Why Is the Yankees Insignia Inescapable?

The ubiquitous Yankees insignia

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 New York Yankees logo on it – mostly on caps, of course, but there was also jackets, tote bags, beach towels, and much more.

I asked some folks wearing Yankees caps 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 Yankees 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 has 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 Yankees clothing fad that simply will not wane. Real Madrid and the Chicago Bulls are universally recognized. Why then is the Yankees image the most ubiquitous?

This piece originally appeared on Chortler.com.