part with. You can't have my World Series tickets, but anything else is on the table.

MLB Urns and Caskets for Die-Hard Fans

On the eve of the Game 7 in the NLCS, we learn that Eternal Images signed a licensing deal with Major League Baseball to emblazon the logos of all 30 teams on designer caskets and urns. Although this is completely ridiculous, it proves how a brand can become a part of someone's life, or death in this particular instance.

As America's past time, baseball and the teams we love or hate occupy a special position in many hearts. Any other brand would gladly sacrifice their firstborn child for this kind of embrace and devotion from the public.

As for Eternal Images, the company has already received more than 1,000 inquiries about the product since June. So rest assured, branded coffins are on the way. And if I die of agony tonight because my Cardinals can't get it done; you'll know where to put my remains.