There are several refernces to “Pink Hats” in this whole Neil Diamond “Sweet Caroline” nonsense and the phrase was used on WGBH last night a lot. Having grown up in an LGBT world (and not giving a rat’s arse about baseball), I know there are plenty of thing in the “Pink” category that are often demeaning to members of the LGBT community, and other non-athletic types. Is this one? Because if I am suppose to be offended by it, I will gladly embrase the outrage. Any etymology of the meaning of this phrase would be appreciated. Also, on a scale of 1 to 10 of how much I should be offended would help as well. Thanks.
Please share widely!
it’s obvious, isn’t it. Outrageous!
But what does it mean????
The Red Sox wear dark blue hats on the field. Pretty much always have. About 10 years ago the current owners (the guy who bought the Globe) bought the team. Good news: in 2004 they won the World Series for the first time in 86 years and then did it again in 2007. Bad news: all sorts of bandwagon fans started showing up and longtime fans had a hard time getting a ticket.
The “new” owners, as they shall probably be called in Boston for another three decades, are, ahem, big on merchandising. And they started to sell Red Sox hats of all colors and sizes. The pale pink hats were very popular among new “fans” like BU girls who were more interested in texting than watching the games. Over time “pink hat” has become a shorthand for bandwagon fans who don’t know much of anything about the Red Sox or their traditions, but show up for the “atmosphere” when the team is winning.
If you’re not pretending to be a Red Sox fan, no need to be offended.
I would prefer not to add yet another chip to my shoulder, so this was helpful. I have always had a problem with bandwagon fans which is a large part of my total aversion to sporting events in general. It seemed like when Bobby Orr and Doug Flutie became popular, these bandwagon types were the most obnoxious, in my opinion.
I suspect that the Outrage Pantry at the Cote household is never empty. I’m sure you’re glad you don’t have to make room for a pink hat now.
Because my first scan of your comment, I didn’t see the “R” and Pantry, and I thought you were saying something else. Something “Drag” related.
.
But why didn’t mike_cote just google it?
when it is not acceptable in academia?
not homophobia. “Pink hats,” as I’ve seen used, largely refer to female fans, both the BU girls stereotype fenway mentioned up above, as well as upper middle class moms bringing their kids to the game or going with friends who are, as the stereotype goes, more a fan of the pink hats, theme park like atmosphere and photo ops than making Fenway Park loud enough to create a homefield advantage.
While there’s sometimes a little grain of truth to some stereotypes, I would suggest to Red Sox purists that hate “pink hats” that any of the grains of truth here has much more to do with the cost of ticket prices than over merchandising or even bandwagon fandom. The hardcore loudmouths are still there… they just can’t afford the cost of entry anymore.
The cost of tickets depends on demand, which with a winning team is swelled dramatically by all the non-fans who come out of the woodwork. Good seats were available cheap last season, not so much during the height of the craze in 2007 or 2008.
It’s not all about gender by any means. I remember watching the 2004 World Series with a bunch of college students. The girls in that group knew their baseball and wore standard blue hats. They weren’t “pink hats.”
On the other hand, I used to work with a guy in New York who came from Massachusetts but was never into baseball. When the Red Sox had a big season in 2007 he could be found trash-talking the Yankee fans but, when pressed, couldn’t name anyone on the team. He would be considered a “pink hat” even though he didn’t have an actual pink hat.
I remember back in 2004 a woman blogging about sports wrote her opposition to “pink hat” culture:
I can say as a fact that I’ve seen and heard pink hats used on multiple occasions as a slight against female fans, as if they’re all there for the theme park and Jacoby Ellsbury.
As for prices… a fair amount of supply for the tickets this year but they stayed the same price. It would take years and years of bottom dwelling before the Sox tickets would plummet in costs, but had they skirted by for a few seasons in 2nd or 3rd place, I’m not so sure you would have seen much of a difference in prices.
All hypothetical, though, since there’s no way to test things either way. Normal rules of supply and demand don’t really apply though, even from an economic point of view, when the Sox have a baseball monopoly in Massachusetts.