Tuesday, February 08, 2000
'Get your Griffey Jr. Reds jerseys here!'
BY SCOTT MacGREGOR
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Griffey's a Red!
At least that's what one sporting goods store is selling.
|
THE JERSEY
|
Take a look at the jersey available from Koch's Sporting Goods in downtown Cincinnati.
|
Walk by Koch's Sporting Goods in downtown Cincinnati, and you'll see a No.24 Reds jersey with the name “Griffey” stitched across the back.
Ken Griffey Jr., of course, is still a Seattle Mariner, despite the flurry of trade rumors that have him coming here. But that didn't stop Koch's when several customers requested personalized Reds jerseys with Griffey's name and number. The owners decided to have an extra one made to hang in the window.
But the Major League Baseball Players Association said Monday there may have been a violation of law.
“"We do a lot of special requests,” said Greg Koch, part owner of the store. The store has made Pete Rose, Tony Perez and Johnny Bench jerseys, but this is the first time, Koch said, that the store has made a jersey for a player before he has been traded here.
“Who knows whether it will happen?” Koch said. “It's more of a conversation piece at this point in time.”
Authentic jerseys, licensed by Major League Baseball, sell for $159.99 at Koch's. They come with a blank back, so fans can get any name and number sewn on they choose.
The MLBPA said it wasn't aware of the jerseys and said they didn't grant permission.
“Anyone who uses property that doesn't belong to them is in violation of a law,” said Judy Heeter, director of licensing for the Players Association.
“When they send the jerseys with nothing on them, obviously they're going to get decorated,” Koch said. “Let's say your name is Griffey and you want to get a No.24 jersey made. How can somebody stop you?”
Koch said the only way MLB could stop that is if it started shipping the jerseys pre-packaged with a specific player's name and number, like the NFL does.
“That makes it difficult for us to deal with the average joe,” Koch said. “Not everyone wants a common player.”
Reds Stories
Bengals working to polish image for free agents
Team in dark about Mack's wrist fracture
C-USA NOTEBOOK
It's new faces but old winning ways at Duke
McNick scores big GGCL win
OSU tops RedHawks schedule
UK's road forecast calls for heat, high pressure
Reds page
