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Fans may not be able to curb their enthusiasm over Larry David’s latest gig.
The funnyman reprises his role as the voice of late New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner in a new ad for the 2024 Topps Bowman Draft set of cards. David, of course, famously portrayed Steinbrenner on “Seinfeld,” voicing the character as a manic and unreasonable presence while viewers could only see the back of Steinbrenner’s head.
The commercial opens with ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith asking former Denver Broncos quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Famer John Elway how the Yankees drafted him ahead of former San Diego Padres great Tony Gwynn in 1981.
“From my understanding, it was all Steinbrenner,” Elway replies.
The video then jumps back to 1981 with a Yankees executive making the pitch to draft Gwynn. Steinbrenner is miffed, though, at the idea of drafting Gwynn, who, in addition to playing baseball, was a basketball player at San Diego State University.
Steinbrenner makes it clear he’s eyeing Elway, who played baseball and football at Stanford University.
“It’s gotta be Elway. I want him out in right field with that cannon of an arm,” he says.
The executive tries to stay the course, adding Gwynn projects to be better than even Keith Hernandez, who, of course, famously guest-starred as himself on a Season Three episode of “Seinfeld.”
“Keith Hernandez? I don’t like that big mustache,” Steinbrenner fires back.
Steinbrenner refuses to budge, noting he likes Elway’s name, even when the executive points out Gwynn is a great name, with the word “win” being part of it.
“DiMaggio. Mantle. Ruth. It’s gotta be Elway,” Steinbrenner responds.
He then orders his men to draft Gwynn before an alarm goes off.
“No more time to chat. It’s calzone time,” he says as he sends his employees out of his office. The calzone is also a reference to a Season Seven episode of “Seinfeld” in which George gets Steinbrenner hooked on calzones.
The video then goes back to present day and Elway waking up from a nap on his couch as his alarm goes off.
Elway was indeed selected by the Yankees six spots ahead of Gwynn in the second round of that year’s Major League Baseball draft and even wound up playing in some minor league games for the franchise before ultimately settling on playing in the NFL, where he would win a pair of Super Bowls. The set of cards features one of Elway on the Yankees, even though he never played a game for them.
Meanwhile, things also worked out pretty well for Gwynn, who would become one of the best hitters in baseball history while playing all 20 years during his career for the Padres. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007 before dying in 2014 at the age of 54.