John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
New Era recently released a line of “Overlap” hats for every MLB team that did not get the reception it was likely hoping for due to some questionable designs. That includes one that was whipped up for the Rangers that is no longer being sold after someone realized it was emblazoned with a vulgar Spanish word.
Most apparel companies that have a merchandising deal with pro sports leagues use those arrangements to try to flex their creative muscle by whipping up alternate jerseys and limited runs of other articles of clothing that tend to be a fairly shameless cash grab more often than not.
That includes New Era, which has been the exclusive producer of the Official On-Field Cap of Major League Baseball™ for more than three decades and has been outfitting the league’s teams for close to a century.
Last year, New Era tried to think outside of the box with the run of “Shadow” hats that were responsible for an incredibly on-the-nose oversight that led to the one that was designed for the Athletics being removed from the MLB Store.
You might think they took extra precautions to avoid falling victim to a similar issue after deciding to tackle a new initiative this season, but that did not turn out to be the case.
On Monday, New Era unveiled its latest line of MLB hats in the form of the “Overlap” edition that seemingly stemmed from someone asking “What if we just put every team’s logo in the middle of their name?” before everyone else decided to roll with that.
New Era
The fact that these exist makes me assume New Era did some research that suggested there’s a market for them, although I’m not exactly sure why fans would be scrambling to secure hats that transform the Angels into the “Anaels” and the Astros into the “Ashos.”
There’s also the one for the Rangers featuring the word “Tetas,” which was initially available to purchase online at a link that now redirects to the home page after plenty of fans noticed that just so happens to be a crude Spanish word referencing a certain part of the female anatomy.
Will the third time be the charm for New Era? Check back next year to find out!