Chapter 129 Question 117

Why do baseball coaches wear uniforms? (Andrew Toblen) Among major professional sports, only baseball requires coaches to wear the same uniforms as players. Basketball coaches in the NBA typically wear a suit and tie, as do hockey coaches in the NHL. NFL football coaches typically wear training jackets and baseball caps and sit in the stands.Why do only baseball coaches wear uniforms? If the reader remembers the former Chicago club coach Don.The way Don Zimmer straddles the mound to call for a pitcher's change, presumably doesn't think baseball uniforms are good for concealing the fat physique of a middle-aged man.

To find a more plausible explanation for baseball coaches wearing team uniforms, we must first see that baseball, an organized professional sport, appeared long before basketball, football, and hockey.Since there was no precedent for coaches' attire at the time, people took it for granted that coaches should wear the same uniforms as players, and the early baseball uniforms were loose enough to cover the out-of-shape bodies of older men. Moreover, since baseball is not particularly demanding on physical fitness, it is not uncommon for players to be significantly overweight.Therefore, a coach who is out of shape in a baseball uniform is not as attractive as a coach who is out of shape in a basketball uniform.For the same reason, coaches often have to enter the arena and turn over the mound to call for pitcher substitutions, which is also a feature that distinguishes baseball from other sports.On this occasion, wearing a suit seems out of place.A final reason is that many of the coaches were formerly top-notch baseball players, so it makes sense for them to wear uniforms.

But the easiest way to understand why coaches in other mainstream sports don't wear uniforms is to imagine how ridiculous that would appear.For example, the coach of the Houston Rockets, Jeff van Gundy (Jeff van Gundy was the head coach of the Rockets when the author wrote the book, and the current head coach of the Rockets is Adel. Editor's note), sitting on the sidelines in shorts and vest , Dallas Cowboys (football team) coach Bill.Bill Pacell in shoulder pads and leggings, or New York Islanders (hockey) coach TedTed Nolan in full hockey gear.Although baseball uniforms do not modify the fat middle-aged men, baseball coaches wearing uniforms are more normal than those of other mainstream sports.

The next few examples illustrate a principle that has long been grasped by business owners but has only recently been appreciated by economists.Using this little common sense about human psychology, it is possible to devise many marketing strategies that fully drive revenue for a business.