Major Leagues -- Minor Markets

 

It was the high point of Worth Sports Co.'s spring tour: Bryant Gumbel, of NBC-TV's "Today" show, resplendent in the inevitable navy blazer and grey flannel slacks, interviewing Jess Heald, on the sidelines of the Yankees spring training camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., about the Swing Ray. "It won't sell bats to the major leaguers," Heald acknowledged later. "By the time they reach that level of play they know what is the best bat for them." But for the millions of Americans watching the "Today" show it was another indication of the exciting research that Worth Sports Co. puts into its bats. And that promotional value -- more than product sold -- is the point of sending the Worth van to visit the major league camps.

For the past three seasons Worth vans have made a limited foray into the world of professional baseball. "It's no problem getting major leaguers to use the product," bat division manager Frederick Juer says. "They need good wood, and since the wood-bat business is only half of what it used to be, less timber is being cut. So there is a scarcity of major league timber." Worth currently supplies some bats to 20 to 30 players, including the Philadelphia Phillies' Mike Schmidt and the Detroit Tigers' Lance Parrish, who last year set a home-run record for catchers. Unlike other bat manufacturers, however, Worth hasn't tried to get players to sign contracts or endorse bats with an autograph. "The cost is unreasonable," Juer explains. "And historically a player will use what he likes and advertise what he's paid to advertise."

"You can't get excited over spending a lot of promotional dollars for professional baseball, because of the limited value of what it can do for you," Heald agrees, although he acknowledges the promotional boost of the "Today" show story on the Swing Ray. "And the amount of goods we're able to sell pretty much offsets the costs."

Besides bats, those goods include pitching machines and junk baseballs for "ball days," the junk baseballs with which Chuck Parish once built the company.