Just got back from a three-week vacation in England. Had an absolute blast: From Yorkshire countryside to London’s West end, the family and I covered a lot of ground, and thoroughly enjoyed almost every moment. York and Whitby might have been my favorites. The whole affair was quite stimulating, visually and intellectually, and has inspired me to gratify my continued curiosity about all things British by brushing up on English history.
But the most immediate and burning question I have about England is one whose answer, I am quite certain, I will not find unless I pose it to dopers: What’s up with all the Yankee caps in England? They are all over the place; I must have seen thousands of them. Literally. And although I initially assumed the caps were largely being worn by American tourists, discreet eavesdropping quickly disabused me of that. Oh sure, there were a few Americans in the mix, but the overwhelming majority of Yankee cap wearers were natives. I just don’t get it.
On the whole, the English do not appear to have grown especially fond of, or knowledgeable about, baseball. (The subject of baseball (but not Yankee caps) came up in social discourse from time to time. This typically lead to a discussion about cricket, and in turn about the Ashes, and thus some very unconvincing explanation about why the British now seem incapable excelling in a game for whose invention they usually take credit, but that’s another story.) And indeed I saw very few baseball caps bearing the logos of any American baseball teams other than the Bronx Bombers. Is the Yankee logo simply emblematic of New York City generally, making this just another version of the “I [heart] NY” thing, or is there more to it? (British tourists also travel in great numbers to Florida, LA, Chicago, San Francisoc, and Atlanta, yet I didn’t see Marlin, Doodger, DRay, Giants, A’s, Cub, ChiSox, or Braves caps in numbers–even in the aggregate–close to the number of Yankee caps you will see on the streets of London, or Durham, or the tiniest Yorkshire village.) So if you’re English (after all, anyone else cannot speak authoritatively on the subject), and you can solve this mystery for me, please chime in. And feel free to explain (yet again) in your characteristerically good-natured way why the Aussies always kick your butts in cricket.
About a year ago, the NY Yankees signed a “marketing agreement” with Manchester U, the NY Yankees of English football. I haven’t been in the UK since then, but I’m sure that Yankees hats are being sold along side Man U jerseys all over the UK.
It’s just fashion. The caps are widely available and some people decided they were cool, so now lots of people wear them. Amercian culture is viewed as cool by some people. I don’t think the explanation is any more complicated than that.
Saying that, I wouldn’t be caught dead in a baseball cap of any kind. That’s SO last week 
Fran
Yes, Montfort is correct. Manchester United and the Yankees have a marketing deal. I was in Dublin, Ireland (not Ohio) where there is a Manchester U store and Yankees merchandise is on sale.
On a side note, being a Mets fan I was sickened by this sight. I tired to get away from all the band wagon Yankee fans and hoopla only to have it shoved in my face thousands of miles away in Dublin.
Unfortunately, this deal has worked well for the Yankess. Many Irish visitors I have met want to go to a Yankee game when they get to NY. Perhaps George may want to use Dublin as leverage to get a new stadium in NY.
As a tribe fan…
WHY THE YANKEES, ANY TEAM BUT THE YANKEES!!!
Everyone who is not a Yankees fan is a Yankees enemy by default. It’s one of the unspoken rules of baseball.
Yeah. That’s probably because all the other teams suck so much.
Yeah. That’s probably because all the other teams suck so much.
**
[/QUOTE]
How fitting that the hated Yankee fan shares his name with the spineless weasel brother from The Godfather.
Just a guess, but I bet you don’t live in The Bronx. You most likely jumped on the band wagon. Just like “long distant fans” of the Dallas Cowboys, Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls to name a few.
If you live in The Bronx, then I apologize.
We are not going to have a “my team is better” thread in General Questions.
Thank you.
The “weak” brother in “The Godfather” was Fredo, not friedo anyway.
As an answer to the OP’s question I’d say that Montford is wrong and Francesca is right.
While it’s true that Manchester United do have a marketing tie up with the Yankees, and that’s why you’ll see lots of memorabilia of both on sale together, that’s quite a recent thing. People have been wearing baseball caps and jackets here for ages and I’d guess that they choose the Yankees either:
i. because that club had marketed their merchandise better here than other clubs before the Man U connection, or
ii. because they like the look of the logo
You’ll see football jackets worn too, mostly for the 49’ers or Raiders, and I bet most people who wear them couldn’t care less about the teams themselves.
The vitriol spouted by non-Yankee fans in this thread confirms that they are the Man U of America – everybody here is either a Man U fan or hates their guts. UK Dopers will guess my stance from my username.
I’m going to need a long breath to explain why we can’t beat the Aussies at cricket, Rmat. Perhaps later.
A few things:
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My apologies for the Fredo/friedo mix up. I was trying for some levity but my brain is in “Monday mode”.
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I think everton is making the same point as Montford. I feel the reason that people (in this senario - London) are wearing Yankee hats is because of the Marketing of Yankee merchadise which make people feel “Americanized” or fashionable by wearing them. The Man U store is the outlet for the marketing of the Yankee products. In my theory, if you see enough of something you will eventually become adapted to accepting it. Think of all the lousy songs you hear on the radio and no matter how much you hate them you one day find you can’t get the tune out of your head. Even though you still hate the song (how frustrating is that!!). This may work a little differently with clothing. As people become familiar with the “look” they adapt to wearing it as fashion. The marketing of the product is where it all begins. Take the fashions of the 80’s, someone actually was the first to wear parachute pants (to name just one bad 80’s fashion style). Bad music and Yankees actually go together - the lead “singer” in Limp Bizkit dons a red Yankee hat. Because MTV has made the band popular, kids around the world now view wearing the Yankee hat as popular fashion.
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Rmat was in London recently. We are not saying that people did not wear Yankee, Raider, SF 49er etc merchadise before only that there seemed to be an over abundent amount of Yankee hats in his recent visit. Which would go in line with the Man U/Yankee merger.
So although you said Montford was wrong I think you proved him right. The hats had been worn before the merger but are now more accesible to the English. I wouldn’t buy Man U merchadise (because of there ties to the Yankess) but I wouldn’t know where to either (outside of Europe). Are they sold in Yankee stores here? I stay away from them for fear of being brain washed.
Let’s get this straight.
M-O-N-T-F-O-R-T.
Not Montford.
[partisan remark deleted. -manhattan]
[Thought I was kidding, did ya? I’m not.]
[Edited by manhattan on 08-13-2001 at 05:08 PM]
I would imagine that if you asked a sample of fans attending a game at Yankee Stadium, that fewer than 1% would know that Manchester United is one of the premier soccer teams in the world. And those that know of Man U would likely be visitors from other countries who are going to a baseball game out of curiousity.
You can buy Manchester United gear out here in the U.S., but it’s usually at stores that specialize in soccer gear.
Some years back, when I was in Ireland, I saw loads of Irish kids wearing Dallas COwboys jerseys and caps, even though almost none of them ever watched American football. If British kids are really wearing Yankee hats (and I KNOW Chinese kids snap up NBA paraphernalia), I expect it’s because there’s still a perception among kids in many parts of the world than anything American is automatically “cool.”
When I was in Helsinki last November, Anniz and I went into a shopping mall. There was a men’s clothing store that we browsed in. It was very much like an Urban Outfitters store, but what cracked me up is that I found the One True Hat[sup]*[/sup] on their accessories shelf.
In any case, it was just that an American baseball hat (or Canadian, I saw a Les Expos hat there, too) was something cool to wear.
[sup]*[/sup]The One True Hat is red and has a white P on it.
Feh.