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Progressive oyster farmer and Senate candidate Graham Platner accused the owner of the Boston Red Sox and the team’s cable station of pulling a new critical campaign ad midway through Friday night’s game.
The ad started airing during Friday’s Sox game and used the team’s recent slump as a way to take aim at the negative influence of private equity in American life.
The 15-second spot played on fan frustration that longtime Sox owner John Henry and his mulit-billion dollar sports and entertainment company, Fenway Sports Group, have prioritized cost-cutting over investing in the success of the team.
“Yesterday we started running this ad during the Red Sox game. Midway through the game the ad was taken down by the station (which is owned by Red Sox ownership),” Platner posted to social media on Saturday morning. “And then the Sox blew a 4-0 lead.”
A representative for the New England News Network, the cable station that airs the Sox and where Fenway Sports Group is a majority owner, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Platner ad featured the candidate’s booming voice over text resembling the Red Sox font and claimed that private equity was “destroying our favorite baseball team, stripping them for parts.”
“I’m Graham Platner, and I approve this message because I miss Mookie Betts,” the ad concludes, referring to the unpopular decision to trade the superstar outfielder to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020.
The plan was for the ad to run during every Red Sox game, Platner spokesperson Ryan Barto said on Saturday. The station notified the campaign that it was being taken down, he said. It’s unclear how many times it actually ran.
After taking a commanding four-run lead in the first inning, Boston lost 8-6 to the Minnesota Twins last night. The teams will face off again tonight at Fenway Park.
Platner overcame a series of scandals to become the presumptive Democratic nominee to take on incumbent Republican Susan Collins this fall after Gov. Janet Mills dropped out of the race last month. It’s considered a must-win race for Democrats to re-take the Senate.
BDN Politics editor Michael Shepherd contributed reporting.
