Baseball Cheerleaders Get To First Base

While the other major sports have shamelessly flouted peppy short-skirted babes for the sake of rallying fans to their cause, baseball has steadfastly remained the stuffy old man of the sports world. Sure they've hired the occasional cute ball girl or a few co-eds to fire hot dog guns into the crowd, but the grand tradition of the game would never permit the boys of summer to stoop so low as to use titillation as a marketing gimmick. Or would they? The time seems to have changed in—where else?—Miami, where the Florida Marlins have installed Major League Baseball's first bona fide pompom shaking, sports bra bearing cheer/dance squad, the Mermaids. Ok, so they've actually been around for a few years now, but they aren't exactly heavily promoted by the powers that be—outside of Miami, that is, where they're pretty much the only way to get folks to leave South Beach long enough to sit through a baseball game. So why hasn't the idea caught on in say, Detroit or Minnesota? With all those pitching changes and scratching batters, baseball can actually put those tight bottoms and gyrating pelvises (pelvi?) to good use. We know Phillies fans could certainly use the distraction.

· Cheerleader Reports (homerderby.com)
· Marlins Mermaids (pictures + video @ florida.marlins.mlb.com)

Previously: NBA All-Star Dance Team, NFL Cheerleader Megagallery, Bibiana Julian: NFL's Sexiest Cheerleader, Dunking NBA Cheerleader Gallery, Bodog Girls: Sports Are Fun, Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team