Why Is the Yankee Insignia Inescapable?

Allow me to digress a bit: Several years ago, 1998 to be precise, I was the lowest man on the Sports Illustrated totem pole. I was a suggestion guy. A suggestion guy does what the title implies; he sends in suggestions to the news bureau which, if accepted, are then handed to a staff reporter to do a write-up. Everyone from the SI doorman on up has more editorial sway than the suggestion guy.

One day in said year of 1998 I was strolling around Budapest, Hungary and I noticed that one of the casual fashion trends among the locals was to have clothing tagged somewhere with the Yankees logo on it – mostly on caps, of course, but there were also jackets, tote bags, beach towels, and much more.

I asked some folks wearing Yankee hats if they knew what the “NY” stood for; the overwhelming majority did not. And thus a suggestion was born. After all, unlike soccer, basketball and even American football, baseball has yet to strike a chord with sports fans outside of the United States and pockets of Asia and Central America. In Europe, it has nary a following.

So why then was nearly everyone in Budapest wearing Yankee clothing?

I contacted SI’s news desk. They were interested and asked me to see if I could dig up more.

I couldn’t – despite spending half my annual freelance wages on a call to New York and the Yankees front office. In fact, the person I spoke to there seemed just as bemused by the Yankee fashion trend as I was, and had no answer – leading me to believe the Yankees could likely be a far wealthier franchise if they had more control of their international clothing sales.

Nearly 13 years later, I am still mystified by the Yankee clothing fad that simply will not wane. Real Madrid and the Chicago Bulls are universally recognized. Why then is the Yankee image the most ubiquitous?