# MLB Players and Gold Chains **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** baseball-mlb\ **Created:** [October 19, 2020, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-players-and-gold-chains/923298 "2020-10-19T02:42:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![19USMC69](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ac91a4/32.png) [@19USMC69](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/19USMC69)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-players-and-gold-chains/923298/1 "2020-10-19T02:42:46Z")
Couple of questions regarding the preponderance of players wearing gold chains. Why so many? They seem to look identical. Are they? Why do the players where them outside their uniforms? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-players-and-gold-chains/923298/2 "2020-10-19T06:48:48Z")
I don’t know how the gold chain thing got started, but I do know it was a thing in the early 1980s. Maybe not consistently since then, but it’s not new. Why I’m so sure is, I’d swear it was in that time that I heard talk of making a rule against pitchers wearing metal of any kind, because light could bounce off it and get in a batter’s eyes. Obviously it was never enacted. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-players-and-gold-chains/923298/3 "2020-10-19T10:52:30Z")
What’s the point of wearing a gaudy gold chain, if it’s not visible? Of course they wear them outside their uniforms. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-players-and-gold-chains/923298/4 "2020-10-19T18:42:57Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Why I’m so sure is, I’d swear it was in that time that I heard talk of making a rule against pitchers wearing metal of any kind, because light could bounce off it and get in a batter’s eyes. Obviously it was never enacted. It wouldn’t really need to be, since umpires can tell pitchers to stow anything they’re wearing that appears to be a distraction. I’ve seen 'em do it. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-players-and-gold-chains/923298/5 "2020-10-19T21:47:46Z")
I remember opposing managers doing it just to get under the pitcher’s skin. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-players-and-gold-chains/923298/6 "2020-10-19T21:50:57Z")
One of the Mariner pitchers had to remove his diamond earring. Garcia, maybe. ETA: Arthur Rhodes [https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/baseball/article/Rhodes-forced-to-remove-diamond-earrings-blows-1063868.php](https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/baseball/article/Rhodes-forced-to-remove-diamond-earrings-blows-1063868.php) ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-players-and-gold-chains/923298/7 "2020-10-20T01:51:46Z")
I know a few years ago there was a craze amongst baseball players for wearing necklaces containing ‘Titanium Nano Particles’ for … reasons. Something to do with ‘energy flow’, ‘chakra balance’ and ‘bullshit’. I know there have been a few variations of the same theme come and go (in many sports). (‘Hey! _Powerband_!’ ) ---
**Author:** ![stuccosuperstar2020](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@stuccosuperstar2020](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuccosuperstar2020)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-players-and-gold-chains/923298/8 "2020-10-20T04:48:19Z")
I remember John Mayberry Jr of the Phillies wearing one of these and I complained on sports talk radio why he was wearing one, he still sucked.