Schwartz: MLB, New Era Encouraging Fans To Wear Their Caps On Opening Day
By Peter Schwartz
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A baseball cap is the easiest way to show that you're a baseball fan and show off your favorite team. Depending on how big of a fan you are, you probably have more than one of them. Some teams have just one, and some teams have home and away or even an alternate.
I don't want to tell you how many Yankees hats I own -- that's a blog for another day.
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But given how special Opening Day has always been, Major League Baseball and New Era Cap have teamed up for a new promotion called #CapsOn. Fans are encouraged to wear their caps today, including those who have to work or go to school, while also mixing in some exciting giveaways.
"Baseball came to us last fall and said, 'Look, we want to treat Opening Day almost like a national holiday," said Tony DeSimone, New Era's category director of baseball. "We all know that when it comes to nostalgia, I think baseball invokes more nostalgia in Americans than any other sport."
As part of the promotion, MLB and New Era are giving away caps in 13 cities across the country including multiple spots in New York City such as Herald Square, Penn Station, Lincoln Center, Bryant Park, Grand Central Station, Columbia University and New York University.
It's an opportunity for fans of all ages to show their true colors.
"We have a lot of appeal to kids, but it's amazing how many adults want to be able to do this," said DeSimone. "They want to throw that cap on and represent where their source of pride comes from. We're beyond encouraging kids. We're encouraging all fans to wear these caps to school and the workplace."
Fans aren't the only ones who are being encouraged to wear their caps.
New Era is sending caps to mayors all over the country, including New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. I certainly hope they sent him both a Mets and a Yankees cap so that he can do the politically correct thing and switch off. (Although if de Blasio shows up at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, he should leave the Mets cap in the car.)
Caps are also being sent to various celebrities, including Jimmy Fallon and Jennifer Lopez, that has their shows on the side and their favorite team on the front.
"We're hoping they're going to wear them on Opening Day as well," said DeSimone.
If you're going to wear your cap on Opening Day, make sure you take a photo of yourself and post it on social media. If you use the hashtag #CapsOn, you'll have a chance to win MLB prizes. It will certainly be interesting to see what cap is the most popular in the metropolitan area.
While the Mets made it to the World Series last year, the numbers say there will likely be more Yankees caps around town.
"I can tell you it is our No. 1 seller year in and year out," said DeSimone of the Yankees cap. "The Yankees are a very important organization to New Era, and they continue to top that list."
But the Mets run to the National League East title as well the postseason victories over the Dodgers and Cubs that took them to the World Series meant that a whole lot of Mets caps were flying off the shelves, not just in New York but throughout the country.
"Last year was incredible," said DeSimone. "You had large-market teams that had not won in quite some time all get good at once. The Mets are certainly one, and the Cubs were another one."
Despite the Opening Night loss in Kansas City on Sunday, I'm guessing there will be plenty of those caps on display throughout our area Monday. Will they outnumber the Yankees caps? That's hard to say, but given the magnitude of Opening Day and what MLB and New Era have in store, there's just one chant that's important.
Not "Let's go, Mets!" or "Let's go, Yankees!"
All around town, you'll hear and see #CapsOn!
Don't forget to follow Peter on Twitter @pschwartzcbsfan. You can also follow @MLB and @NewEraCap.