I think sometime last year the idea first sprouted in my head that I should get a Westbrook jersey for the fantasy salvation he delivered. But then as the end of the football season became more of a distant memory, so did my interest. Camby and Shard beasting for my fantasy basketball team later that year would again sprout dreams of jerseys in my sleep, but I ended up spectacularly failing by placing my hopes of making the playoffs on Larry Hughes. Fast forward to baseball year, where I initially wanted to draft an all-fat team, and wanted to grab Miguel Cabrera with the 6th pick. We all had a gentleman’s agreement in place to wait until the last second to make our first pick to minimize how much of the draft late-arrivers would miss. So I had Miggy sitting in my draft slot and I waited until one second was left until hitting the draft button. The next moment I was dumbfounded.
“What’s a Chase Utley?”
Apparently my internet lag caused my pick to not be made in time and the computer autopicked for me. Never mind that he became mortal well before the All-Star break, but the insane numbers he was putting up the first two months of the season made me a baseball fan again, something I haven’t been able to say since the days of Jason Bere, Lance Johnson and the strike that killed it for me (or rather the team’s crappiness that followed).
There were many times during this past baseball year when I was almost serious about buying an Utley jersey. But the only ones I could ever find online were the gray ones. I could have gone the personalization route, but for some reason it doesn’t seem as authentic to me (yes I realize this is ludicrous as all lettering/numbering probably happens at the same place).
On November 20 I came across a 25% off coupon for Sports Authority. About a month before I was seriously considering picking up an ANDRE BEAST jersey at 15% off (after an October averaging 10/150), but then at the last minute I backed out because I decided I wanted the navy one and could only find the red one online at Dick’s (same online storefront as Sports Authority). With this new coupon, on a whim I decided to look at other sports jerseys, and what did I see before me?
Not quite a photon dagger, but its got the pinstripes. The only thing I was uncertain about was the World Series patch. Back in 2006 when I was in Pittsburgh, I (unoriginally) decided to take my sister’s idea of buying shot glasses from everywhere she’s been, and instead buy MLB New Era hats from all the places I’d visit. The guy at the Lids store in the airport convinced me to buy a regular black Pirates hat, but with a patch signifying the 2006 All Star game which was held at PNC Park. Three weeks later, I realized that the patch made the hat unwearable in public. Granted, hosting the All Star game is not nearly the same thing as winning a World Series, but I still had reservations. Since coming up with that idea, the total number of places visited/MLB hats bought? One.
In the end, I had to do it. The only thing at the time that could’ve competed against pinstriped Utley for my money and the 25% off coupon would’ve been an ANDRE jersey in navy. Despite my refusal to acknowledge Majestic as a legitimate manufacturer of sporting goods, baseball jerseys seem more wearable to me than their football and basketball counterparts. I didn’t end up getting the free cap, but the product number of the cap in the item’s description led to an NL champions Phillies hat. You always think/read about what happens to all the championship gear printed for losers in the finals of their sport, but what happens to hats/gear celebrating lesser accomplishments of teams that would ultimately win it all? I guess I can’t think of any other way to get rid of it in a retail fashion.
On an aside, I was unaware of Utley dropping F-bombs in interviews and parade speeches until I was just now googling the jersey image. The man is truly an American hero.