There's a fine line between marketing genius and fuel for nightmares, and it's likely that the Washington Nationals breached that limit on Sunday.
In celebration of being on Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN, the Nats ran a special race during the fourth inning, replacing the Racing Presidents with Racing Analysts.
The results were, well...it's best to see for yourself:
--Sunday Night Baseball hits #WashingtonDC tonight for #Cubs #Nationals at 7p ET.⚾️There will be a special version of the @Nationals Presidents Race in the 4th, featuring the @ESPN Sunday Night Baseball's broadcast team. A look at the mascots for Jess, Alex, Buster and Matt. pic.twitter.com/RUvVeMz93S
— Ben Cafardo (@Ben_ESPN) May 19, 2019I am going to have nightmares about this pic.twitter.com/TGNyNJtrPh
— Danny (@recordsANDradio) May 20, 2019BUSTER WINS THE PRESIDENTS RACE! ------ Get it, @Buster_ESPN. Amazing. #SundayNightBaseball pic.twitter.com/D6gPOvUx4t
— Pam Chvotkin, Storyteller (@reddusfoximus) May 20, 2019Sunday Night Baseball brought to you by Pixar pic.twitter.com/wVrYulrpUV
— Michael Clair (@michaelsclair) May 20, 2019Not one single analyst should be proud of the way they were caricatured. These are objectively bad caricatures, and everything that the Racing Presidents are not.
The Racing Presidents are recognizable impressions of famous people who are long-since dead. You don't have to be a history buff or baseball fan to know who they are. They would be recognizable in any context.
Meanwhile, you could watch Sunday Night Baseball every week, have limitless guesses, and never correctly identify Alex Rodriguez, Jessica Mendoza, Matt Vasgersian and Buster Olney.
A quick scan of Twitter turned up these reviews:
@suzjdean: It’s so cringy and creepy
@jonfeng1: This is a family game. Who signed off on this?
@BrandyBeansH: The Lord has abandoned our nation's capital
So, there you have it. A swing and a miss.
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