Ford Gum’s Big League Chew now ‘official bubblegum’ of Ripken Baseball

Partnership to coincide with attempt to set a world record of people blowing bubblegum bubbles at start of Cal Ripken World Series.

Ford Gum and Ripken Baseball announced last week that Big League Chew, the leading shredded bubblegum in the country known as “the Ballplayers’ Bubblegum,” will become the official bubblegum of Ripken Baseball.

Rob Nelson, the creator of Big League Chew and 12-year major league baseball veteran Bill Ripken, the brother of Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, unveiled the new Big League Chew/Ripken Baseball packaging at the recent National Confectioners Association’s Sweets & Snacks Expo last month.

“This is fun and what baseball is all about,” says Bill Ripken, co-chairman and executive v.p. of Ripken Baseball. “Bring some kids together on a field, throw out a few pouches of gum, some gloves, bats and balls and see what happens. Big League Chew brings out the fun in the game.”

Steve Green, senior v.p. of sales and marketing for Ford Gum, affirms that “...there couldn’t be a more perfect match than the partnership between Ripken Baseball and Big League Chew. It underscores the link baseball and Big League Chew have had since its invention...”

He added that the Big League Chew pouches featuring the Ripken Baseball logo with be available throughout the country this month.

Also, on Friday, Aug. 8, which is the opening night of the 2014 Cal Ripken World Series, Ford Gum and Ripken Baseball will attempt to set a Guinness World Record for the most people blowing a bubblegum bubble simultaneously. Fans will be encouraged to use the #BigLeague Bubbbles hashtag to share pictures of how they blow their Big League Chew bubbles throughout the baseball season.

Baltimore-based Ripken Baseball is a sports entertainment company established by Cal and Bill Ripken. It owns and operates several Minor League Baseball teams and hosts youth tournaments as well as youth camps and clinics featuring baseball instruction.

With more than 30 years experience in B-to-B reporting, writing and editing — the bulk of which was dedicated to covering the bakery, confectionery and snack industries — Pacyniak has chronicled changes within the food industry since the early 1980s. A Boston University journalism degree graduate, he worked for a variety of publications before joining BNP Media in 1994 as editor of Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery magazine. In 2001, he took over as editor-in-chief of Candy Industry until 2018.