Pablo Sanchez’s bat inspired by the Kelce brothers’ conversation to be released in limited edition

What started as a casual conversation between brothers Jason and Travis Kelce on their podcast “New Heights” turned into a baseball bat themed after Backyard Sports character Pablo Sanchez. The bat, which was used by Bobby Witt Jr. in a Major League Baseball game earlier this season, is now getting a limited edition release from Victus Sports.

Inspired by the Kelce brothers’ conversation, Victus developed the “Secret Weapon” bat to highlight one of the main characters from the popular video game series centered around children playing baseball, football and basketball that dates back to 1997. In Backyard Baseball, Pablo Sanchez is the most recognizable figure in the game for his ability to hit long home runs and play any position on the diamond.

ALL RIGHT @newheightshow @JasonKelce I LISTEN pic.twitter.com/KJ3TwcRUqw

– Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) January 31, 2024

The original plan was simple: deliver a Pablo Sanchez-themed bat to Jason Kelce in Philadelphia (home of him and Victus Sports), but when Lindsay Barnett, CEO and founder of Playground Productions, the company behind Backyard Sports, officially announced in August that Backyard Sports was make his returnthe plan pivoted. Victus Sports connected with Barnett and they quickly saw the potential to align the restart of play with the release of the bat.

Major League Baseball’s Players’ Weekend, where players express their love for the game’s youth, presented another opportunity, however. After considering several players, including New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe and Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper, both of whom use Victus bats, they decided to get the Royals shortstop from Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr., a young player known for his dark eyes and sunglasses. go with his dynamic play and Backyard-style charisma, bring the “secret weapon” to the big leagues.

Players’ Weekend began on August 16, and Sanchez’s birthday, according to Backyard tradition, was two days later on August 18. Witt Jr., brandishing the “secret weapon” on the 16th, home run against the Cincinnati Redssending the Bat and Victus into the social media spotlight.

“We knew each guy would have some sort of custom gear, so we made sure to use the ‘secret weapon’ at the start of the weekend and take pictures on the field with the bat,” JB said Greer, founder and president of Hustle Sports Group, which represents Witt Jr. “Then we put photos out on different social media channels for increased visibility. From there, what we couldn’t control was Bobby’s performance, but him going 430 feet with it just added fuel to the fire.

Victus marketing coordinator Doug Trimble recalls that this performance with their “Secret Weapon” bat is the most viral to date – even surpassing their pencil bat, which was used by Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott and became an instant hit, selling nearly 2,000 copies. units.

Victus also partnered with the Call of Duty video game franchise and created a Phillie Phanatic-themed bat, but these were never released to the public. This Backyard Sports collaboration represents a first for Victus in this regard.

The “Secret Weapon” bat will be available on October 4, just before Backyard Baseball 1997 becomes available on October 10 to stream on Steam, an application that allows remote play on phones, tablets, PCs or televisions, for the first time Since. its rebirth.

Victus will produce only 50 numbered bats, retailing for $430, matching the distance of Witt Jr.’s home run. The bats, designed by Victus head designer Bruce “Bat King” Tatem, used a stencil to illustrate the natural grain of the wood through the face of Pablo Sanchez. Each bat will come in a themed box featuring characters and graphics from the Backyard Sports franchise, complete with Pablo Sanchez trading cards designed by Lou Wes, graphic designer and illustrator at Victus Sports. Of these, seven of the 50 cards will be special “Cracked Ice” Refractors, matching Witt Jr.’s uniform number. The themed box will also contain a collectible, giant poster-sized version of the card.

Wes leaned into nostalgia by evoking Backyard Sports and designing the cards, poster and themed box.

“For me, the most nostalgic cards always had a solid color background and a classic layout,” he said. “Those were the cards I coveted the most as a kid in the ’90s, so that’s what I leaned toward. We went through several iterations and finally came up with the final layout. We used a marble as a central background element to break up Pablo’s main colorways. We also made sure to highlight the Bat King’s “Secret Weapon” bat that Bobby Witt Jr. scored with and introduced additional game elements like the Bombers logo and Backyard Sport mouse cursor.

This release marks the first time Victus has combined a physical product with collectibles, but the company is already looking to expand these types of narrative collaborations.

Tatem says his favorite aspect of this limited release, however, is introducing Pablo Sanchez and Backyard Baseball to a new generation.

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(Top photo: Victus Sports)