Blue Jays manager Carlos Tosca tempts fate with the raising of his right arm, and the camera shifts to a close up of reliever Terry Adams trotting in from the bull pen. As if on cue, from the seat on the couch next to me, my dad mutters two words that immediately sum up the exasperation of a twenty-five-year fan. "Grey hats."
The Blue Jays wear grey hats. They also have blacks ones to match their black uniforms. The have white jerseys too, and three tone silver and platinum logos and both. The field is Hulk green, and Pizza Pizza signs are orange. The seats, instead of the baseball standard green, are, in a cruelly ironic twist, blue.
All of this reminded me of a few things we all could use a refresher on.
Remember baseball? Remember the infield slow-roller on thick grass, remember the initials on hats and the jerseys that say the name of the team, simply, across the chest? Remember the hot-dog, the pretzel, beer from a can?
My father and I have fond memories of Blue Jays baseball, and yet, like a relationship that has lost its passion, we feel like being a fan is maybe more trouble than it's worth.
Teams in the baseball world that can't afford not to be, are constantly concerned with attracting new fans. But I say, leave that to the Yankees. Instead, why not worry about the fans that you have, while you have them. Besides, baseball is a game you can't force yourself to like. You either love the combination of aesthetic simplicity and complex strategy that defines the game, or you think it's a bunch of out of shape guys who spit a lot and get paid way too much.
So this is the message from my father and I to the Blue Jays, and in some sense all small market, tradition-starved organizations. Don't worry too much about my overly nostalgic rhetoric, just take a deep breath, a step back, and just give me a ball club.
How do you do this?
Give me uniforms I can look at. Give me a stadium that doesn't make me cringe. Give me some sense of pride and history, even if you have none of either. Give me a team with clichés and character guys that go out, compete, and are fun too watch. Please, give me blue hats.
Just let me be a fan. Give me baseball.
Permalink | Send To A Friend | Linking Blogs | Digg this!
Filed under:
Toronto Blue Jays
Comments (1)
so true, bro. so true. i'm ... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Mike | August 5, 2004 1:24 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
so true, bro. so true. i'm not a jays fan but i watch them on tv, and i can't agree more. GREY HATS!?
1. Posted by Mike | August 5, 2004 1:24 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on August 5, 2004 01:24