Mark Littell's Nutty Buddy Video

[Mass Haas]

Ah yes, this must be the off-season, with posts like this.

 

I was going to place this in the coaches' news thread, but it really deserves a thread of its own.

 

The always unique Helena pitching coach Mark Littell filmed this for a new protective cup he developed called the "Nutty Buddy".

 

I believe this was filmed in 2004 in Helena.

 

Make sure you have sound on, the give and take between Littell, former Helena trainer Masa Koyanagi, who was in Brevard County last year, and, in Littell's words, the "sweet-looking little thing, Lacey" is priceless. Check out the giggling and laughter throughout the two-minute clip.

 

This really belongs on YouTube -- it's one of those links that could make the rounds pretty quickly, based on its entertainment value.

 

thenuttybuddy.com/

 

"I'm not a transvestite" -- Littell (classic)

 

Thanks to Ben Lipson of Top Prospect Alert for the "find".

[jschris]

Thanks for the great find! Oh, man. Was that for real?

 

Hilarious!

[brewswinga2]

"You don't feel it directly in the ah, testicles."- Chris Sabo

[mls4]

No added insight, but this is unbelievably funny...

[heresrobin]

Everybody should be happy to know that this video made it on VH1's "Best Week Ever." And yes, I am ashamed that if I happen to come across that show I sometimes watch it.

 

But seriously Littell, it's pretty hilarious when the camera pans down on him at the beginning only to find that he does not have any pants on. It then turns into an episode of "Jackass" when he stands on the two coolers in front of a pallet. Well done Mark.

[Mass Haas]

No snickering allowed -- it's an award-winning design:

 

www.idsa.org/IDEA2006/gal...&cat=4

 

Notice the "client" listed on that page; how did VH1 find this clip?

[Mass Haas]

Just saw the show -- yeah, still funny on TV as opposed to the web, and you have a few more opportunities to see it through this Monday, here's the schedule, all times Eastern:

 

www.vh1.com/shows/schedul...esID=12240

 

Littell's clip and the associated "celebrity comments" run about 15-20 minutes into the show.

 

Of course, the clip has nothing to do with this week, as in the "Best Week Ever".

 

One of the show's producers has to be a Brewerfan reader, or one of our readers launched this on You Tube:

 

VH1 Comment Screen:

 

www.bestweekever.tv/2006/...ll-player/

 

You might not remember major leaguer Mark Littell (most likely because he?s primarily known for being a mediocre Kansas City Royals pitcher back in the late 70?s), but this commercial for his athletic support product ?The Nutty Buddy?, is pretty unforgettable. In less than two minutes, Littell sexually harasses a ?sweet-looking? high school girl named Lacey, randomly tells us he?s not a transvestite, repeatedly refers to his ?cajonies?, hoists himself atop two Igloo water coolers wearing tight spandex shorts and a backwards batting helmet, and voluntarily takes a 100-mph fastball right in the junk, all to demonstrate the effectiveness of what is ostensibly an average athletic cup, and all under the watchful gaze of Masa Koyanagi, the ?Asian trainer? whose purpose is never clearly explained. The Nutty Buddy comes in three sizes: ?The Boss?, ?The Hog?, and ?El Jefe?. I don?t know what it means, but some reason I feel like I should purchase the Spanish one.

[M Skjellyfetti]

I actually saw it yesterday on www.fazed.org, the site where Brian found the acid simulator. Although it would be sweet if VH1's producers read bf.net, I think the fazed.org thing would make more sense.

[Mass Haas]

Wonder what's happened to sales since all the publicity...

 

The You Tube clip of the video has over 9,000 views in a week:

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C9aiWr0Vfg

 

The local Helena press followed up:

 

Link while active, text follows --

 

www.helenair.com/articles...606_04.txt

 

This cup won?t crack; former pro protects his buddies

By MARTIN J. KIDSTON - Helena Independent Record Feature Writer

 

Let?s be up front about it ? this is a story for men.

 

It?s a story that plays out around the country every summer; a story for all the guys whoever took a groun ball to the pennants and lived to tell about it.

 

It?s a story about the Nutty Buddy and Mark Littell, the man who both invented the protective device and risked his future progeny to prove that it works.

 

What?s the Nutty Buddy, you ask?

 

In simple terms, it?s an evolution in sporting equipment that no infielder, catcher or pitcher should be without. It?s a new and improved protective ?cup? invented by Littell, the Helena Brewers pitching coach who, in the 1970s, tossed for the Kansas City Royals, earning an ERA of 3.32 over nine seasons.

 

?I?ve been blown off the mound twice,? said Littell, speaking of his days in the big leagues and the importance of wearing a good protective device. ?I tell my pitchers about all the catastrophes that can happen when you air them out.?

 

By ?airing them out,? he?s referring to ?the boys,? as his Web site calls them. And while his story has a lot to do with his newfangled product (which won top honors from the Industrial Design of America), the attention he?s getting is owed in part to his demonstration, recorded for a commercial at Helena?s Kindrick Legion Field.

 

Both the commercial and the product have become a national sensation, attracting the admiration and respect of men across the country. With the Nutty Buddy at your service, it seems, there?s no need to cower from that hard-hit roller, or that slap shot at the buzzer.

 

Instead, when wearing a Nutty Buddy ? as demonstrated by Littell ? you can stand firm and take it like a man.

 

?It takes a very confident man to stand five feet from a pitching machine and take a 90 mph baseball to the cojones,? reports Sports Illustrated. ?Wearing both hats is former MLB pitcher Mark Littell, who put his fertility in the hands of the Nutty Buddy.?

 

But Littell did just that, exposing himself to the unthinkable while wearing his buddy.

 

Littell?s sales pitch remains convincing enough, though ? if this has ever happened to you ? watching him take a fastball right there is easier said than done.

 

?The guy with the bullet-proof vest did it with his product,? said Littell. ?Well, I did too. I can literally say I stand behind my product.?

 

Paul Fetz, the Brewers general manager, was in the ballpark the day the commercial was shot. The clip, he admits, is as funny as it is harrowing. Littell?s invention, he adds, is worth its weight in jewels.

 

?It seems like the Nutty Buddy is a little different than some of the other cups,? said Fetz. ?It seems like it?s a little stronger. I?ve never seen anyone stand in front of a pitching machine and take a fastball like that before.?

 

For those considering a Nutty Buddy of their own, the product comes in three sizes, including the Hog (the biggest) and the Hammer (the medium). Even the smallest ? the Boss ? will leave you feeling proud.

 

Chris Sabo, a coach of the Billings Mustangs and the former third baseman for the Cincinnati Reds ? he batted .268 over nine seasons ? thanked Littell for his invention, which promises not to break or pinch, as do other cups.

 

?I had a cup shattered by Jack Clark in 1988 on a one-hopper,? Sabo said. ?If I would have had that thing, it would have saved me some pain? It must have a way of dispersing the hit.?

 

Littell said the male protective device was sorely in need of reinventio. Working as a pitching coordinator for the Kansas City Royals seven years ago, he asked the men on his crew if they wore a cup.

 

Only half raised their hands. One of the men challenged Littell to create a better, more comfortable device. Littell did just that, adhering to the anatomical demands of the male design. Final molds were drawn up at Arizona State University using a CAD drawing system.

 

Then the day came to try it out before a home game against the Billings Mustangs. The opposing coach, Sabo, couldn?t believe what he was seeing.

 

?Sabo actually stopped batting practice,? Littell said. ?He looked at me and said, ?You?re not going to do it, are you? You?re going to take a shot right there!?? I told the guy filming our season, ?I need you to shoot me getting hit in the cup with this Nutty Buddy I made.?

 

The rest, they say, is history. To see it for yourself, log on to www.thenuttybuddy.com.