That’s Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Jason Bartlett. Now, as some of you know, Taco Bell promised AMERICA a free taco whenever someone successfully steals a base during the World Series. As it happens, Bartlett — not Shane Victorino, not Chase Utley — was the first to do so. And according to Taco Bell’s rules of the promo, Bartlett’s stolen base shall produce the World Series Taco of Record:

For purposes of this Promotion, an eligible “stolen base” is defined as a base stolen during regulation or extra innings play and is subject to the determination/designation of the official Major League Baseball scorekeeper as an official stolen base. Any attempted stolen base which does not result in an official stolen base as defined herein, will not be eligible for the “Free Taco” as outlined herein. [...] Only one (1) Free Taco will be permitted per person, regardless of how many bases are stolen during the Games.

Now, in baseball tradition, when the opposing/visiting team hits a home run, it is considered a fan’s birthright and duty to THROW THAT BALL BACK. But these are desperate times. Next Tuesday afternoon — that is Jason Bartlett Free Taco Day — we’ll be at the Port Richmond Taco Bell to see what happens. But if we had our druthers, we would say to Philadelphia: THROW THAT TACO BACK!

This entry was posted on Friday, October 24th, 2008 at 12:49 pm.