1983 RealSports Major League Baseball Schedule

[JayAre]

I recently acquired a 1983 RealSports Major League Baseball Schedule. It's an ad with the 1983 schedule for two MLB teams; the ad also provided information on a sweepstakes that Atari was running, along with a list of local, participating Atari retailers in and around the two teams' cities.

 

I'm trying to identify which publication(s) this ad would have appeared in. It seems to have been a magazine, since the ad has staples holes in it. And perhaps it was the centerfold, since the ad is four consecutive pages. I originally thought that it would have appeared in a national sports magazine, like Sports Illustrated, for example. But now I think it might have appeared in a local publication instead. Here's the reason. The ad I have shows the schedules for the Royals and Cardinals. Rom's Atarimania site has the same ad (scan attached), but with the schedules for the Twins and Brewers. It seems that each ad paired up teams that were in close proximity to each other, geographically speaking. Maybe Atari did this to kill two birds with one stone and could place the ad in a local publication with distribution that covered both teams' cities. I contacted all four of these MLB teams and heard back from the Twins and Cards, but neither organization knew anything about the ads. I'd like to hunt down a copy of the original publication with the ad intact. And also to determine if similar ads were made for the remaining MLB teams.

 

Does anyone out there know which publication(s) this ad might have appeared in? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

ATARI Baseball Schedule.pdf

Edited February 6, 2019 by JayAre

[+Atari_Warlord]

It may have been an insert in a Sunday newspaper or a regional print of Sports Illustrated. The last page seems to be a place to co-market all the places that sell Atari around that area of the country.

[JayAre]

It may have been an insert in a Sunday newspaper or a regional print of Sports Illustrated. The last page seems to be a place to co-market all the places that sell Atari around that area of the country.

Warlord, thanks for your response. That makes sense. I'll try getting some information relating to the types of publications you mentioned. Thanks again for your help.

[atarifan88]

I wonder why they chose to list schedules for Minnesota & Milwaukee? Milwaukee I understand because they finished they went to the World Series in 1982. Why not include St. Louis instead whom they played?

[+atari2600land]

They spelled J.C. Penney wrong!

[Love Cowboy]

I wonder why they chose to list schedules for Minnesota & Milwaukee? Milwaukee I understand because they finished they went to the World Series in 1982. Why not include St. Louis instead whom they played?

 

Since the Twin Cities and Milwaukee are fairly close to one another, my guess is this was a local publication somewhere in that area, not a national publication. Note where the OP says he has a copy of the same ad, which does have St. Louis, along with Kansas City

[roadrunner]

Brew Crew!!

[JayAre]

An issue of the Inside Atari newsletter (which was distributed to Atari retailers) indicates that this 1983 RealSports MLB schedule was included as a centerfold insert in the following magazines:  Sports Illustrated (4/25/83) and SPORT Magazine (June 83).  With this info., I was able to track down the schedules for all the MLB teams in 1983, with the exception of the Expos & Blue Jays.  Maybe Canada was excluded from this promotion.

 

As I mentioned in my original post, for the most part, it seems that Atari paired up teams that were in proximity to each other, in order to cover multiple markets with just one schedule.  The most glaring exception to this is the pairing of the Mariners & Braves; I don't know if you could have chosen two teams that were farther apart.

 

The first 4 scans below are an example of a complete insert (for the teams representing the great state of Ohio).  For the remaining schedules, I scanned just the portion which indicates the team(s), followed by a scan of the back of the insert, which lists Atari retailers in those areas, including neighboring states.  You guys might want to take a look at the ones that correspond to where you grew up, as you may recognize some of those retailers.

 

By the way, if anyone has any other schedules not shown here (i.e. with different team combinations or the Canadian teams), please let me know, as I'd like to know if I'm missing any.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[+cvga]

That's really interesting. I wonder why they paired Seattle and Atlanta also. I guess there weren't enough National League teams in the Northwest. I also noticed that there was another version with Baltimore and Atlanta paired together. Maybe Atlanta was a popular choice due to all their games being broadcast on TBS.

[ledzep]

On 1/30/2021 at 1:41 PM, JayAre said:

The first 4 scans below are an example of a complete insert (for the teams representing the great state of Ohio).  For the remaining schedules, I scanned just the portion which indicates the team(s), followed by a scan of the back of the insert, which lists Atari retailers in those areas, including neighboring states.  You guys might want to take a look at the ones that correspond to where you grew up, as you may recognize some of those retailers.

 

How cool!  Ads back then were much better.

 

Is it possible for you to scan the full page for the Dodgers/Padres example?  My brother would love that.

[JayAre]

9 hours ago, cvga said:

That's really interesting. I wonder why they paired Seattle and Atlanta also. I guess there weren't enough National League teams in the Northwest. I also noticed that there was another version with Baltimore and Atlanta paired together. Maybe Atlanta was a popular choice due to all their games being broadcast on TBS.

CVGA, you bring up a good point.  I just noticed that the Braves appeared a total of three times in these schedules - more than any other team.  Like you said, probably due to the team's popularity, from its games being broadcast nationwide on TBS.  And also that it was pretty much the only MLB team in the southeast in 1983.

 

Weren't the Braves known as America's Team back then?  Although I think the Cowboys laid claim to the name first.

Edited February 1, 2021 by JayAre

[+cvga]

1 hour ago, JayAre said:

  And also that it was pretty much the only MLB team in the southeast in 1983.

 

 

Yeah, even growing up in the midwest, I was surprised that there weren't any MLB teams in Florida given its population, spring training home for most teams back then and the popularity of baseball in Caribbean in general. Hard to believe the Braves were the only team around and that they were in the National League West with the Reds while the Cubs and Cardinals were in the East lol.

Edited February 1, 2021 by cvga

[JayAre]

1 hour ago, cvga said:

Yeah, even growing up in the midwest, I was surprised that there weren't any MLB teams in Florida given its population, spring training home for most teams back then and the popularity of baseball in Caribbean in general. Hard to believe the Braves were the only team around and that they were in the National League West with the Reds while the Cubs and Cardinals were in the East lol.

You're right.  It's interesting the way the divisions were aligned back then.

 

8 hours ago, ledzep said:

Is it possible for you to scan the full page for the Dodgers/Padres example?  My brother would love that.

Here's the scan you requested, Zep.

 

If anyone would like to see the complete scan of any other schedules, just let me know.