Baseball backs down on Spiderman promotion

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NEW YORK, May 6 (UPI) -- A surge of controversy Thursday ended Major League Baseball's plan to place artwork from the movie "Spiderman 2" on bases in ballparks next month.

One day after unveiling the plan as part of a reported $3.5 million marketing deal, MLB reversed itself and announced Thursday that the promotion will be limited to signs in stadiums and trailers that will be shown on video boards.

The promotion will take place on the weekend of June 11-13.

"The bases were an extremely small part of this program," MLB president and chief operating officer Bob DuPuy said. "However, we understand that a segment of our fans was uncomfortable with this particular component and we do not want to detract from the fans' experience in any way."

The New York Yankees almost immediately scoffed at the promotion and announced they would put the ads on bases at Yankee Stadium only during batting practice and only for one game instead of the intended three.

Baseball purists decried the plan, with former Commissioner Fay Vincent calling it "inevitable but awful."