If you were watching Game 1 of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Kansas City Royals, there is no way you didn’t see the Marlins fan. Dressed in the brightest orange shirt that one could possible find, he stood out like a sore thumb in the sea of Royals blue surrounding him.
Affectionately known as “Marlins Man,” Laurence Leavy has been going to sporting events for years and he’s become something of a sports-fan legend, known for wearing his Marlins gear to sporting events that have nothing to do with the Marlins (to his credit, Leavy is a Marlins season-ticket holder so he’s not wearing his gear for no good reason).
Still, having a guy in a bright orange shirt with a team name on it that isn’t even playing in the World Series understandably irked the Royals higher-ups, including the owner of the team. The Royals even reportedly tried to bribe Leavy into moving from his seat:
But the sight of Leavy in his Miami orange so rattled the home team that he said stadium officials asked him to leave — or at least cover up with a Kansas City Royals shirt.
…
“The owner of the Royals was extremely upset that I was there,” Leavy said.
They offered him a private suite if he would move.
They tried enticing him with free World Series goodies if he would get rid of the orange jersey.
No way, Marlins Man said.
Later, a spokesman for the Royals would state that no one asked Leavy to move or take off his jersey.
The best part of all of this? The Marlins loved every second of Leavy’s appearance:
“I think it’s great,” said P.J. Loyello, vice president of communications and broadcasting for the team. “He’s one of our loyal season-ticket holders. He’s definitely easy to pick out with that jersey. It’s fun to pick him out. It’s reached a point where we expect to see him at games now. It’s fun. It’s sports.”
Leavy has stated that he will be attending Game 2 in his Marlins jersey. He will (once again) be hard to miss.
