I took a trip to Subway for a couple of veggie subs today. While walking across the parking lot I noticed a guy coming toward me wearing a black Baseball cap. It looked to be just a black, undecorated hat. I remember thinking that maybe he just liked hats and didn't care if it was plain or anything. Nothing wrong with that.
Then as he got closer, I saw there was something on it, but until he was maybe 3-5 feet away, I couldn't make out what. When he got close enough I saw it actually had a Yankee emblem on it. A black hat with a black Yankee emblem.
Now, as I've mentioned in the past, I don't go anywhere without something Yankee plainly displayed on me. (Except for going to work of course.) It's not a conscious thing. It's just something I've almost always done. This time I had my new "Empire Strikes Back" shirt I got from Paul Katcher's site and my 1998 World Series hat on. I once was told that 'You must be one of those obnoxious Yankee fans'. Nope, I'm not obnoxious, I'm obvious. Well, this guy wasn't.
He walked right up to me and held up his hand wanting a high-five and said "Alright Yankee. Tonight's the night!" I never had seen this guy before, but it is opening day, so I went ahead with the high-five. I felt like Seinfeld when Putty (or Puddy, I'm not sure of the spelling) kept insisting on high fives. I kind of hesitated because high-fives are OK with friends at games, but it is opening day and he appeared to be a Yankee.
Afterward I started wondering about this type of thing. I wondered if he was a Yankee really, or one of those band wagoners who likes the Yanks because of the last decade or so of winning. Those hats to me are more of a fashion thing than a fan thing. I've met people who had the solid colored hats with the barely visable emblem and the ones I've mentioned it to always have said they weren't fans, they just liked the hat. I think this guy was a fan, but was he a true fan? I wish I had thought about all this in time to talk with him to see.
I really don't care for those hats. There is a lot of that type around. Hats colored yellow, pink, orange, black & green. Always the emblem invisible until you get close to the wearer. I've never seen a blue one, which would at least make a little sense. (There probably is one. I've just never seen it.) It's all a marketing thing, I know. But it annoys me a bit. The Yankees have never changed their hats and I prefer the true blue Yankee wool cap with the white interlocking NY on front. Any other version and I wonder where your heart really lies. (The exceptions are the special edition championship hats which I have several of. They are licensed by the league and the Yankees.) Maybe that's too old fashioned for those who aren't purists, but that's the way I feel about it. I guess the fashion world melding with the basball world is another revenue producing thing. That I understand. I just don't have to like it.
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