I wrote about female baseball fans a couple of weeks ago. In the story I mention that many of the clueless baseball “fans” can be identified by their pink hats. My friend Shauna (a TRUE Red Sox fan who, I’m pretty sure, rocks the pink hat) sent me this article, Why Is This Pink Hat So Hated?, from the Boston Globe:
Don Martelli of Revere not only dislikes pink Sox hats, he thinks anyone who wears them should be banned from Fenway Park.
“Pink is not a part of the Red Sox palette,” he said. “And while we’re at it, ban the green ones and the camouflage ones, too. Those aren’t the team’s colors.”
Martelli has banned pink hats and any other untraditional Red Sox garb from his own home, much to the dismay of his two young daughters, who love anything pink.
“Am I saying everyone in a pink hat isn’t a fan? Of course not,” he said. “But in my experience at Fenway, whenever I see someone talking on a cellphone, not watching the game, it’s usually someone in a pink hat or some other color.”
For some, it’s not so much the pink hats as what they represent. In fact, the whole “nation” concept reminds some people of that other team.
“I don’t want us to become like the Yankees,” said Matt Trocchio, 27, of Brighton. “When they were winning, you’d see people all over the country wearing Yankees hats and shirts. That’s what I think about when I see pink hats. I hate that.”
To clarify, it’s not a given that any woman wearing a pink hat is a clueless fan. Pink looks fabulous on some ladies (Shauna included). Lots of guys wear Red Sox or Yankees caps simply as a fashion statement and probably watch one or two games a season.
Unfortunately, I think every woman wearing a pink hat has to understand that 1) pink is not part of your team’s palette and 2) you’ll likely be judged as an insincere fan. I’m not saying these things are fair, I’m just saying it’s true.
Thanks Shauna. Go Sox.