Only instead of the black box – it should be League Baseball jersey t-shirts – shirseys, as they’re regrettably called. My Paul O’Neill Yankees version has been worn and washed every week for 27 years, and the numbers are just now starting to fade.
When I was relatively new to LA, my Yankees came into town for a rare series with the Dodgers. My friends and I bought tickets and I wore my O’Neill shirt to the game, where I was pelted with sunflower seeds and verbal abuse for seven full innings by some dangerous-looking winners sitting behind us because I had the unmitigated gall to wear a visiting team’s shirt. In the eighth inning, I snapped and yelled at them. They denied doing anything. Pussies. The sunflower seeds continued. And then my friend Jeff, a calmer man than I, turned to them and said, “I know you paid a lot for these seats. You want me to get you kicked out?” They stopped.
Since then, I have quietly yet intensely rooted against the Dodgers. (Though after they lost in the World Series a few years ago, I not so quietly called my niece, had her hand the phone to my nephew, a big Dodgers fan, and laughed at him like DeNiro in Cape Fear.) I also enacted a new rule: so much as one piece of anything hits me at a game, I’m getting the stadium cops involved.
Two nights ago, the planets aligned for the Dodgers and they won the World Series. I was conflicted. The city lit up with some overdue celebrating, and while my nephew and I torment each other about our teams, I was happy for him. I’m glad he roots for his hometown guys. Seconds after the Dodgers clinched the series, I found the newly-posted online shop selling championship gear, forwarded it to my nephew, and within five minutes he purchased a hat and a t-shirt. A t-shirt which will still be going strong in 2047.
I am older and wiser since the “incident,” and realize today I have lot of cool friends who are very good people and very good Dodger fans. I’m glad their team won. Sports mostly make you sad. The Dodgers couldn’t get it together for 32 years, but Tuesday night, they earned it and deserved it. Good job.
