XM MLB Chat: Looking for a Mariano Rivera t-shirt at Modell's

Update, Wed., Sept. 21, 2011, I walked by Modell's this afternoon, not planning on going in. But they had racks packed with Mariano Rivera 602 t-shirts so I went in just to look. They had a couple different versions.

I only bought 2... S., 9/21/11

Wednesday afternoon I walked by Modell's sporting goods shop on 42nd street in Manhattan, noticed shirts displayed in the window with names like Teixeira, Jeter, and Rodriguez. Just for fun I decided to go in and see if they had any Mariano Rivera t-shirts. I didn't see any hanging in the racks on the main floor, so I asked a pleasant young associate if he had any Mariano Rivera t-shirts. Maybe I hadn't spoken too clearly because

he replied, 'Manny Ramirez?' I said, no, Mariano Rivera. 'Oh', he said. I asked him, do you know who Mariano Rivera is? 'No,' he said.

I explained that he was a great relief pitcher from the NY Yankees on the job since 1995. (The associate as it turns out was born in 1988 and therefore only 7 years old in 1995). He then said he was a Mets fan, so I asked him if he had heard of K-rod and he lit up and said, oh, yeah! So, trying to find a Mariano Rivera shirt, the associate sees another Modell's employee and says to her,

"Do you know if we have any Manny Rivera t-shirts?" The young lady says, "Is he a soccer player?" I said, no, his name is Mariano Rivera, he's the great relief pitcher for the Yankees. Have you ever heard of him? No, she says.

Which is fine, not a big deal, I don't consider it a requirement for a young person who may be going to school and working to know every detail about every team of every sport. It takes a lot of time and many people just don't have the spare time. It was nevertheless an interesting 'on the ground' experience.

Now the young man leads me to a rack of folded shirts against a wall I hadn't noticed before. He does find some shirts there with 42 on the back. All they had was a couple in 2X and one in medium. I took the medium one, and left. I was happy to have it. This is the third time I've gone into that Modell's looking for a Rivera t-shirt over a 9 or 10 year period.

The first time, they had no Rivera shirts, the second time, a few years ago, they had one. So things are looking up. I understand, some people say Rivera is only a reliever.