This emphasis is on the underlined. Nation and I Can. Or did I miss faux outrage due to a broken sarcasm meter. The past four years have sort of dulled that sense.How is Nike this incompetent?
NationAL? Wtf? Are they aware of what AL stands for in baseball?
View: https://twitter.com/megrowler/status/1412193935963811846?s=19
View: https://twitter.com/emmabaccellieri/status/1412198083123892229?s=19
How is Nike this incompetent?
NationAL? Wtf? Are they aware of what AL stands for in baseball?
View: https://twitter.com/megrowler/status/1412193935963811846?s=19
View: https://twitter.com/emmabaccellieri/status/1412198083123892229?s=19
I'm not really outraged, just amazed that a multi-billion-dollar company making uniforms for another multi-billion-dollar company can't avoid a Don't Dead Open Inside situation. And what is a bunch of guys from a wide variety of countries wearing a shirt that emphasizes the word "Nation" meant to convey, exactly?This emphasis is on the underlined. Nation and I Can. Or did I miss faux outrage due to a broken sarcasm meter. The past four years have sort of dulled that sense.
Unity...we're all one. What better group is there? I get and appreciate the sentiment, but I personally some of this is wearing me out a bit. Everything lately seems to have to be a message.I'm not really outraged, just amazed that a multi-billion-dollar company making uniforms for another multi-billion-dollar company can't avoid a Don't Dead Open Inside situation. And what is a bunch of guys from a wide variety of countries wearing a shirt that emphasizes the word "Nation" meant to convey, exactly?
Yep. Tennis on both ESPNs and "friendly" soccer (which was a blast) later on, but nothing else. No baseball, no golf, nothing.MLB's approach to holiday games continues to baffle me. Most of the country had the day off yesterday but not a day game to be seen.
If that was a baseball card it be going for $10,000 fresh out of the pack.New Era was trying to sell me this in my FB news feed for $40, and I'm… just… why? I'm pretty sure they screwed up an order of hats and decided to just sell them.
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Interesting Rorschach test - what do you see in the upside-down KC?New Era was trying to sell me this in my FB news feed for $40, and I'm… just… why? I'm pretty sure they screwed up an order of hats and decided to just sell them.
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I see a cowboy with a lassoInteresting Rorschach test - what do you see in the upside-down KC?
I see an elephant trying to uproot a tree.I see a cowboy with a lasso
Poledancing preying mantis.I see an elephant trying to uproot a tree.
Shohei Ohtani's 38th home run
Did Ohtani's team win or lose? Who knows, or cares. He's a star!Shohei Ohtani crushes a ball deep to center field for his 38th home run of the season, tying the game at 2 in the bottom of the 3rd inning
Votto's second on the list. In today's game, would 2,400 hits and 400 HR get Joey Votto into the Hall? At 37 years old he's roughly 400 from the former and 80 from the latter. I'm not sure a ring helps the case.Another data point in the player over team/franchise marketing shift.
Current top article on the MLB site:
11 stars who need that first ring
https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-players-in-need-of-first-championship-ring
I sort of remember WS aspirations being couched in "will this be the year for the long suffering fans of Cleveland?" language or perhaps referring to a collection of young talent on a poised club. But here's a survey of individual players who need "rings" to burnish their individual resumes, with just the right whiff of entitlement.
And man, do I ever not care that: 6. Giancarlo Stanton, OF/DH, Yankees (age 31), does not have "his ring" yet.
It's a bit weird because winning the World Series isn't a career validator like it is for stars in the NBA or for QBs.And man, do I ever not care that: 6. Giancarlo Stanton, OF/DH, Yankees (age 31), does not have "his ring" yet.
New Era now making this abomination among other "team drip" fitted hats:New Era was trying to sell me this in my FB news feed for $40, and I'm… just… why? I'm pretty sure they screwed up an order of hats and decided to just sell them.
Is there some hip fashion thing that I'm too old to know about or understand that makes this drip thing "cool" or relevant? Or are they simply throwing shit at the wall and seeing what drips on to their marketing proposals?New Era now making this abomination among other "team drip" fitted hats:
https://www.neweracap.com/Sports/MLB/MLB-Team-Drip/c/SPOMLBTDR?q=:relevance&page=0&scroll=toListing
Not sure if it's the connection, but drip is slang for owning your fashion and having a lot of style.Is there some hip fashion thing that I'm too old to know about or understand that makes this drip thing "cool" or relevant? Or are they simply throwing shit at the wall and seeing what drips on to their marketing proposals?
Outside of the scope of Sports stuff I think the "busy" or "stylized" designs we are starting to see are popular among the Gen Z and younger crowds as a reaction to the sterile clean corporate look Apple and Friends have oppressed us with for the last fifteen years.Is there some hip fashion thing that I'm too old to know about or understand that makes this drip thing "cool" or relevant? Or are they simply throwing shit at the wall and seeing what drips on to their marketing proposals?
New Era was trying to sell me this in my FB news feed for $40, and I'm… just… why? I'm pretty sure they screwed up an order of hats and decided to just sell them.
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We can mark MLB's Birdkakke Series as the moment I officially became an out of touch old man.New Era now making this abomination among other "team drip" fitted hats:
https://www.neweracap.com/Sports/MLB/MLB-Team-Drip/c/SPOMLBTDR?q=:relevance&page=0&scroll=toListing
The Hall of Fame tried to move the ceremony to the left on the calendar but Jeter could not make it.Has anyone mentioned the absurdity of running the HoF induction ceremony on a random Wednesday afternoon in September?
I have no idea the reason why, but in terms of discouraging fan attendance in the name of COVID, it's a brilliant move.Has anyone mentioned the absurdity of running the HoF induction ceremony on a random Wednesday afternoon in September?
If no one was there to see it, then I’m just going to assume Jeter never got inductedHas anyone mentioned the absurdity of running the HoF induction ceremony on a random Wednesday afternoon in September?
A+The Hall of Fame tried to move the ceremony to the left on the calendar but Jeter could not make it.
Since the late 90s baseball hats mean more than just repping the team you like. For many people wearing a Yankee hat is a fashion statement. I’d bet that most people wearing the interlocking NY void he name one Yankee.Can you expand on that? I think it's one thing to accuse people of bad looks and pearl-clutching when this stuff is at least ostensibly being done in the name of marketing to young people/new audiences. But if it's just being done in service of fashionistas and other people far, far beyond the scope of baseball fans, then I'm a little confused why that's relevant. If the purpose of these hats isn't to serve baseball fans or help create new baseball fans, then it just feel like compromising brand integrity for the sake of making a few bucks.
What exactly do you consider "deep shit"?If MLB only sold to die hards, they’d be in deep shit.
They would be in deep shit, because if they only sold things to people who care about the game, their base wouldn't grow. A base that doesn't grow tends to die. Will it die tomorrow? No. But it will. And much sooner if that base doesn't get expanded.What exactly do you consider "deep shit"?
Perhaps you mean "Wouldn't make quite as much money" – which, while less desirable to them (and perhaps "deep shit" for the advertising people they fire, but for MLB as a whole) is a far cry from "deep shit."
Is this a chicken and egg thing? Does your base grow because of your merchandise, or do you sell more merchandise because your base is growing? Probably need to start by defining "base." I would define it as fans of the game -- the people who watch games on tv, go to games live, listen to games on the radio. JMOH, you have already noted that many people who wear a hat aren't fans, that is, aren't part of the base. Like most things in life, I expect the answer is complex. Some non-fans may become fans because of merchandise. Certainly fans (the base) will buy more of your merchandise than non-fans, but the population of non-fans is much larger than fans, so a small percentage of that pie can be a significant percentage of MLB's merchandising income.They would be in deep shit, because if they only sold things to people who care about the game, their base wouldn't grow. A base that doesn't grow tends to die. Will it die tomorrow? No. But it will. And much sooner if that base doesn't get expanded.
And also, baseball is a business, and business people tend to like it when everyone buys their stuff. It makes them more money.
It’s not an either / or thing. Those things can happen simultaneously.Is this a chicken and egg thing? Does your base grow because of your merchandise, or do you sell more merchandise because your base is growing? Probably need to start by defining "base." I would define it as fans of the game -- the people who watch games on tv, go to games live, listen to games on the radio. JMOH, you have already noted that many people who wear a hat aren't fans, that is, aren't part of the base. Like most things in life, I expect the answer is complex. Some non-fans may become fans because of merchandise. Certainly fans (the base) will buy more of your merchandise than non-fans, but the population of non-fans is much larger than fans, so a small percentage of that pie can be a significant percentage of MLB's merchandising income.
But I think the sport is more likely to add to its base through youth initiatives and the minor leagues than through merchandise (though merch is also a component of those areas).