Breakfast of Champions

**CMRivdog** · 02-23-2012, 12:12 PM

Or Cy Young winners..

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...ll-flakes-8217

Detroit Tigers pitching ace Justin Verlander won the American League’s Cy Young and Most Valuable Player awards last season, and now he has joined the pantheon of pro athletes to put their names on a breakfast cereal or food product.

Verlander has signed a deal with Pittsburgh-based PBL Sports Inc. to produce “Fastball Flakes.”

The limited-edition frosted corn flake cereal comes in 14-ounce boxes and sells at plbsports.com in a two-pack combo for $10. The cereal will be available at Meijer Inc. stores in the Detroit, Lansing, Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids markets.

Proceeds from its sales will benefit Detroit’s John D. Dingell VA Medical Center and Ann Arbor’s VA Healthcare System.

PBL Sports has a slew of pro athletes on products such as cereal, salsa, beef jerky and clothing. A “Fastball Flakes” T-shirt is available from PBL for $14.99.

The company’s most famous product is its “Flutie Flakes” cereal for former Buffalo Bills quarterback Doug Flutie in the late 1990s.

The other Detroit athlete to have a deal with PLB Sports was Detroit Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood and his now-discontinued “Chris Osgood's Championship Cereal.”

PLB Sports lists food product, without description, under its retired college items called “Maize ’n Blue” for the University of Michigan.

The cereal is the latest development in Verlander’s rising national profile.

Since winning the elite awards, he has been featured on the cover of the upcoming MLB2k12 video game and made a notable appearance on Conan O’Brien’s late-night talk show, during which he discussed his regimen of eating Taco Bell before each pitching performance.

That has yet to result in an endorsement contract with the fast-food giant.

Some of Verlander’s current national deals include Phiten necklaces, Reebok and Rawlings. None of the financial details have been disclosed.

His five-year, $80 million contract, signed in 2010, included a $500,000 bonus for his Cy Young award, but nothing for the MVP.

**DaYooperASBDT** · 02-23-2012, 01:26 PM

How about something more creative, jeez. I'm thinking something like Prince Fielder Bacon Bites.

**TigerFan2490** · 02-23-2012, 01:37 PM

We bought 2 boxes. One goes into the "archives" and will not see the light of day until I am long gone (not an intentional EH reference). The kids and I actually busted open the other box for this morning's breakfast. Not quite as good as Tony's frosted flakes, but much better than off-brand versions. I liked 'em, the kids split. Looks like JV is batting .666 in my house. If that would only carry over to Inter-league games...