We’re a little more than 20 games (out of 162) into the 2023 baseball season and interest in a much faster and offensive game has made this one of the more exciting moments in the sport for a loooong time. It’s almost enough for an enterprising metal band with tangential ties to the sport and a penchant for merchandising everything to capitalize. And capitalize Ghost did.
If you’re a fan of Papa Emeritus IV, the Chicago White Sox, or just looking kinda like a baseball fan without actually knowing anything about the game, then the Swedish juggernaut has some stuff for you to spend your hard earned bucks on.
For $145, you can get an officially licensed Chicago White Sox replica home jersey emblazoned with PAPA IV and the number four on the back, just like Papa himself wore when he did a shitty job tossing out the ceremonial first pitch at a game at Guaranteed Rate Field last September. The jersey is available in small to 3XL, comes with a fully buttoned front, a monochrome Batterman logo on the back and a rounded hem. Most of that may not matter to you, but who cares? Now you can be just like Papa and cosplay like a baseball fan.
If that’s a little too intense for you, the band is also offering a “Pitch Papa” shirt, featuring the eponymous frontman wearing his black and white pinstripes and kinda sorta holding a bat properly. It’s a pretty cool design, but as a baseball fan I gotta nitpick the copy. It says it showcases “your favorite player, Power Pitcher Papa IV,” but I say it again — he couldn’t throw a strike and pitchers don’t hit anymore.
Either way, these two things seem like maybe they’re a cool item you’d want to pick up if your love of baseball and Ghost align. And who am I to judge? I bet these pieces of merch will perform better than my fucking Mets have as of late…