Before you send out for the tar and also the feathers, allow me to defend myself. This is the shirsey I wore. First, making no comments about how fundamentally lacking the market for women’s baseball apparel is (except for that one), I would like to address the awkward placement of the logo. For reasons that are obvious to everyone except for the individuals who design these shirts, men and women have different bodies. To put it delicately, the classic NY logo is placed in such a manner that it behaves as more of a bulls-eye than an identifier.
All of that awkwardness aside, there are reactions to this shirt that the wearer should be prepared for and fully expect. The more mild mannered individual strives to make sense of your choice, asking, “Are you from New York?” Upon answering no, the follow up is, “Are you a Yankees fan?” Frustrated again by the subsequent no, the mild mannered individual finally happens upon, “Why are you wearing that shirt?” (Individuals who are decidedly not mild mannered universally respond with “YANKEES SUCK!” in case you were curious or have been unconscious for the last 101 years.)
This phenomenon has never ceased to amuse and intrigue me. First and foremost it exists regardless of which team you affiliate with as long as that team’s location is incongruent with the geographical region in which you currently live. For example, my location is Missouri, therefore a Cardinals or Royals shirt is greeted with high-fives. (Lately however, a Royals shirt is greeted with what I call the “sad eyes & look away.”)
It’s obvious, right? It’s out of context. So why do I do this? Why did I wear an Expos hat to Busch Stadium during a Cardinals/Nationals game? Why did I wear a Mariners Griffey shirsey to Kauffman Stadium during a White Sox/Royals game? Why does Marlins guy do what he does? It’s because the people who recognize these out of context clues are by and large, REALLY cool people. It’s because sometimes you’ll be hiking through a desert in Utah, and you’ll see a guy wearing a Durham Bulls hat. Then that guy sees your 2011 AL Wild Card shirt and for a couple of moments you both get to be infinitely sad together.
Vlad4MVP 