QHXIRxjAs you may know we here at Stately Beat Manor are long suffering fans of the New York Mets. So it was a strange and amazin’ weekend with the Mets locking first place in their division this weekend, ending a nine year post-season drought with a season that already has some legendary moments, from The Night The Shortstop Cried, to The PAssion of the Cespedes and other things only sports fans will give a crap about.

However it was an added bonus that this weekend happened to be “Rookie Hazing” weekend, during which rookies on many major league teams are forced to travel in costumes or embarrassing clothing. As you can see from the above, the Mets rookie were forced to wear adult sized underoos.

Now perhaps you are thinking “The Mets rookie I most want to see in skimpy underwear is Noah Syndergaard” and he’s uncharacteristically shy in the above photos. Luckily, he happened to run into a bar for a pint.

Now you may also be thinking that hazing rituals are an atavistic remnant of primitive societies that reinforce stereotypes about gender and ethnicity.

It is true that some unfortunate stereotypes are reinforced by this kind of stunt, but in a more anthropological view, this kind of ritual serves as a “coming of age rite” and such traditions usually reflect the overturning of traditional roles, crossing over into “the other” and a widening consciousness by appropriating the garb and symbols of another tribe or gender. One of the reasons I like baseball among all other sports is the encouragement of individual personalities and its generally genial nature unless you are a total psycho like John Papelbon. Dressing up, as shown by Halloween and the growing acceptance of cosplay, is an important form of self expression.

Plus, is there really a downside to the sight of fit young athletes in skimpy underwear?

The Houston Astros went a little dark with all this though.

 

https://twitter.com/JuliaMoralesRS/status/648259592179154944

https://twitter.com/JuliaMoralesRS/status/648260345081913344

https://twitter.com/JuliaMoralesRS/status/648261592421826564
https://twitter.com/JuliaMoralesRS/status/648259116545142784

https://twitter.com/JuliaMoralesRS/status/648264416773799936

For more pictures of baseball players in their underwear, please go here.

6 COMMENTS

  1. The rookie hazing is one of my favorite parts of the season. I especially loved the Mets bride and bridesmaids last year. As I recall, Zach Wheeler was the bride. Baseball is the one sport where I really feel I get to know the players, and the rookies seem to enjoy it. Curtis Granderson, who is the leader of the hazing for the Mets these days, said he had to be Pocahontas way back when he was a rookie and that he had fond memories of it, or words to that effect. I can’t recall his actual words. And I give these guys a lot of credit for walking to their hotel dressed like that and owning it.

  2. Eric Simon is obviously neither a baseball fan nor a comic book fan. Besides all of the rookies involved seemed to be having fun with it!
    Homoeroticism is somewhat in the eye of the beholder. That and the “emasculation” speaks to me more of Eric Simon’s thoughts than how the rest of the world sees threes events.

  3. Although I have misgivings about the conceptual mash-up of homoeroticism and emasculation and humiliation, and I regard hazing rituals as a throwback to pre-enlightened societies, anything that involves professional athletes walking around in briefs is generally OK with me. :)

  4. Okay… anyone gonna do an all-star rookie baseball card set of hazing photos?
    Or at least a website?

Comments are closed.