Hulk helps Miley, son commemorate no-no

It was a “MARVELous” night at Great American Ball Park on Saturday, as the Reds celebrated Wade Miley’s no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians with a commemorative poster featuring the Reds pitcher and the Hulk.

The exclusive comic book-style poster was created by Marvel and the Reds to recognize Miley and his Hulk tattoo that he wore on May 7, the night of his historic accomplishment. Miley’s 4-year-old son Jeb had applied a temporary Hulk tattoo on his dad’s arm before the game which the pitcher credited as his good luck charm during an interview after the no-hitter. Everything snowballed from there.

“When Wade Miley threw that no-hitter I was watching it at home, I saw the Hulk tattoo on his arm, immediately took a picture of it, sent it to my business partner and said ‘We have to call the Reds and do something,’” poster illustrator and creative director of Marvel themed entertainment Brian Crosby said. “So we talked to the Reds and they were great, and we wanted to do this commemorative poster.”

The Reds and Marvel teamed up for the special poster and distributed over 25,000 of them to fans in attendance at Saturday’s game. Crosby flew into town for the occasion and took part in a meet and greet before the game. He signed posters for over 300 fans at the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum presented by Dinsmore. Crosby was joined by two special guests: his father -- and 1973 Reds infielder Ed Crosby -- and the Hulk himself! Ed signed pictures from his playing days, and the Hulk posed for photos with fans.

“A lot of times, I oversee some of the art and projects we do, but I really wanted to draw this one,” Brian said. “It was personal to me with my dad being a Red. And then knowing the story between Wade and his son Jeb over the Hulk tattoo, it was a great father-son thing and I wanted to be a part of it.”

The event wouldn’t have been complete without an appearance from the night’s biggest celebrity -- the aforementioned Jeb Miley. Jeb joined his dad at the Hall of Fame to meet the Hulk and Brian Crosby and showed off a freshly applied Hulk tattoo on his shoulder while Wade wore one on his forearm, exactly where it was during the no-hitter.

Miley grinned ear-to-ear when talking about Jeb, his big day at the ballpark with the Hulk, and all the promotion leading up to it.

“I don’t think he quite understands really what’s going on, other than he’s just excited,” Miley told Bally Sports Ohio before Saturday’s game. “But it’s Marvel, and he likes all the characters. They did a little video beforehand and he was a little bit starstruck and didn’t know what to say. But then when we got home, he couldn’t stop talking about it.”

After the Hall of Fame event concluded, Brian threw a ceremonial first pitch to his son Blade before settling in for the game while the Hulk posed with fans in the First Star Fan Zone. Marvel night at the ballpark was a Hulk-smashing success.

“We are a baseball front office full of Marvel fans,” said Ralph Mitchell, Reds VP of communications & marketing. “We’ve worked with them before and it’s always been a great partnership, but when we saw how passionate Brian was about the project and heard the story of his dad being a Reds alumnus, we were all in. We couldn’t imagine a better way to celebrate Wade’s historic no-hitter. It was a lot of fun.”