It’s a sickness.

All winter long I’ve been wearing what my friends refer to as "the" jacket.  I bought it in Cooperstown last May during the Hall of Fame Game weekend.  It’s reversible, but I’ve never worn the red side out.  I love this jacket and it’s a great conversation starter (mine is navy, incidentally, not black).  More people stop me in the street to ask about this jacket than I can count.  I love this stupid jacket and I plan on retiring it when the winter is over.  I normally don’t talk about how much money I spend on things, but that’s basically the topic of discussion for this post, so I will.  It was $160 at the Hall of Fame gift shop and I received a discount because I am a member of the Hall of Fame.  It was the main reason I purchased it…because I couldn’t believe how inexpensive it was.  From my research afterward, I’m led to believe it is a limited edition.  Very nice.  It was a bargain, it keeps me warm, it brings back memories of the amazing 2004 season…all in all an excellent investment.

So I’m looking around mlb.com yesterday and I’m thinking that it’s time to buy another jersey.  But which one?  How about the WBC team USA jersey with Mike Timlin’s  name and number on it?  That’s the one I want, right?

So I look it up…$249.99.  

What?  They’re kidding right?

So I start writing this rant about MLB s*cking even MORE money out of me than they already have and decide, scr*w it.  I already have a couple of Timlin jerseys…I don’t need one with USA on it.

And then I look it up again this morning because I can’t BELIEVE the only jerseys they are selling cost $249.99…and I don’t know if it’s from people complaining or because I just hit the site while they were putting stuff up and they hadn’t gotten to it yet…but now there are alternate, customizable jerseys for sale along with the $249.99 one.  The replica jersey for $109.99   A  bit more in my price range.  And as you can see, they look exactly the same (yes I know the differences between authentic and replica…it’s a joke to me).

I still haven’t decided if I’m going to give in and buy it.  I probably will, knowing me, although I’d really rather spend that money on something else like, say, baseball tickets, so I’m still not sure.  It just amazes me that there are so many people out there like myself who keep spending this money on stuff we don’t need just to support this addiction to baseball.