Embarrassing MLB "Tetas" Hats Sell for Over $1,000 on eBay

Now they're collectables

MLB Tetas Hat Reseller Discontinued Scandal

News

By RC Staff

14 March 2025

Key Points

The MLB’s new “Overlap” hat collection has some embarrassing designs
Fans were quick to mock designs like “TETAS” “ASHOS” and “ANAELS”
The discontinued hats are reselling for up to $1,000

Looking for a new hat? We’ve got something you might like. The MLB recently launched a new collection of stylized hats for each team in the league, and some of the designs carried unintentional innuendos. Fans took to social media to make jokes about hats for the Rangers, Astros, and Angels, and the scandal eventually got big enough for the MLB to pull the offending hats from sale. It didn’t take long for the delisted hats to reappear on eBay, and the prices we’re seeing are pretty unbelievable.

Texas Rangers TETAS Overlap Hats

Good news baseball fans, Opening Day is just around the corner. We’ve only got a few weeks left until the familiar sounds of cracking bats and drunk fans are blaring across every bar in America.

And what better way to kick things off than with new merch? The MLB certainly agrees and has been hard at work spinning up new collections for old teams. One of these is the “Overlap” hat collection, which overlays a team’s logo over their city or team name.

They’ve done this for every team in the league, and the designs are all consistent. It’s not a particularly bombastic concept, so what’s all the fuss?

Well, a lot of team’s logos are letters, and if you overlay letters on existing text, you can change their meanings.

The most obvious example comes from the Texas Ranger. Their “Overlap” design is the word “Texas” with a big “T” slapped over the “X”. In other words, “TETAS”, essentially “tits” in Spanish.

Very nice, especially for a southwestern team.

MLB ASHOS and ANAELS Hats

But wait, there’s more. Fans were also quick to point out designs for the Astros and Angels resembled the words “ASHOS” (accurate) and “ANAELS” (yikes).

Did anyone proofread this designs? These seem like very obvious bungles that could have been easily avoided – just use the city name instead of the team. How did the MLB let these go into production?

In any case, the gaffe quickly came to the attention of the MLB. Rather than sitting on their hands and letting people have a little fun, they pulled the hats from sale. The first to go were the Rangers Tetas hats, but the Ashos and Anaels hats got the boot quickly after.

MLB ASHOS and TETAS Hats Resell

Problem solved, right? Not exactly, especially if you’re familiar with the Streisand effect. With a rush of fans finding out about the design online, MLB deciding to pull them from sale only intensified the joke.

And it didn’t take long for humor to translate into genuine commercial interest. Now that they couldn’t buy them through official channels, fans had to go to eBay to get their fix.

The numbers we’ve been seeing are hard to believe. MLB “Overlap” hats originally retailed for $45, but the Rangers Tetas hats are now reselling for up to $1,000 at a time.

Yes, seriously. The attention has also triggered a flood of Etsy copycats, but sellers with genuine MLB hats are getting most of the attention. MLB Ashos and Anaels hats are also being listed on eBay, but aren’t getting the same kind of bites.

We’re reminded of a pretty similar incident from last year. The MLB launched their “Team Shadows” collection that featured unified designs for all the teams in the league. The A’s hats got special attention because it looked like they were spelling out “Ass.”

A fitting tribute to one of baseball’s most consistently sucky teams. You can read our full article here, but these were a profitable flip for several months after they were pulled from sale. We’re likely looking at the same situation with these “Overlap” hats.

In any case, make sure you subscribe to our newsletter if you want to stay informed on everything worth reselling. There’s always a new flip around the corner, but you won’t hear about if you’re not subscribed.