CC Sabathia Supports Print Media

That's quite an ad taken out by CC Sabathia in today's Cleveland Plain Dealer, thanking Clevelandities "for 10 great years," for their love and support, etc., etc. Also I think there are some movie reviews in there, and today's Dilbert (newspaper space is at a premium these days). From Cleveland.com:

The Cy Young Award-winning lefty pitcher was traded to Milwaukee earlier this month — before he likely would have bolted town as a free agent once the season was over. "You've touched our lives with your kindness, love and generosity. We are forever grateful!" reads the copy in the $12,870 black-and-white ad. "It was something that was in the works almost from the moment he was traded," said Kathy Jacobson, the pitcher's spokeswoman in San Francisco.

But here's where we kind of go through the looking glass with this. How often does an ad run in the print edition of a newspaper, and on that same day, a story about that ad runs on that paper's web site? And in that online story is a reproduction of the ad, which you click on to enlarge so that you can clearly see the whole thing. Meaning that the ad that cost 12 grand in the paper is available for free online. How about a TV news story about the online story about the print ad? And then there's this post. God I need an Advil. At any rate, no matter how one looks at it, it was a very warm gesture which I'm sure pulled at the heartstrings of Indians fans everywhere. From the post's message board:

Well he didn't love the community enough to take the gazillion dollars he was offered before the season to stay in Cleveland. So take your full page ad, and use it to wipe your HUGE posterior CC. See ya later Captain Cash. — Posted by kuyuga on 07/30/08 at 10:39AM

CC Sabathia Buys Plain Dealer Ad To Thank Indians Fans For Their Support [Cleveland Plain Dealer]