An open letter to MLB

Dear MLB:

Congratulations on the conclusion of your Winter Meetings. The news coming out of your meetings was notable in that all of your team owners and general managers came out of the meetings apparently sober, well rested and ready to go to Spring Training. Hold on, there was a more newsworthy item. My God, you finally implemented a dress code.

A dress code! Finally you came to grips with the variety of uniforms adorning our boys of summer, long pants, knee high pants, unbuttoned shirts. More importantly MLB addressed the embarrassment caused by out of shape managers squeezing into a baseball uniform which hardly covers their pot belly. Not so MLB, you chickened out. After rereading the press releases, I discovered that the dress code only concerned the media.

Holy cow! Skirts, dresses or shorts cut more than three or four inches above the knee will be deemed to be in violation of the dress code. Does that mean that Bob Costa will have to get a whole new wardrobe? Visible undergarments are prohibited. Why was this necessary. I don’t recall ever seeing a reporter’s undergarment except in the men’s room. How about your code which bans ripped jeans, visible sheer clothing, one-shouldered and strapless shirts or exposed bare midriffs. That smells a bit like you are going after a specific branch of the media - females. Shame on you. The whole code is a cop out. The media doesn’t dress any worse than the fans in the stands. Everyone knows that fashionable dress at sporting events is a no-no.

Lets address the bare midriffs part of the code. It is much too general. There is nothing wrong with a bare midriff except on an obese person. Which brings me to what prompted this letter in the first place.

Why the hell do you allow baseball managers to wear a player type uniform. As far as I know baseball is the only sport where the manager or coach wears a uniform. Those guys are never going to get in the game! I’d much rather see a blond reporter with a bare midriff interviewing a player than an obese manager with his tummy hanging over his uniform belt walking out to the mound to get his pitcher. Think back to Connie Mack. He did a pretty good job of managing in civilian clothes. Tommy La Sorda did a good job but he looked sloppy in doing it.


Is it true that some of your players have insulted female reporters sporting short shorts and as a result law suits have been threatened? Is this dress code all about you covering your ass or the asses of your ballplayers? By the way, they should always cover their ass in the presence of a lady except in their bedroom.

MLB, your dress code stinks. Stop picking on females.

Sincerely,

A disgruntled fan