- Several New Era MLB hats have been pulled from retail spaces after their designs revealed somewhat vulgar terms. This is the second consecutive spring that New Era has had a fashion faux pas with their hats.
- The Overlap 59Fifty style caps are still available for many teams and retail for $44.99, while those pulled are reselling online for upwards of $1,000.
- The hats, which combine a team’s logo with their nickname, are not part of the official MLB uniforms.
Full Story
Call it a wardrobe malfunction or a marketing debacle. Still, with the MLB regular season fast approaching, New Era, the league’s official baseball cap maker, is the target of much mockery for its new Overlap 59fifty hat designs.
Why were some hats pulled from shelves?
The idea is simple, in theory. Take the team’s logo and stamp it over the team’s nickname. However, some of the designs inadvertently fell into the NSFW category.
For instance, the word created on the Texas Rangers cap is Spanish slang for breasts. It was quickly pulled from retail shelves only to wind up on secondary markets such as eBay for upwards of $1,000.
The Rangers cap isn’t the only one. The unintended mishap on the Houston Astros cap is self-explanatory: spelling out another word you wouldn’t let your kids say.
This isn’t the first time New Era had trouble with hat designs revealing somewhat vulgar terms.
Who approved these designs?
Last season, an Oakland A’s hat was pulled off the shelves after its design featured a version of the same word as the Astros hat. Some fans joked it was the perfect hat for A’s owner, John Fisher, who is currently moving the team to Las Vegas.
Even the hats that aren’t of questionable language have fashion critics wondering, “Who approved this?”
The designs that are still available sell for $44.99 and can be found on MLB’s official store, among other retailers.
New Era and MLB yet to comment on the hats
This is the second straight spring training season that has left fans wondering who is in charge of baseball’s wardrobe department. Last season was the league’s first with Fanatics and Nike designing uniforms. While fans mocked the new designs that debuted and appeared somewhat transparent, players complained about the fit and feel.
As for this year’s new hats, they are marketed toward fans and not part of the official player uniforms. Naturally, there has been a barrage of negative social media conversations, but neither New Era nor MLB, which has equity in the apparel company, have commented on the hats.
