What’s the story behind the Diamondbacks’ victory vest?
Jun 1, 2023, 11:44 AM
Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Evan Longoria (3) gets the victory jacket after a baseball game between the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 30th, 2023, at Chase Field in Phoenix, AZ. (Photo by Zac BonDurant/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Photo by Zac BonDurant/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The Arizona Diamondbacks’ victory vest first popped up earlier this week. Before his postgame interview Monday with the Bally Sports Arizona postgame show, D-backs pitcher Drey Jameson got suited up with help from outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
And a day later, after Evan Longoria hit a home run to help his team to another win, Geraldo Perdomo outfitted him with the vest as well.
It’s leathery Sedona red with team logos, a #RattleOn hashtag and “Serpientes” on the back. The sleeveless jacket also reads “la gente del barrio” on the chest pocket, Spanish for “the people of the neighborhood.”
Victory Vest? Here for it. pic.twitter.com/dPIpkthHQs
— Bally Sports Arizona (@BALLYSPORTSAZ) May 29, 2023
Perdomo making sure Longo looks good for his big interview. 🥹 pic.twitter.com/A56QPyTHcQ
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) May 31, 2023
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It would appear the victory vest is now a thing for this streaking team. As for the style, well:
“The jury’s still out for me,” starter Merrill Kelly told Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta on Thursday. “I’m not really sure what the application of it is yet. I just walked into the locker room the other day and it was sitting there.
“It’s definitely a cool-looking jacket. I could see Ricky Vaughn from ‘Major League’ maybe busting that thing out and running in from the bullpen. It looks like it might be the interview jacket, so maybe I’ll get to wear it one of these days.”
Where’d the victory vest come from?
Gurriel, an offseason trade acquisition who last year played for the Toronto Blue Jays, told reporters he conceptualized the idea.
The @Dbacks #VictoryVest is becoming quite a thing pic.twitter.com/OBFJbjHBiE
— Mark McClune (@MarkMcClune) June 1, 2023
It’s a riff on Toronto’s home run jacket over the last few years that also had the “la gente del barrio” script on it, along with nods to the many countries represented by players on that roster.
The Blue Jays, for what it’s worth, folded up that jacket heading into this season.
Now, a similar idea lives on with the D-backs’ victory vest — a little nod to a growing team culture that is starting to flex on the field about a third of the way through 2023.
