If I was a Yankees fan I would be thoroughly disgusted. http://www.roc4life.com/profiles/blogs/jayzs-yankee-apparel-is-a-home I heard about this while watching the Francesser show. I understand Jay-Z is a Yankees fan and is having a concert at the new Yankee Stadium, but this is ridiculous. Why 4? It's ridiculous that the Yankees allowed Gehrig's number to be soiled by making "S. Carter 4" jerseys. Give Jay-Z some crap number like 96 (the year he released his first album and also possibly when Jay-Z first became a Yankees fan). I am trying to decide if this whole thing is more ridiculous than the Jerry Rice situation with the Seahawks. When the Seahawks acquired Rice, he wanted #80. The problem was that number was already retired by the team. Steve Largent, being the gentleman that he is, allowed his number to be unretired and so Rice wore #80 with Seattle. It's reasonable to think that Largent or many of his friends and family and certainly most Seahawks fans were steamed about #80 being unretired.
It's embarrassing but better to be embarrassed over something silly like this than play on the field.
He is not the type of guy to do that. Privately, he may have been unhappy, but we don't know that. The Seahawks should have never allowed it.
I think there's a huge, huge difference between Jerry Rice wearing #80 during games and the Yankees selling Jay-Z t-shirts with the #4 on them. I don't really have a problem with this.
It has nothing to do with W-L. Obviously some people will have no issue with this, but others will. It is bizarre. Give Jay-Z a different number. Why does he need 4? Now if the Mets did something like this, I'd add it to the long list of stupidity from the franchise. If Gil Hodges' or Tom Seaver's number was given to some celebrity and uniforms were created to be sold to fans, I'd complain about it.
Why's Jay Z tryna be an attention whore. If he was really a Yankee fan he would've just forgotten about 4 and picked a different number.
I'm suprised that anyone dares question the YANKEES. Stop it now, or face the wrath of the evil empire!
Guys, guess what? Gehrig's number has been available for years now. A retired number doesn't mean it doesn't get used for any other purpose. Hell, anyone can go to the mlb.com shop right now and customize a jersey with any number they choose. This isn't hallowed ground, folks.
That's okay. The Yankees can be stupid about it. If they sell #4 jerseys with no name on the back, then that's fine. If they sell #4 jerseys with a name on the back and that name is not "Gehrig", then that is ridiculous in my humble opinion. Same deal with the Mets. If they sell a #41 jersey with something other than "Seaver" on the back, then that is really dumb. Now, if a Yankees fan orders a #4 jersey with no name on it and later puts something other than "Gehrig" on it, so be it. The Yankees cannot control that. By the way, why do the Yankees sell jerseys and those faux jersey t-shirts with player names on the back? If I was a Yankees fan I would not want a name on the back because the players do not have names on their backs.
Bad thread title, i spit my food out when i read it. I thought it was an official thing that had to do with the game, not fan apparell
Sorry that the thread title spooked you like that. Obviously a new player is not going to wear #4. It's only a celebrity who will wear it. To me, that is still an unretirement. Well, at least an unretirement of sorts. I don't know of any bands that like the Jets so I can't use a specific example. What if some band was going to play at the new Meadowlands Stadium and the lead singer wore a #12 jersey with his name on the back? What is the drummer wore a #73 jersey with his own name on the back as opposed to Klecko? I would be pissed at the Jets for allowing that.
Why? Who cares? What if I bought a #10 jersey with Rick Cerone's name on the back? Is that ridiculous? That's Rizzuto's number! This is almost as ridiculous as when Yankee fans booed LaTroy Hawkins for wearing Paul O'Neill's number (which isn't even retired, and shouldn't be). Sure, they can! It's MLB licensing. They could not allow customization if they chose. But they do. Because it gives the fans a choice. The Red Sox don't have their names on home jerseys, but they do on the road ones. Should their fans feel conflicted? But really, it makes sense, because while the numbers identify the players on the field in a given season, those players (and sometimes numbers) change from season to season. If I bought a #34 in 2008, I'd prefer that it was known that it was because Hughes was wearing that number at the time, and not have people wonder if they've discovered an actual Burnett fan. Or even *gasp* a Jaret Wright fan.
I've always said this. If I was going to buy a Yankees jersey I wouldn't get one with the illegitimate name on the back. (That being said, I do own a navy blue tshirt with #42 and "Rivera" on the back...but it's not a jersey so I've justified it :smile: )
I really wonder if this would be a big deal if Bon Jovi or Springfag woulda done it... Not on you Cakes, just about the whole hoopla about it.
Was Rizzuto's number retired? I'm not enough of a Yankees fan to know one way or the other on him. Why would NYY fans boo Hawkins for wearing the same number of some good, but not great player? You are failing to grasp my point. The Yankees can do whatever they want with their merchandise for the most part. Obviously, there is some stuff they couldn't do such as selling jerseys with expletives on the back. The problem I'm having is that Lou Gehrig was one of the top 5 greatest Yankees. His number is truly special and maybe should not go on an official Yankees jersey with "S. CARTER" above the 4. The Sports Pope Mike Francesa feels the same way. So does nyjunc. I'm sure many baseball fans such as myself also feel this way. There is no reason to feel conflicted. If you are a Red Sox fan and a home jersey t-shirt has a name on the back, then you do not buy it. If you need the name, you get the road one. Cappy, this is not 'nam. There are rules. I'll admit I never thought of it that way. I understand the argument, but I still could not buy a Yankees jersey with a name on it. It would be like buying one of those black Jets jerseys that have been available through the NFL Shop.
