It all started with Klinger

Benjamin Hill had a blog post about five California League teams that had their hats used in an episode of Life. He expands on the placement of minor league caps and logos with this story:

Minor Leagues, major exposure

In recent years, there have been many instances of Minor League team logos finding their way into television and movie productions. However, the most famous and enduring example of this relatively recent phenomenon occurred over three decades ago. Unlike any other famous American success story, this one involves cross-dressing, the city of Toledo and the most popular television show of all time.

I am speaking, of course, about the Toledo Mud Hens achieving worldwide fame as a result of regularly being featured on "M*A*S*H." It goes without saying that the individuals involved can tell the tale much better than I.

"I grew up in Toledo, and all through childhood I was a fan of the Mud Hens," explained actor Jamie Farr, who played Corporal Klinger on "M*A*S*H." "I was a member of the 'Knothole Gang,' in fact. They called it that because us kids would pay 50 cents for the privilege of watching the game through a hole in the fence. I left the city in 1952, however, and did not return for years after that."

Nonetheless, Farr's Toledo roots were well known in Toledo, and Mud Hens general manager Gene Cook decided to capitalize on that fact.

"As the series went on, Farr started to get a lot of attention for the fact that his character was wearing women's clothing week after week," remarked Joe Napoli, the Mud Hens current vice president and general manager. "So Gene Cook sent a Mud Hens care package to the show, as if it was to Corporal Klinger in Korea. The care package had a jersey, cap, T-shirts and souvenirs, and basically said 'Well, if you ever decide to stop dressing up as a woman, here's all this Mud Hens stuff you can wear.'"

...

Back in Toledo, the club was enjoying a remarkable boost in merchandise sales.

"What used to happen before the advent of the internet was that we'd receive native-tongue mail orders from all over the world," recalled Napoli. "So we'd run over to the university to have them interpreted. Now, with the internet, we still receive orders from all over the world, but it's not as much fun as getting an envelope full of Japanese yen."

The Life tie in makes sense, because the show -- like a lot of others -- is set in California.

Brad Seymour, the general manager of the Lancaster JetHawks, is the first to admit that his team benefits from its proximity to the heart of the entertainment industry.

"Quite honestly, a lot of this sort of thing falls in our lap and is a product of being located in Hollywood's backyard," remarked the GM, whose club unveiled a new logo and uniforms this past month. "Our facility [Lancaster's Clear Channel Stadium] has been featured several times in movies, music videos and commercials, and that has often been the result of having a film office in our community that actively markets us as a resource that is available to production companies."

"This is an offshoot to our business. In the instance of this episode of 'Life,' we have to make sure the community is aware that this is going on. When the city gets recognition such as this it is a source of pride, like when the video for [Trace Adkins'] "Swing" was filmed in the stadium. And, internally, we have to be prepared for a bump in merchandise sales. A successful example of product placement that occurred in the past was the television show 'McBride,' starring John Larroquette. He lives nearby, was aware of the team and decided to make a JetHawks hat a part of his character. We got a lot of great publicity because of that."

Like Seymour, Modesto Nuts general manager Mike Gorrasi is grateful for the fact that his team is located near the entertainment industry.

"That's a great benefit of being here in California," he said. "With 'Life' in particular, we got a phone call from the show, and were told that one of the writers specifically asked for Modesto. We sent along a couple different styles of hats as well as extras for the cast and crew. 'Nuts' is a unique, fun name, and I think that also helps us stand out a little bit. We track our website numbers, and we definitely have had a spike in visitors since the episode aired."

There is more about Modesto's tie in with 7th Heaven and a few others. The Office had a brief glimpse of a Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees logo in a recent episode, too.

Are there any current shows set in Wisconsin? Past shows that I can think of would be obvious...Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, That 70's Show...Picket Fences...um, at least one episode of The X-Files. Dave Foley's character on NewsRadio was from Wisconsin. There has to be an Appleton/Northeastern Wisconsin tie-in with some current television show for some of that sweet Hollywood action.