Suit Up

It's happening! Friday night the 2013 Spokane Indians season will begin and as Andy and I get ready for our "2013 Spokane Indians Pre-Season Draft" post that should be up tomorrow evening we figured it was time to start loading up our dressers with some gear for the summer. You see my Spokane Indians apparel over the past 6 years has been an old fitted Indians hat with an outdated logo and a white XL tshirt with the current team logo on the front (I actually won this shirt at a game years ago and have no idea how, all I know is that it fits like one of the night gowns that Charlie Buckets grandparents wore). Needless to say, this season I'm going to need to step up my dress up game if I'm planning on immersing myself in the team, and what better year to do so than a year when the team gets a brand new Team Store. That's right, in all the stadium re-design the Indians have added a beautiful new team store to the fresh looking front office building. If you had been to the ballpark before you'll remember the "Team Store" looking a lot more like a wall of prizes behind a carnival game and a lot less like a store to buy gear. Gone are the days of purchasing a hat by asking the vendor if you can try on ten different 7 3/8's until you find the one that fits right. Gone are the days of having to lean over the counter to try to get a better look at a tshirt hanging on the back wall to see if it's the style you like. The life of luxury when it comes to buying team gear has made it's way to Avista Stadium in the form of a pristine and air conditioned store. That's right, one you can walk through holding up each shirt to get a feel for it's overall style (Followed by the uncomfortable task you're left with of trying to fold the shirt back into it's original form which to me is a lot like making an origami crane). A store with a wall of hats and a mirror so you can make sure you can look like this guy or this guy. (Sidenote: If you've never tried to wear a hat like Fred McGriff then you may not be qualified to purchase a baseball hat) A team store that not only has a ton of tshirts for guys, gals, kids and infants, but one with all the stuff you need to jazz up your office space, car, key chain, man cave, or refrigerator. Yes, if you are looking for new team gear of any sorts the Indians have provided you with a little slice of shopping heaven.


My eyes were like a kid in a candy store walking into the place. I wanted one of everything. A jersey, a shirt, another shirt, a pen, a foam finger, another jersey. This was going to be a great trip... until shopping stage fright hit. It may have been the fact that it was hot out and my brain was fried. It may have been the fact I had just got done with a meeting filled day at work. It may have been the fact I felt like Andy was judging me. Either way the fact was fact, stage 1 shopping stage fright had set in in full force. Everything looked so good. Maybe everything looked too good. If I was going to buy one thing I was going to buy everything and that would lead to Top Ramen for the rest of the month. What if I picked out the same shirt as Andy and we showed up to the game at the same time wearing the same shirts and same Levi 505's? (Is it bad that this is actually a real concern???? The answer is yes) Trip one to the new team store ended up being the equivalent to a 0-3 outing with a walk. That walk being the one thing I purchased, a hat.

But good news, I guess the team store will be open all summer and that includes tomorrow. A day where I will go to the store ALONE and tell the gal behind the counter not to judge me for holding up each t shirt to see if it will make my non-exsistant pecs pop. You have a couple days to get there before first pitch on Friday night. In fact, stop what you're doing now and tell your boss or wife or husband or buddy that you have to use the bathroom and sneak off to Avista Stadium, check out the team store and buy the same shirt that Andy got so he has to deal with the fact that he has the same shirt on as everyone else. Suit up, because opening night is hours away.