Fernando Tatis Jr. the latest victim of Dairy Queen curse
Feb 28, 2020; Peoria, Arizona, USA; San Diego Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr against the Chicago Cubs during a spring training game at Peoria Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Fernando Tatis Jr.’s PED suspension rocked the baseball world. It also led to discussion about a rather weird series of coincidences that involved the San Diego Padres shortstop.
In April, MLB announced a major sponsorship with Dairy Queen that included a series of commercial spots with star players. Four MLB stars were initially included in the run of Dairy Queen commercials: Bryce Harper, Cody Bellinger, Tim Anderson, and Tatis Jr.
Four months later, it’s fair to say DQ did not quite get its money’s worth. A number of Twitter users amusingly pointed out that the four players in the ads have all had brutal seasons due to injury and underperformance, with Tatis’ suspension capping it all off. Bob Nightengale of USA Today laid it out nicely.
The Curse of Dairy Queen? They selected 4 players this season to market their ice cream and sandwiches:
Bryce Harper: Broken thumb, out since June 26.
Tim Anderson: Broken finger, out 6 weeks.
Cody Bellinger: Hitting .210 with 668 OPS.
Fernando Tatis: Suspended for PED use.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) August 13, 2022
Sure, this is all a silly coincidence, but what a coincidence it is. It is inevitable that some stars are going to get hurt or underperform during the season, but the odds would dictate that at least one of the four players involved would turn out fine.
Presumably, the MLB-DQ partnership is a multi-year deal, so there will probably be a new set of ads for 2023. If this narrative catches on, the league might have a tough time finding players willing to partake, though that did not seem to hurt the ManningCast among top NFL figures.