Weeeee! Even more reasons why I’ve never bought a dopey jersey with a name on the back, or attended a pimpled-faceoff fest at that crapartment store from hell, Modell’s.
Wednesday afternoon I walked by Modell’s sporting goods shop on 42nd street in Manhattan, noticed shirts displayed in the window with names like Teixeira, Jeter, and Rodriguez. Just for fun I decided to go in and see if they had any Mariano Rivera t-shirts. I didn’t see any hanging in the racks on the main floor, so I asked a pleasant young associate if he had any Mariano Rivera t-shirts. Maybe I hadn’t spoken too clearly because
he replied, ‘Manny Ramirez?’ I said, no, Mariano Rivera. ‘Oh’, he said. I asked him, do you know who Mariano Rivera is? ‘No,’ he said.
I explained that he was a great relief pitcher from the NY Yankees on the job since 1995. (The associate as it turns out was born in 1988 and therefore only 7 years old in 1995). He then said he was a Mets fan, so I asked him if he had heard of K-rod and he lit up and said, oh, yeah! So, trying to find a Mariano Rivera shirt, the associate sees another Modell’s employee and says to her,
“Do you know if we have any Manny Rivera t-shirts?” The young lady says, “Is he a soccer player?” I said, no, his name is Mariano Rivera, he’s the great relief pitcher for the Yankees. Have you ever heard of him? No, she says.
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1. Weekly Journalist_ Posted: July 08, 2010 at 12:36 PM (#3581721)Agreed. I really don't get the whole jersey thing. And hockey fans are even worse than baseball fans.
Though I don't understand why people incorporate hats or caps into their attire when it's not for a functional purpose, so I suppose I'm the wrong person to comment. I've never worn a baseball cap; to me it's like going out in public wearing sweatpants when not at the gym or playing sports.
"Money can be exchanged for goods and services."
"Woohoo!"
I call shenanigans on this story. Met fans are glad K-Rod isn't Mel Rojas, but none of us is actually enthusiastic about him. It's impossible.
2. I also find it odd that grown men wear shirts with another man's name on the back. That said, I would wear a Dwayne Murphy 1981 A's home jersey if such a thing were available. But that's it.
And you never listened to Ernie Harwell? Jeez, Ray, you should just move to Russia. :)
I wear a baseball cap most days. But then, I walk to work across a stretch of Texas that is brighter than the surface of Mercury.
With respect to jerseys, or in general?
Which indicates you've never played baseball. Which, in turn, explains quite a lot.
(I only wear a cap on those very rare occasions I play softball or am attending a sporting event held under the broiling sun. From my observations, though, cap-wearing is a very popular stratagem among men who have little or no hair.)
As for the jersey thing ... that's something people should outgrow circa, I dunno, maybe age 9.
Thus, we don't have to listen to him because his baseball intellect is far inferior to those of us who peaked with high school ball and college intramurals.
Which is why I can't wear one much out and about anymore. I wouldn't want any prospective dates thinking that I was balding, which is the case for most guys my age who regularly wear caps.
Check.
Yeah, I have a shaved head and burn easily, so I wear a baseball cap a fair amount when I'm outside in the summer. But I think that falls under Ray's "functional" exception. I actually don't wear a hat under any other circumstances either, unless I'm at a baseball game. I did wear them a fair amount growing up through age 25 or so.
I have at least 5 jerseys (Real Madrid, FFF, Ottawa Senators, All Blacks and Wallabys). All were gifts. I wear the Real Madrid all of the time because it's a nice lightweight shirt. And I wear the Senators Jersey to Senators games. The others not so much.
And I've worn a cap all week -- though this is unusual for me. We've had the weather that BDE talks about in #9 and I walk to work.
So a retail clerk at a store in NYC, who may well be fresh off the boat from a non-baseball country, doesn't know who Rivera is. Am I supposed to be shocked by this?
I am, particularly one who claims to be Mets fan who knows who K-Rod is. At the very least, I'd expect they had been asked the question before and would have taken the time to learn the answer.
Also, a lot of hot, artsy girls will assume you are a jackass frat boy if you're wearing a baseball cap. I don't care if that was snobby of them, they were hot, artsy girls!
And another also, can I just state that I think this fad of wearing the MLB officially licensed product sticker on the bill of the cap is nearly as idiotic as wearing your pants half way off your ass. I hate to sound like an old angry dude, but those are the two fads that baffle me, both in their idiocy and there staying power. I see guys in their 30's doing that #### now!
It's also certainly possible that this retail clerk (and Mets fan) was just having fun screwing with the annoying Yankee fan.
Link
The photo's a little blurry, but that looks like a 42 next to the 13. There's also a 2 that's clearly visible.
At the Modell's at West 42nd street (Times Square) there is a Rivera jersey visible in the window, and I believe that's a giant picture of him as well.
Link
I don't know which Modell's Susan was talking about. Someone who knows NYC better than me will have to weigh in.
In other news, I love the internet.
EDIT: Links fixed, hopefully.
I think the most likely thing is she made it up.
This is certainly possible.
Shooty, why are you so old and angry?
Actually, j/k. I'm only 24 and I agree with you, and I don't feel very old or angry. And I don't even have a lawn for any one to get off of.
But I don't mind gearing up for a game, it's like dressing up for a holiday party or wedding. If you don't do it every day, you can still make it an occasion, and the garish garb of opposition fans attending games in DC almost force me to stick up for the Nats in my attire. I have several promotional hats and t-shirts that I basically only wear to games. Also, I have plenty of hair, but still like to wear a hat outside when the conditions call for it.
Before the copyright Nazis ruined everything, some of the best T-shirts were sold outside Memorial Stadium, often in near instant response to recent events or games. After the Orioles had stunned the first place Yankees with a three game sweep in Yankee Stadium in August of 1980, when the Yankees came to Baltimore just four nights later there were hundreds of T-shirts being worn that showed the cartoon Bird with a giant broom sweeping the Yankees out of Yankee Stadium, with "The Bird's The Word---In New York" written underneath it. But the bestselling T-shirt I ever saw there was the one with Earl Weaver that just read "The Earl of Baltimore." If anyone tried to make sell anything like that today, they'd confiscate the shirts and throw the vendors in jail.
Well, I did play baseball in high school, so I suppose I should add to my functional exception; I've worn a baseball cap when required.
Yes, that's the functional exception, which I fully understand.
Wearing it for aesthetics or style is what I don't get, but, then I don't get a lot of styles.
This is a good question. My impression was the female hipsters liked the trucker hats and the artsy girls were disadainful of them because of the lemming-like popularity the trucker hat achieved and the association with Ashton Kutcher. I should have kept a journal about this stuff when I lived in Brooklyn. It's much easier living on the Upper East Side where nobody is hip, artsy or cool.
I'm also surprised by the story (the K-Rod/Mariano disconnect noted above being the strangest element), but if it did in fact happen, it was likely to be the E. 42nd Street store, which is across the street from Grand Central and has a larger "main floor" than the Times Square branch.
The only time I wear caps is after a bike ride if I haven't showered and my hair is still sweat-matted.
I do wear visors when playing softball or kickball.
My only other sporting gear is an Eishin Soyogi Hiroshima Carp jersey that was a gift, and an ancient pullover-style Mets jersey that I only wear to Mets games because it's so friggin' hot. I've been debating whether or not to finally pull the trigger on a Blackhawks jersey, but can't bring myself to spend the money.
I fully support wearing replica jerseys with a fan's favorite's name on the back, for 7 year olds. As an adult, I find the practice unseemly.
Maybe not unseemly, but a tad ridiculous when it comes to Yankees' "replica" jerseys with the player's name on the back!
Hmmm. I'll be watching out for further infractions: You're thisclose to joining gaelan, or whatever that nutjob's name is, on my "ignore" function.
Good god. I agree with Ray, & after seeing his further elucidations I hereby apologize for the scabrous tone of my earlier comment.
I'm reminded of that great song on the first Minimal Man album in which Patrick Miller (RIP) starts screaming out in agony & astonishment, "Richard Nixon & I agree! Richard Nixon & I agree!" (Probably he's saying no such thing, but please, no one correct me ... since I know very well that every single one of you owns The Shroud of ... LP on the original vinyl, if not on LTM's Boutique Label reissue from a few years ago.)
and i don't guess youse guys wear hats in open stadiums (or even around in the middle of the day during the 4 weeks of summer youse get Up There) when you gets outta youse mama basement because you LIKEY burning?
as for getting jerseys
the team store only sells the ones with the 6 or 7 most popular guys. even last year when wandy was by far the best pitcher on the team - no t-shirt or jersey
i'll wear an astros shirt around town (yes even now) but i save my wandy t-shirt for the games i go to when he pitches
The only one I still wear to ballgames is my Canseco #31 White Sox road grey. He was my favorite player growing up, finally playing for my favorite team. It felt like I needed to buy it to close out my childhood, and now it starts good conversation at games.
And I wear a hat everyday. It probably saves my hair, as I have a habit of messing with it when working.
Yes, but how does the man whose name is on your driver's license feel about the name of another man on your back? This isn't so much about whether he likes Wandy as it is about how much you like Wandy, if you know what I mean. Also, kind of surprised to learn that you aren't always wearing a Barry Lamar jersey.
They make jerseys with dogs' names?
Cool!
i guess i don't have no trouble wearing a shirt with a another man's name on the back because i have worn a another man's name on my drivers license for 11 years
Yes, but how does the man whose name is on your driver's license feel about the name of another man on your back? This isn't so much about whether he likes Wandy as it is about how much you like Wandy, if you know what I mean. Also, kind of surprised to learn that you aren't always wearing a Barry Lamar jersey.
- well, ah LUUUUUVVVVVS wandy as a pitcher/my favorite astro. not as x-rated fantasy material
besides, husby-doo is the one who got me the t-shirt
as for the barry lamar shirt - well, he wasn't an astro. and anyhow, naming my Dog after him seems to be a better deal. and when he passes, we getting a BLjr Dog
Cool!
They'll customize a replica jersey with almost anything you want on it. Unless it's obscene, or your dog happens to share a name with a 1995 strike-breaker.
They require custom modifications. If you send me a normal hat and $20, I can make the adjustments for you.
Huh. I'm nearly 50, and I've always left the MLB sticker on the bill of the cap. I like holograms. Sue me. I think I predate (or started) this fad, of which I was mostly unaware. I wear my pants all the way up though, you'll be gratified to hear.
I love hats, and wear baseball caps about half the time. I do have a full head of hair though even at my advanced age.
I still have a full head of hair, and my hair tends to have a lot of volume, so when I haven't gotten a haircut, a baseball cap is a good way to disguise the wacky directions taken by my hair at night.
But I digress.
To echo shooty, there's no such thing as non-fiction.
Best thing about middle age is no longer caring that my hair is going away. Hair is a man's vanity - women care much less about it than we do. I date hotter women now than I ever did with a full head.
Only wear a hat in the midday summer sun.
Always a hit at the bars.
Generally, agreed with above, no jerseys once you are older than the players, unless it is a dead guy, this way you can avoid the O.J. Simpson problem.
I love hats, and wear baseball caps about half the time. I do have a full head of hair though even at my advanced age.
The fad has been going on since they put those stickers on the cap. Unless you created a hologram sticker in your science class and stuck it on a cap you do not predate this silly fad.
I don't know, man. My girl worries more about my hairline than I do.
no jerseys once you are older than the players, unless it is a dead guy
This is a very reasonable rule of thumb, I think.
1) They are colourful shirts, which is a nice contrast to the bland stuff I'm usually wearing during the rest of the week.
2) They are VERY comfortable (depending on the season). The soccer and cricket jerseys are very lightweight, so I wear them in the summer. The hockey jersey is a better choice than a sweater to wear over a plain white t-shirt and under my winter coat, while the baseball and football jerseys are nice fall/spring items to wear over a t-shirt (without a jacket). In general, the good jerseys don't chafe and are quite breathable.
If the "you" in this sentence were Smitty*, you'd be guilty of taunting.
Ebbets Field Flannels! I have a lot of their t-shirts.
Take it to the Trudeau thread!
I can't understand how those who wear their pants down manage to keep them up.
I'm serious. The other day I saw a guy wearing his pants below his rear end (he of course had other clothing covering his backside), and all I could wonder was how they were still as high as they were without falling completely down. And he was walking perfectly normally.
I was self-conscious about my hairline from like ages 20-26. Decided to just shave it all off at that point, and have never regretted it. I had more game afterwards, and my significant other (who knew me before I shaved it, but didn't start dating me until afterwards) says she can't imagine me with hair now.
You sure that's not a Carlos Rivera game jersey?
Probably I'm jinxing myself, but as far as I can tell I haven't lost production from a single follicle since ... ever. Just over 2 months from birthday No. 51, I can only hope that if it hasn't happened by now, it's not going to.
See, this is the problem. There is way too much player movement. I am the parent of 14 year old twin boys. In the back of their closet is two Phillies jerseys bearing the names "Wagner" and "Thome", purchased in 2004 when my boys were 8. Less than two years after purchase they were outdated. It was a good lesson for the kids, and I doubt I'll spring for any more any time soon.
Hairoids.
Yeah. Good lesson for Dad as well. Also, it's much easier to reason with a couple of 14 yr olds compared to 8 yr olds.
I guess its a pretty dorky thing to do, but I think its a lot less dorky than spending time commenting about people who wear jerseys on a baseball blog. Its not like we are face painters or something.
So you're telling me I can get that Julio Franco Rangers jersey, then.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
no, of course not. I have friends that are face painters. My father was a face painter !
I don't deserve to live.
Even more (or should that be less?) than usual, I mean.
Wouldn't they have outgrown the shirts by now anyway?
The All-Star game batting practice jerseys are usually in the colors of the host team.
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