TAMPA, Fla. -- Hall of Famer Fred McGriff had a good laugh when he was reminded of his popular Tom Emanski commercials before serving as the Braves’ manager in a Spring Breakout game against the Yankees on Saturday night at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
When McGriff got to the plate to exchange lineup cards, Aaron Bossi, the Yankees’ High-A Hudson Valley manager, unbuttoned his jersey and displayed a T-shirt that featured the words “Back to Back to Back” and included an image of McGriff from the commercials that were popular a couple of decades ago.
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“I saw that and said, ‘We’ve got to beat them bad now,’” a smiling McGriff said before Atlanta’s 8-3 win.
The Back-to-Back-to-Back message was in reference to the commercial including a mention that the instructional video was used by the AAU’s back-to-back-to-back national championship team.
Viewers of a certain age can recite McGriff’s endorsement by heart: “This is the instructional video that gets results!”
“Man, what a down-to-earth guy Fred McGriff is,” Bossi said before the game. “We’ve all had the pleasure of watching growing up on TV – just such a pure hitter and ballplayer. It's going to be really cool to go out there and shake his hand for the plate meeting.”
Little did everyone know how funny the handshake would be.