Terrible

When will the marketing end? When will our worship of consumerism stop? Even our national pastime will be sullied:

In a move that has purists howling, Major League Baseball has agreed to decorate its bases -- and pitching-mound rubbers and on-deck circles -- with a spider-web pattern as part of a promotion for the release of Sony Corp.'s "Spider-Man 2" next month.

I grant that baseball teams are a business venture, needing to make money to stay alive. I also grant that sports are a form of entertainment, much like the movie it will soon promote. What I do not agree with is what seems to be an intrusion on what is a pleasant form of escapism.

Baseball is that a sport that transcends time it takes us back to other times because as Terence Mann, played by James Earl Jones in the movie, Field of Dreams, sums it up:

The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again.

So very true. As a form of escape, baseball recalls the times past where we enjoyed warm summer evenings at the Ravine, bundled up against the chill air of the 'Stick or knocked back a cold one in the bleachers at Wrigley. For a movie promotion to intrude into the game is to remind us of the reality that we seek to escape, if only for a few precious hours.

UPDATE: FoxNews.com with a story and a picture of the ad. It also notes that pink and blue ribbons will be on the bases on Mother's and Father's Day, respectively, to raise awareness for breast and prostate cancer, respectively (duh). I'm still against sullying the bases.