During the MLB postseason there appears to be “a specialized subset of the brand police: the Gatorade SWAT Team,” according to Paul Lukas of BLOOMBERG NEWS. Gatorade has been the "official isotonic beverage" of MLB since '90, and this year the Gatorade-only policy is “spelled out on posters that have been showing up in the dugouts during the playoffs, just in case the players forget.” MLB players and coaches during pre- and postgame press conferences "have been instructed to drink out of Gatorade-labeled cups -- even if they're not drinking Gatorade.” Nationals manager Davey Johnson last week was “instructed to pour his bottle of water into a Gatorade cup.” Yankees LF Raul Ibañez reportedly was to do the same during a postgame press conference. But MLB Business PR Dir Jeff Heckelman in an e-mail wrote, "Nothing is being done differently this year, versus past years, and it's very common practice across all sports in this category. The only difference this week is that a couple of tweets from reporters happened to make note of it." Still, Lukas writes, “It kind of makes you wonder what's in those orange-and-white jugs in the dugout. Are they really filled with Gatorade?” Gatorade spokesperson Karen May said, "Some teams may have water in one of the coolers as an option for players not taking an active role in the game. But MLB and the teams endorse our products, so the coolers are typically filled with Gatorade products" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 10/17).
