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Thursday, June 07, 2007

Taco Bell Hopes to Find a “Million Dollar’’ Swing at the 2007 MLB All-Star Game

Think Outside The Bunco…

Taco Bell’s “Swing for a Million” promotion will be shown during FOX’s coverage of the All-Star Game’s pre-game ceremonies with one contestant receiving three attempts to “swing for the fences” from a tee at home plate with a real chance at walking away with some cash. One power slug of 280 feet on the fly and our contestant becomes an instant millionaire. Swings falling short of 280 feet may still win a heavy payout as a 255 foot blast will reward $250,000 and a 230 foot drive will secure $100,000.

“We love baseball and want to celebrate baseball’s fans by giving them a unique ‘inside the game’ chance they won’t soon forget,” said Bob Fulmer, interim chief marketing officer, Taco Bell Corp. “This is a fantastic opportunity for a fan to take the field with some of baseball’s biggest stars and get a shot at becoming a millionaire.”

Repoz Posted: June 07, 2007 at 12:00 AM | 25 comment(s)
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1. North Side Chicago Expatriate Giants Fan Posted: June 07, 2007 at 01:58 AM (#2395921)

Do I have to go to Taco Bell for this? Because that would be totally easy.

2. Tropical Storm Davis aka Quilvio "Ebola" Veras Posted: June 07, 2007 at 07:09 AM (#2395964)

I'd probably hit a worm-burner.

3. Slinger Francisco Barrios (Dr. Memory) Posted: June 07, 2007 at 07:27 AM (#2395977)

280' off a tee? That sounds pretty damned difficult. Can I maybe toss it up and hit it instead?

4. Fly is Part of the Landed Gentry Posted: June 07, 2007 at 07:53 AM (#2395985)

280 off a tee sounds almost impossible. At least give them an underhand slow-pitch softball pitch to hit.

5. RMc is the Commissioner of Baseball Posted: June 07, 2007 at 08:11 AM (#2395993)

Too bad this wasn't around at the '05 ASG; I would've taken the bat and beat Jeannie Zelasko over the head with it.

It would be hard for even major leaguers to hit a ball off a tee that far, wouldn't it?

6. Chad B. Posted: June 07, 2007 at 09:47 AM (#2396092)

Good luck, Jason Kendall.

7. Pl Msrkwks Posted: June 07, 2007 at 10:08 AM (#2396112)

I'd probably miss the ball.

8. Gonfalon Bubble Posted: June 07, 2007 at 10:13 AM (#2396119)

Yo quiero public humiliation.

9. SoSH U at work Posted: June 07, 2007 at 10:16 AM (#2396122)

Count me among the damn-near impossible crowd.

10. ellsbury my heart at wounded knee Posted: June 07, 2007 at 10:18 AM (#2396124)

I wonder if getting a running start would help or hurt you in hitting for distance. I imagine in hitting a ball off a tee it could help.

11. Jolly Old St. Neck Wound, Marching Through Georgia

Posted: June 07, 2007 at 10:23 AM (#2396132)

If you're not used to hitting off a tee it'd be easier to do it with a fungo swing, but 280 feet? That's like giving you a Harvard scholarship for getting a 1200 on your SATs. And if a woman gets chosen are they going to use a ladies' tee?

12. Cowboy Popup Posted: June 07, 2007 at 10:28 AM (#2396135)

What kind of bat is it? I don't think it would be that hard with a metal bat, but I can't be sure since I only hit off tees inside batting cages in high school and college. Who the hell knows with a wooden bat.

13. IronChef Chris Wok Posted: June 07, 2007 at 10:38 AM (#2396142)

I'd rather have Eric Milton throw at me.

14. Torn_cuff Posted: June 07, 2007 at 12:14 PM (#2396219)

Seriously. You're going to have to 1)have been working out very seriously and 2)have played competitive baseball for a very long time to hit a baseball off a tee over 280 feet. I would bet the 2nd condition automatically eliminates you from any chance of getting to play.

Hitting a line drive off a tee is easy. Hitting for distance off a tee, with a wood bat, is not easy in any way, shape, or form.

15. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Griffin (Vlad) Posted: June 07, 2007 at 12:20 PM (#2396224)

"You're going to have to...have played competitive baseball for a very long time to hit a baseball off a tee over 280 feet."

Speaking of which: Could you have done it, before you got hurt?

16. Karl from NY Posted: June 07, 2007 at 12:32 PM (#2396241)

Can we use a golf club for a bat? And a really short tee?

17. Dan Szymborski

Posted: June 07, 2007 at 12:46 PM (#2396259)

Running up to a tee with the bat isn't going to help you any more than jumping up just before a crashing elevator hits the bottom. You'll go a little faster, but you'll lose all proper mechanics of getting power behind a swing.

The biggest problem of hitting off a homer off a tee is going to be getting an optimal angle. It's very difficult to uppercut a ball off a tee and also transferring almost all the force of the swing directly to the ball.

A slow pitching machine would be much more fair, but, then again, that's not the purpose of the contest. Contrary to the headline, Taco Bell has no hopes of finding a million dollar swing. A random fan hitting it 280 feet off a tee? Might as well be a crooked carnival game.

18. Bernal Diaz has an angel on his shoulder. Posted: June 07, 2007 at 08:49 PM (#2397093)

At SABR 2008 there will be a Leg Press for Chicken Wings contest.

19. IronChef Chris Wok Posted: June 07, 2007 at 09:06 PM (#2397135)

At SABR 2008 there will be a Leg Press for Chicken Wings contest.

Primey

20. Random Transaction Generator Posted: June 07, 2007 at 09:11 PM (#2397144)

Yo quiero public humiliation.

Exactly. Someone at work said they'd love to try it, but I said the chances of me smashing the ball off the pitcher's mound (or worse, repeating my age 5 mistake of constantly hitting the tee and not the ball) make me think I don't want to be mocked for an entire day during the SportsCenter repeat cycle.

21. Mattbert Posted: June 07, 2007 at 09:21 PM (#2397153)

280 feet off a tee is an absolute bomb. I'd be willing to bet that the majority of major league hitters could not accomplish that feat in three tries, actually.

I'd have to go dust off my copy of The Physics of Baseball to get into specifics, but the take-home point is that a significant portion of the force responsible for a 400-ft home run is supplied by the pitcher. When hitting off a tee, the batter has to generate the same force all by himself. As I recall, this has to do with the magnitude of the force of the bat-ball collision itself, the time over which it is applied, and the degree of compression sustained by the ball as a result. But it's been a while...

22. Jolly Old St. Neck Wound, Marching Through Georgia

Posted: June 07, 2007 at 09:30 PM (#2397164)

Man, I must really be dumb. Is hitting a ball off a tee really that much harder than hitting it fungo-style? Wouldn't it be something that a pretty good hitter could master with a few days of practice, even if he hadn't done it before? Though I would imagine it would be a lot easier if you could adjust the height of the tee in order to get the necessary uppercut angle.

But if you could do that, the 280 ft. distance is nothing for any semi-athletic person under the age of 50 with normal muscle definition. Of course doing all this in front of a stadium full of people in only three tries might be a bit of a problem.....

23. walt williams bobblehead Posted: June 07, 2007 at 09:33 PM (#2397167)

Of course doing all this in front of a stadium full of people in only three tries might be a bit of a problem.....

It's easier if you take the right drugs.

24. Jolly Old St. Neck Wound, Marching Through Georgia

Posted: June 07, 2007 at 09:38 PM (#2397169)

280 feet off a tee is an absolute bomb. I'd be willing to bet that the majority of major league hitters could not accomplish that feat in three tries, actually.

I'd have to go dust off my copy of The Physics of Baseball to get into specifics, but the take-home point is that a significant portion of the force responsible for a 400-ft home run is supplied by the pitcher. When hitting off a tee, the batter has to generate the same force all by himself.

Then why do you always see obviously out of condition coaches routinely hitting pre-game fungos to the warning track? The difficulty has to come from the unfamiliarity of hitting off the tee itself. And 280 ft. is not 400 ft.

25. walt williams bobblehead Posted: June 07, 2007 at 09:51 PM (#2397174)

Would you use a normal baseball swing if all you cared about was distance? This is a situation where a 220 foot hit is no better than a complete miss.

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Taco Bell Hopes to Find a “Million Dollar’’ Swing at the 2007 MLB All-Star Game

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