The Mariners' Ken Griffey Jr. and the Orioles' Cal Ripken Jr. were named MLB's most marketable players in THE DAILY's inaugural survey on the topic. Finishing a distant third, fourth and fifth were the White Sox's Frank Thomas, the Dodgers' Mike Piazza and the Mariners' Alex Rodriguez. DRUM ROLL, PLEASE: THE DAILY surveyed more than 30 leading sports marketers, TV and ad agency execs, MLB corporate sponsors and baseball columnists to determine the hottest MLB players. All were asked: "Who do you consider to be the five most marketable Major League Baseball players?" Our top vote getters:
| MOST MARKETABLE | % TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS | % OF BALLOTS APPEARED ON |
| 1 Ken Griffey Jr. | 91% | 97% |
| 2 Cal Ripken Jr. | 74% | 97% |
| 3 Frank Thomas | 21% | 43% |
| 4 Mike Piazza | 20% | 47% |
| 5 Alex Rodriguez | 19% | 37% |
| 6 Derek Jeter | 18% | 37% |
FAR AND AWAY: Both Griffey and Ripken were named on all but one ballot, with Griffey receiving 91% of the total individual points possible and Ripken netting 74%. Moreover, 77% of our respondents named Griffey No. 1, while 17% chose Ripken as No. 1 and 60% listed him as No. 2. A point value was assigned to each vote and there were a maximum of 150 points available to any one player. JUNIOR LEAGUE: National Media Group Co-CEO Peter Kaplan, who voted Griffey and Ripken No. 1 and 2, said, "Griffey and Ripken are the gold standard -- nobody else combines talent and personality in as potent a package." Sports Illustrated's "Inside Baseball" writer Tim Crothers, on Griffey: "He's the guy who will be, for the next decade, the face of baseball." John Filippeli, Senior Coordinating Producer for "MLB on Fox," said Griffey "has the potential to bring the game to heights it has never seen before." Regarding Ripken, Athletes & Artists Dir of Marketing Michael Levine, said, "Nobody offers more of a well-rounded package today in baseball for a sponsor. He's better than the Energizer Bunny, more reliable than a Duracell battery and tougher than a Chevy truck or Master Lock. Even at his age, he's still cool to kids." Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci, on Ripken: "I think he's as close to a Joe DiMaggio that we'll probably see." UP AND COMERS: While Griffey and Ripken dominated the leaderboard, a number of players are poised to join MLB's marketing upper echelon, as only a few percentage points separated Thomas, Piazza, Rodriguez and others. Thomas received 21% of the total votes possible, followed by Piazza with 20% and Rodriguez with 19%. CNN/SI anchor and CNN "Baseball '97" host Mike Galanos, on Thomas: "If you can't market a guy who has the nickname 'The Big Hurt' you can't market anybody." Millsport Senior VP Jeff Shapes said Piazza "will benefit from Fox ownership through TV cross promotions" if the sale of the Dodgers goes through to News Corp. A&A's Levine said Rodriguez's "clean-cut, wholesome image makes him one of the keys to baseball's growth." Fox's Filippeli called Rodriguez "the next 'Junior.' He possesses all of the tools and is a marketing dream." SIXTH MAN: Finishing sixth in the survey in only his second year in the majors, the Yankees' Derek Jeter has positioned himself as the most marketable player on one of America's most glamorous teams. SI's Crothers: "Jeter, of all the guys on the Yankees right now, seems to be developing the most All-American image on the team. He's certainly the most outgoing, the most personable." THE BIG PICTURE: Fox Sports Net Exec VP & COO Tracy Dolgin: "Major League Baseball has arguably the game's greatest ambassador in Ripken and currently possesses one of the most talented and personable groups of young stars in its history. These players are the catalysts that baseball needs to rely on in order to help grow this sport into the next generation." SI's Verducci: "The players are in place, but now they've got to get the machine in place to market them. But I don't see baseball doing that. ... Nike actually does a better job promoting baseball than baseball does." Sports & Sponsorships President Scott Becher suggested that MLB players may be more marketable on a regional level than a national one: "Marketers have been quick to leverage the local and regional appeal of players. There are some notable examples -- David Cone in New York, Alex Fernandez in South Florida, Hideo Nomo in L.A. -- where a personal story/achievement becomes embraced by a community." But some weren't convinced of MLB's star power. Sports business writer Dan Wasserman of the Newark Star- Ledger said, "This group is really lacking compared to the NFL and NBA. Too many big names have bad reputations and checkered pasts." In Toronto, Michael Lysko, Molstar Sports and Entertainment's Senior Manager/New Business Development: "Typically, team sport athletes in Canada face an uphill battle in the search for endorsement dollars. Baseball players in particular, face the negative images in the marketplace that linger from the strike, combined with the poor public perception of ball players in general." THE BEST OF THE REST: The Braves' Chipper Jones and the Padres' Tony Gwynn led the next group of players mentioned after Jeter. Hideki Irabu also received votes, despite having pitched only three games in the bigs for the Yankees. Among other notables, USA Today's Rod Beaton said of '96 AL MVP Juan Gonzalez: "The Latino population in the USA is growing quickly. Juan has personality to burn and he is a great player." CNN/SI's Galanos, on the Red Sox's Mo Vaughn: "Mo Vaughn is a marketing treasure -- a great player who is an even better person off the field" (THE DAILY).
