Boston Red Sox fans are apparently loading up on David Ortiz jerseys while they still can.
MLB announced Monday that Big Papi is leading the league in jersey sales, while Chicago Cubs third baseman/outfielder Kris Bryant is in second place. The top 10 is listed below:
The rankings aren’t the most accurate measure of how well a player’s jersey is selling, since they only count sales from the league’s official online store, MLBShop.com. Factoring in purchases made at individual team shops and additional online retailers could produce slightly different results.
Still, it’s little surprise to see Ortiz sitting so high on this list after failing to crack last year’s top 10. Not only is the 40-year-old having one of the best seasons in his career, but he’s still planning on retiring at the end of the year. This is the last season Red Sox fans can purchase an Ortiz jersey before it’s designated a throwback.
SportsBusiness Journal‘s Eric Fisher highlighted another interesting note about the 2016 jersey rankings:
Derek Jeter’s retirement has left a void in the New York Yankees from a commercial perspective. The fanbase has never warmed to Alex Rodriguez the way it did to Jeter, and while the Yankees were once the pre-eminent power in free agency, they haven’t landed any major stars of note in recent years.
The San Francisco Giants—coming off their World Series win in 2014—dominated 2015 sales, with Madison Bumgarner, Buster Posey and Hunter Pence Nos. 2, 3 and 7, respectively. Posey is holding strong at sixth this year, but Bumgarner has fallen to 16th and Pence is out of the top 20 altogether.
The Chicago Cubs, meanwhile, have taken the Giants’ place with three players inside the top 10, and that’s unlikely to change next year given how the season is unfolding. In the event the Cubs break their World Series drought, fans will want to savor the victory as much as possible, which means those Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Jake Arrieta jerseys would become even bigger keepsakes.
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