Pink Girl Uniforms

[Dr. FLK]

Watching last night's game, I think I counted 179 girls in pink BoSox garb. And, I know that I have seen the pink O's crap too. I find this borderline disgusting, and definitely irritating. Wear the REAL colors! This is even worse than the "hip multi-colored Yankee hats." This is pink. When they started with the "form-fitting" unis for girls, I was alright with that (what guy wouldn't be?). But, I have to draw the line somewhere. Now they have these pink things that in noway resemble the actual uniform of the team they are supposedly rooting for. AHHH! Wear the REAL TEAM COLORS.

[blueberryale77]

To me the pink t-shirts/jerseys/etc are kind of like a scarlet letter. The should have a big FF on the part of the jersey where Varitek's stupid "C" goes... for FAKE FAN! I have tried to be open minded, but I have never met a girl wearing pink who knows what OPS is. The other thing that bugs me is the little tiny letters and numbers on the back. Yes, most of the girls who wear them are tiny little size zeroes, but why can't they at least make the letters/number proportional to the size of the shirt instead of so miniature you can barely read it?

[Dr. FLK]

To me the pink t-shirts/jerseys/etc are kind of like a scarlet letter. The should have a big FF on the part of the jersey where Varitek's stupid "C" goes... for FAKE FAN! I have tried to be open minded, but I have never met a girl wearing pink who knows what OPS is. The other thing that bugs me is the little tiny letters and numbers on the back. Yes, most of the girls who wear them are tiny little size zeroes, but why can't they at least make the letters/number proportional to the size of the shirt instead of so miniature you can barely read it?

I've never met any girl who knows what OPS is. If I weren't already married, I'd drive to wherever you are and buy you whatever a blueberryale is.;)

[gallden]

They don't give a portion of their sale of the pink shirts or hats to breast cancer reserach or anything like that do they??

[Great8]

I'm a female fan and know what OPS is, but I doubt the average male fan, let alone female fan, knows what it is. I wouldn't expect the casual fan to know what that is. I don't think we should judge people's level of fandom or affinity for the game depending on which obscure stats they know. The pink jersey thing is annoying to me too, and I would never wear one. I think it's pretty pretentious to judge casual fans by some highbrow criteria, though. A vast majority of sports fans aren't nearly as obsessive about their teams as people who post on internet message boards. It doesn't make them lesser fans because of it.

[Dr. FLK]

I'm a female fan and know what OPS is, but I doubt the average male fan, let alone female fan, knows what it is. I wouldn't expect the casual fan to know what that is. I don't think we should judge people's level of fandom or affinity for the game depending on which obscure stats they know. The pink jersey thing is annoying to me too, and I would never wear one. I think it's pretty pretentious to judge casual fans by some highbrow criteria, though. A vast majority of sports fans aren't nearly as obsessive about their teams as people who post on internet message boards. It doesn't make them lesser fans because of it.

I think the comment was made to accuse "pink jersey wearing females" of being ignorant about baseball. I don't think she really was slandering all humans who don't know what OPS is. I didn't take what she said literally.

[Great8]

I think the comment was made to accuse "pink jersey wearing females" of being ignorant about baseball. I don't think she really was slandering all humans who don't know what OPS is. I didn't take what she said literally.

Maybe, although she easily could have used a simpler stat like AVG or HR to make that point. My point that it's unfair to judge levels of fandom because not everyone who follows a sports team is as rabid as message board denizens is still valid, though.

[blueberryale77]

Maybe, although she easily could have used a simpler stat like AVG or HR to make that point. My point that it's unfair to judge levels of fandom because not everyone who follows a sports team is as rabid as message board denizens is still valid, though.

I'm sorry but if someone is at a baseball game and doesn't know what a home run is... heck, if someone is from the United States, went to public (or for that matter private) school and took gym class and doesn't know what a home run is, there's something wrong. My point was not that all fans need to be experts on the game, but rather that I have never seen any hardcore fan in a pink t-shirt. I could have gone on a long diatribe about the things I have seen the pink shirt girls say and do, but it would have taken a long time to type.

I do not think fans need to be "rabid," but I think if you are going to wear a t-shirt that says something, you're a poseur if you don't know at least a little bit about it. If you go to a punk show wearing an Operation Ivy t-shirt, you should at least be able to name a few of their songs. If you go to a Harry Potter convention in a Harry Potter t-shirt, you'd better have read most of the books. If you go to a protest about something carrying a sign, you'd darn well be prepared to talk intelligently about the issue you're protesting. If you go to church with a giant cross around your neck, you'd better have spent at least a little time studying the Bible. I have no problem with someone who comes to a baseball game wearing everyday street clothes and knows very little about the game. I do have a problem with people who get all decked out in baseball memorabilia and have neither played baseball or softball nor spent enough time watching their beloved team to know a little bit about the game. It's phony and it's lame. People should pay more attention to the logos they put on their bodies. Americans are way too quick to jump on bandwagons for things they have little or no understanding of and that has far reaching implication well beyond the baseball world.

[blueberryale77]

I've never met any girl who knows what OPS is. If I weren't already married, I'd drive to wherever you are and buy you whatever a blueberryale is.;)

Aww, thanks FruitLoop. And thanks for standing up for me too. I would gladly take you to one of my favorite microbreweries and introduce you to the wonders of blueberry ale too if you weren't married. :D

And just a note... if you and your wife have any daughters now or in the future, please make sure to take them to baseball games and teach them to play baseball/softball if they have the interest. :D

[Great8]

I'm sorry but if someone is at a baseball game and doesn't know what a home run is... heck, if someone is from the United States, went to public (or for that matter private) school and took gym class and doesn't know what a home run is, there's something wrong. My point was not that all fans need to be experts on the game, but rather that I have never seen any hardcore fan in a pink t-shirt. I could have gone on a long diatribe about the things I have seen the pink shirt girls say and do, but it would have taken a long time to type.

I do not think fans need to be "rabid," but I think if you are going to wear a t-shirt that says something, you're a poseur if you don't know at least a little bit about it. If you go to a punk show wearing an Operation Ivy t-shirt, you should at least be able to name a few of their songs. If you go to a Harry Potter convention in a Harry Potter t-shirt, you'd better have read most of the books. If you go to a protest about something carrying a sign, you'd darn well be prepared to talk intelligently about the issue you're protesting. If you go to church with a giant cross around your neck, you'd better have spent at least a little time studying the Bible. I have no problem with someone who comes to a baseball game wearing everyday street clothes and knows very little about the game. I do have a problem with people who get all decked out in baseball memorabilia and have neither played baseball or softball nor spent enough time watching their beloved team to know a little bit about the game. It's phony and it's lame. People should pay more attention to the logos they put on their bodies. Americans are way too quick to jump on bandwagons for things they have little or no understanding of and that has far reaching implication well beyond the baseball world.

Riiighhht... but you didn't say HR, you said OPS, which is a much more obscure stat. I'll agree whole-heartedly that any American over the age of 5 should know what a HR is. No argument there.

Quite frankly, I wish the Orioles had more bandwagon, pink-shirt Roberts or Markakis-jersey wearing fans. It would mean the team was doing something right. A successful team has fans from all walks of life. If someone is willing to invest the time and money into attending a game or purchasing a jersey, who are we to judge? At least they show up. At least they show a little passion. Good teams always have bandwagon fans, that's just the way it is. It's more entertaining when a team wins and therefore more attractive to the casual observer.

I'm not sure what you mean about bandwagon jumping having greater implications beyond sports, but I'd be interested to read an explanation. If you're talking about all the flag waving after 9/11, you might be onto something.

Anway, I do see your point. Believe me, as a woman who has been a diehard since the age of 6, I get it. It's not unusual for me to be the smartest person in the room when it comes to sports, especially baseball and football. I think the pink gear is stupid, but to each his (her?) own. If it gets people in the stands, more power to them.

[blueberryale77]

Riiighhht... but you didn't say HR, you said OPS, which is a much more obscure stat. I'll agree whole-heartedly that any American over the age of 5 should know what a HR is. No argument there.

I was trying to explain why it would have been ridiculous to use homeruns or batting average as you suggested. Like I said, not every fan has to be die-hard, but when you have a whole segment of the fan base where nobody knows what OPS is or is remotely interested having the value of that or any stat, rule of the game, play, etc. explained to them, you have a segment of the fan base that is missing out on the finer points of baseball.

To me, a pink shirt represents a certain type of fandom that is more celebrity worship than enjoying the game. There is significance to wearing your team's color in terms of showing the team you care about them winning. A girl in a pink Brian Roberts t-shirt 10 rows back in the stands might as well be a girl in a pink Derek Jeter t-shirt for all the players down on the field or the fans watching on national tv and ridiculing your city for not supporting its team can tell. Wearing team merchandise is supposed to be about supporting the team and the pink shirts don't really do that.

Certainly I can sympathize with girls finding certain players attractive, but I do not enjoy sitting in the vicinity of girls who squeal like piglets, shout out "will you marry me?", jump up and down waving homemade signs about how much they love some player, interrupt fans around them to ask what clubs the players hang out in so they can chase them further, or in other ways detract from enjoyment of the actual baseball game at hand. More often and not, this type of behavior is what I see the pink shirt girls engaging in. I have actually at times tried to engage some of them in intelligent conversation about rules of the game, the significance of plays they don't understand, etc. Most of them are not remotely interested. If they in fact judged players based on their simple stats or even casual observations of their play ("he always runs hard," "he dives for balls a lot," "he hit a home run to win the last game I went to," etc), I wouldn't rant about them.


Quite frankly, I wish the Orioles had more bandwagon, pink-shirt Roberts or Markakis-jersey wearing fans. It would mean the team was doing something right. A successful team has fans from all walks of life. If someone is willing to invest the time and money into attending a game or purchasing a jersey, who are we to judge? At least they show up. At least they show a little passion. Good teams always have bandwagon fans, that's just the way it is. It's more entertaining when a team wins and therefore more attractive to the casual observer.

If they want to learn and become actual fans of the game, I welcome them. (Again, by learn, I don't mean understand complex statistics... just please be able to tell me something you like about your favorite player other than that "he's hot" or "my boyfriend likes him.") I'm sure there are a few that are exceptions to what I've observed and hopefully those girls will graduate to wearing team colors at some point. If what they want to do is turn an Orioles game into a Backstreet Boys concert, I do not want them in my stadium creating lines at the bathroom and concession stand.


I'm not sure what you mean about bandwagon jumping having greater implications beyond sports, but I'd be interested to read an explanation. If you're talking about all the flag waving after 9/11, you might be onto something.

That is one example. I did have one particular experience with some fans leaving a Ravens game that led me to think that many in this country who are not involved in the business of war view it very much like a football game between their favorite team and an arch-rival. It's far from the only example though and it happens with politics on both ends of the spectrum as well as with music fans who support what is most heavily promoted instead of what actually sounds best to them, people who go on fad diets without looking into potential side effects, people who buy bigger and bigger SUVs under the assumption that they're safer without considering actual crash safety data, etc. Basically I just think the mass media has made Americans way too intellectually lazy and the proliferation of baseball memorabilia designed specifically for those who know nothing about baseball is just one small symptom that happens to hit home because it involves something I love.


Anway, I do see your point. Believe me, as a woman who has been a diehard since the age of 6, I get it. It's not unusual for me to be the smartest person in the room when it comes to sports, especially baseball and football. I think the pink gear is stupid, but to each his (her?) own. If it gets people in the stands, more power to them.

I see your point too, I just don't like the fact that because real female baseball fans are so few and far between, whether it's fair or not anything any woman does at a baseball game seems to reflect on me in some people's minds. I don't like that MLB thinks that the way to market baseball to women is to make everything pink. If they really want to get women interested in the game, maybe they should do more to promote baseball programs for young girls. Maybe they should do something about how many of their players engage in domestic violence and how lightly it's treated. It's like as far as MLB is concerned, all women do is wear pink and get breast cancer.

[cindyluvsbrady]

For the record I dont wear the pink shirts:eek: I am in NO WAY a fair weather fan.I fo have a white O ST hat that has pink on it....please dont shoot me!:o
ST = Heaven and I just love the hat.

[Mad Mark]

Alyssa Milano apparently agrees that pink ain't the way to go for female fans:
LINK (http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070412&content_id=1894439&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb)

[Dr. FLK]

Oh dear. I started a rant about hating pink jerseys, and I ended up causing a girl fight. :D Look what I've done...

[Dr. FLK]

Aww, thanks FruitLoop. And thanks for standing up for me too. I would gladly take you to one of my favorite microbreweries and introduce you to the wonders of blueberry ale too if you weren't married. :D

And just a note... if you and your wife have any daughters now or in the future, please make sure to take them to baseball games and teach them to play baseball/softball if they have the interest. :D

I have no daughters yet. But, if I someday happen to acquire me some offspring, I will certainly teach them baseball. And, these lessons will include one on the hatred of "non-team color paraphernalia."

[blueberryale77]

For the record I dont wear the pink shirts:eek: I am in NO WAY a fair weather fan.I fo have a white O ST hat that has pink on it....please dont shoot me!:o
ST = Heaven and I just love the hat.

I know Cindy. I'm in no way attacking you or anyone who has the kind of loyalty to the team that you do regardless of how much they know about stats and stuff. Fans like you make the game more interesting and bring some perspective on the human side of the game to the statheads and those of us who have a tendency to take what happens on the field a little too seriously. Teenyboppers in pink Nick Markakis shirts who just threw away their Brian Roberts shirt because they noticed he has a couple of laugh lines around his eyes or worse yet teenyboppers in whatever Red Sock or Yankee is cool this month shirts contribute nothing.

[blueberryale77]

Oh dear. I started a rant about hating pink jerseys, and I ended up causing a girl fight. :D Look what I've done...

Why is it that a fight between boys is simply called a fight while a fight between girls is called a "girl" fight? Furthermore, why is it that a fight between grown women is a "girl" fight rather than a "woman fight"? :confused: :p

By the way, I don't think there actually is a fight.

[Moose Milligan]

Hey, they can wear whatever they want as long as they're hot.

:D

[Great8]

By the way, I don't think there actually is a fight.

True dat! It's just two intelligent women who know an awful lot about baseball having a discussion in a civil fashion. :)

And by the way, interesting points, I enjoyed reading.

[blueberryale77]

Hey, they can wear whatever they want as long as they're hot.

:D

Note to rumored OH lurkers named Brian Roberts: this does not apply to you. :p

On a serious note, that's what they should do to the rookies this year. Instead of Hooters uniforms or whatever they should have to wear skirts and pink Roberts and Markakis girly-tees. Or better yet pink Millar girly tees. :D

There IS a use for the pink shirts!

[The Wedge]

It's really no different than the different insignia apparel I'm sure we're all guilty of wearing. They just happen to be pink.

The most annoying part is that this fashion trend started while the Sox and Yankees were so popular, so we tend to see their logos on pink more than others.

Hell, Mrs. Wedge got me to order her an O's pink shirt from MLB.com, but it wasn't the right size, and by the time it came and we figured that out the item wasn't being offered anymore.

[Pedro Cerrano]

It's really no different than the different insignia apparel I'm sure we're all guilty of wearing. They just happen to be pink.

The most annoying part is that this fashion trend started while the Sox and Yankees were so popular, so we tend to see their logos on pink more than others.

Hell, Mrs. Wedge got me to order her an O's pink shirt from MLB.com, but it wasn't the right size, and by the time it came and we figured that out the item wasn't being offered anymore.

That's different though. It was an O's shirt so that makes it OK.;)

[Lucky Jim]

Hey, they can wear whatever they want as long as they're hot.

:D

Seriously. I can't criticize someone I'd likely date. And I'd date an attractive woman in a pink uni.

It's also why you'll never hear me criticizing strippers or 18 year olds on the OH.

[Basegirl]

This stuff enrages me. My contention has always been that if the players wear it, the fans can wear it. For instance, the Sox wear green jerseys on St. Patrick's Day every year and even though they look ridiculous, I'm okay with the fans wearing them. Now, if they started wearing the pink stuff on Mother's Day or whatever, I guess I'd have to shut up about it.

I wrote a rant about this three years ago when I first started my blog and I STILL get comments on it. It's partially the stigma that goes with it in that everyone assumes that anyone wearing that stuff can't possibly know what they're talking about, and it's possibly annoyance at the "girlifying" or baseball. And don't even get me started on the pink football jerseys...

[Pedro Cerrano]

This stuff enrages me. My contention has always been that if the players wear it, the fans can wear it. For instance, the Sox wear green jerseys on St. Patrick's Day every year and even though they look ridiculous, I'm okay with the fans wearing them. Now, if they started wearing the pink stuff on Mother's Day or whatever, I guess I'd have to shut up about it.

I wrote a rant about this three years ago when I first started my blog and I STILL get comments on it. It's partially the stigma that goes with it in that everyone assumes that anyone wearing that stuff can't possibly know what they're talking about, and it's possibly annoyance at the "girlifying" or baseball. And don't even get me started on the pink football jerseys...

So that how the Sox always finish with more wins than us! They start playing regular season games in March!;)

[Basegirl]

So that how the Sox always finish with more wins than us! They start playing regular season games in March!;)

That's the secret. Hee. Although I remember they also wore them this year during a regular season game to honor Red Auerbach because Celtics = green, etc. They still look goofy, though.