It's a Home Run

By Joe Haley

Phil Stitch kindly asked me to guest blog for him on a decorated apparel dilemma, since he's taking a little much-needed R&R. I recently received an inquiry from a distributor who'sworking with his local youth baseball organization. While the season is well under way, he's been asked to come up with a shirt for all teams that will be participating in its post-season tournament. The idea is that the teams get shirts for their players and that each shirt is a different color with the same logo. The logo is that of the company paying for the shirts and sponsoring the tournament. His dilemma is that the sponsor and the club do not want the basic colored tees they've used in the past.

Well, my little-league friend, you've come to the right person. My community club has run a similar baseball tournament for years. However, while it uses a standard tee, I was able to peruse ESP Web to come up with a few shirt options.

While the standard colored T-shirt will cost the sponsor the least amount, the question is: will it provide them with the most bang for their buck? In other words, will the players wear the shirt again after the tournament ends? In my experience, if it's the right shirt they will.

Using ESP, I found a 100% polyester, moisture wicking, two-button shirt (available in nine colors and costs about $7 per piece) that will be comfortable in the summer heat. I also found a 90% polyester/10% Lycra, moisture wicking, baseball vest with contrasting piping for about $10 (also comes in nine colors). However, this would require the players to have a shirt for under the vest. Then there is the traditional 50/50 cotton/poly baseball tee with contrasting ¾ sleeves at about $5 – and is available in more than 15 colors. You want color options? I got color options.

With a cool tournament logo on any of the above shirts, I told the distributor that the sponsor would likely get more advertising mileage, as the shirts would be worn to practices and to school. Seems like the apparel guy hit a home run on this one.

Joe Haley is managing editor of Stitches. Contact: jhaley@asicentral.com.