Here’s one reason to get excited for Giants baseball after the free agency flops in the offseason — the team won’t be wearing that cursed Cruise patch on their uniforms this year.
Pitchers and catchers reported today, as your San Francisco Giants begin their Cactus League Spring Training in Scottsdale, Arizona. And even though the Giants struck out in free agency when Shohei Ohtani went to the Dodgers, there’s always reasons to be optimistic and root for the team when a season begins. Now there’s another reason to root for the Giants this season, as the San Francisco Business Times reports that the Giants won’t be wearing that Cruise patch on their uniforms this year.
The San Francisco Giants are moving on from a patch with embattled robotaxi company Cruise's name on it affixed to their uniforms. Here's what to expect instead. https://t.co/abzl1DsMu7
— San Francisco Business Times (@SFBusinessTimes) February 15, 2024
Okay, there’s still going to be a car company ad on the left sleeve of the team's uniform. They switched their sponsorship to a Chevrolet ad. GM owns the embattled self-driving car company Cruise, and also owns Chevrolet. (GM owns several automobile brands, including Buick, Cadillac, and Hummer.) But a Chevrolet ad is probably going to be a lot less loathsome to Giants fans. You know, baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet.
Giants went 19-34 after the Cruise patch announcement. That’s insane.
— Brandon Gallawa (@meshuggadaddy) February 15, 2024
And as many fans noted in their conspiracy theories, there may have been a Cruise patch curse that ruined the Giants’ season last year. Sports Illustrated crunched the numbers and confirmed the team had a 60-49 record when they announced the Cruise sponsorship deal, but went 19-34 after that August 3 announcement of the Cruise patch.
And since this is all General Motors money, the Cruise patch could come back next season. The sponsorship deal runs through the 2025 season. But Cruise appears to be in limbo right now, with its operations suspended indefinitely, the feds and the DMV investigating them, and GM substantially reducing their investment in the company.
As the Business Times points out, this is not the first time that a Giants sponsorship deal has gone sour because of the sponsor’s external problems. Back in 2002, the ballpark’s scoreboard had a huge sign for a certain energy company called Enron. The team had to get a federal bankruptcy judge approve the sign’s removal while Enron was collapsing in scandal.
Image: MLB.com
