Sports

Twins promote one more chance to live in the past

Bob CollinsBob Collins Sep 8, 2016
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The Minnesota Twins are in the death rattle phase of 2016 season. Other than Brian Dozier and a clearly rejuvenated Byron Buxton, previously known as the savior of the franchise, there’s no reason to go to a ballgame.

So you can hardly blame the Twins for resorting to a faded and somewhat disgraced fashion to try to get fans into the ballpark: Zubaz, the fashion version of the mullett.

The Twins tried this promotion late last year too. To the surprise of purists everywhere, it turned out that people want Zubaz in their life still. Who hurt you, Minnesota?

Minnesotans are quick to embrace the hometown team: Bob Dylan, Prince, The Coen Brothers, Judy Garland, and any famous person who ever made a connection on the C concourse at the Minneapolis St. Paul Airport.

But Zubaz? Not so much, even though they were invented in Roseville.

Bob Truax, of Victoria, and Dan Stock, of Little Canada, grossed $160 million sales of Zubaz even though not a single person ever looked good wearing them.

The pair invented the pants for their bodybuilder friends who couldn’t find anything comfortable, according to Mental Floss.

The pair’s corrections officers friends convinced them that women in prison could form the workforce, stitching the threads. The wrestling group, the Road Warriors, picked up on the pants and the brand took off. A topless model wearing nothing but a pair of Zubaz gave the fad a cachet that body builders and prisoners hadn’t.

It was all good until the partners lost most of the shares of their company in financing schemes, City Pages said in a 2012 article. It became a brand of the past in a 1996 bankruptcy.