The 2022 World Series is well underway with the Houston Astros just one win away from taking home the title after winning back-to-back games on the road against the Philadelphia Phillies this week. The two teams will face off again for Saturday night’s Game 6 at Minute Maid Park.
Now, it’s a well-documented fact that baseball pants are ideal for showing off a player’s assets, but the apparel’s powers can only go so far. And these underwear-modeling players have proven they have more than what it takes to fill out their pinstripes.
In celebration of this year’s World Series, we thought we’d take a look back at how five players of past and present chose to spend some of their precious off-season time moonlighting as underwear models…
Jim Palmer
While athletes ditching uniforms to cash in on briefs is commonplace today, Baltimore Orioles pitcher Jim Palmer was one of the first. In the ’70s and ’80s, he posed in a series of ads for Jockey, including this 1983 promo for the “Jeans-Brief.” It’s almost inconceivable that the product is no longer available–because when we think comfort, we think denim.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Bryce Harper
The current Phillies outfielder and 2022 World Series hopeful sported these thigh-length ‘boxerjocks’ from Under Armour in 2013 when he was still playing for the Washington Nationals. Hopefully they offer plenty of function, as the form leaves something to be desired.
Related: These 5 unintentionally homoerotic pro baseball moments will leave your dugout flooded
Tsuyoshi Shinjo
The list of baseball-playing underwear models is like, Shinjo, Jim Palmer … and that's it, right? https://t.co/881CZZrAsz pic.twitter.com/VJJCi1V7tW
— SportsAngle (@SportsAngle) December 7, 2020
After retiring from Japanese professional baseball, Shinjo considered a career move into nude modeling. He never did go full monty, but he did have a brief stint modeling underwear before returning back to baseball as manager for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball.
Chad White
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OK, so Chad White posing in his underwear is nothing new–he’s a world-famous professional model. But did you know he was also drafted by the Houston Astros during the 1993 MLB Amateur Draft? His baseball ambitions were cut short when he sustained a hand injury, leading him to pursue modeling full-time. His skills on the field were formally recognized in 2011, when he was inducted to the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame.
Related: WATCH: Football announcer’s unintentionally graphic, gay commentary has the Internet in stitches
Matt Kemp
Kemp hit 39 home runs while playing for the Dodgers in 2011, or 40 if you count his spread in Flaunt Magazine. While he may not have had an official contract with Emporio Armani Underwear at the time, we’ve no doubt the brand would still take his call to work something out.
Walter21
Gabe Kapler – “fitness” model in Exercise for Men Only, so pretty much underwear
SDR94103
hysterical.
Kangol2
Matt Kemp, what a beauty he was and still is!
KountKaunas
Does that Chad White look like he was drafted in 1993? It’s almost like there might be multiple people with that name.
mrzebra23
How about Jake Arrieta as Saxx Underwear model??
JeffBaker
Love it! Remember the ’80s cable sitcom “Brothers?” One episode, gay brother Cliff recounts his Gay awakening: “For me, it was Jim Palmer in his jockey shorts.”
CTAF
The Chad White pictured is in his 30’s and was never drafted by the Astros. There was a different Chad White who was, but he’s in his 50s. But both Chad’s have played baseball, which maybe led to the confusion