What is proper baseball t-shirt etiquette?

Whenever Squawker Jon and I go to baseball games together, we point out t-shirts and jerseys that other fans wear.

For example, there was a sea of #13s in honor of Alex Rodriguez at Friday’s game, but we’ve seen all sorts of shirts out there. Like when you see somebody wearing a Soriano Yankee shirt, and he’s been off the team for five years. Or those Yankee jerseys that the team sells which have the names on the back, contrary to tradition.

Anyhow, I’ve been thinking of getting some new Yankee shirts for this season. I want Squawker Jon and I to wear these tie-dye Mets and Yankees shirts from WearYourBeer.com to a Subway Series game!

This subject got me to thinking of baseball t-shirt/jersey etiquette:

* What do you do if your player is no longer on the team? How long can you get away with wearing his shirt? I say if he’s somebody who’s retired, like Bernie Williams or Paul O’Neill, it’s still cool to wear his shirt. Randy Johnson or Alfonso Soriano? Not so much.

But I understand in the cases of jerseys, that there are some big expenses involved. Squawker Jon and I have a New York Rangers’ fan friend who spent close to $200 on an authentic Mike York jersey, only to see him get traded the next week. Yikes!

* How long does a player have to be on the team before you buy his shirt or jersey? I’d really like an A.J. Burnett shirt, but Squawker Jon said I should wait half a season to make sure I still want to do it. Imagine all those fans who bought Ed Whitson shirts once upon a time. Or the poor souls who bought a Carl Pavano jersey!

* What do you do if the player changes his number? Is it okay to still wear the old number? This has happened a bunch in the last few years:

Robinson Cano had to change his #22 for #24 for Roger Clemens (yeah, that looks great in retrospect!) Phil Hughes switched from #65 to #34 last year, and now he’s back at #65. Melky Cabrera switched from #28 to #53, which was convenient for Bobby Abreu jersey owners who didn’t want their shirts to go to waste! Same thing with Mark Teixeira taking Jason Giambi’s #25. (Reference tool: YankeeNumbers.com)

* And is it ever okay to have your own name on the back of a Yankee jersey? I say no, unless it’s for a softball game.

What are your thoughts on proper t-shirt etiquette? Leave us a comment!