Joe Ryan partnered with the Grateful Dead and Homage to bring some sweet new merch.
You love Joe Ryan, Joe Ryan loves the Grateful Dead. So Joe made some t-shirts.
In honor of Joe’s complete game shut out yesterday, Homage launched a new collection designed by Joe himself to celebrate his love one of his favorite bands, and, of course, his entrance music.
There might not be a bigger Dead Head in baseball than Minnesota Twins pitcher Joe Ryan, which is why we teamed up with him for a Grateful Dead x Twins look that’s a first-of-its-kind player collaboration for HOMAGE.
Working directly with Joe, we designed a collection of tees that combine the music, the landscape and the sport that embodies The Joe Ryan Experience. His input helped shape the artwork and allowed us to tell the story of his fandom for the Dead.
The shirt comes in two different designs, both made with Homage’s signature high-quality fabric. The ash colored design features Joe as the Dead’s classic skeleton character throwing his fiery fastball in front of a Twins logo in the Grateful Dead’s motif. The light blue design features Joe catching some waves in the Grateful Dead’s signature psychedelic style.
“Joe is actually the first athlete to ever have a partnership like this with Grateful Dead imagery. They’ve never done this before,” said Venika Streeter, the Twins’ senior manager for authentic and retail marketing. “We’ve done Grateful Dead shirts in the past, but they were generic team stuff. This time, we asked Homage, who has their commercial rights, if we could let a player who is really into the band have creative control over the shirts. They went to the Grateful Dead, and they were excited about it.” — h/t Star Tribune
You can also hear directly from Joe about his love for the Grateful Dead and the merch in this short video below.
On a more personal note, I love all of Homage’s tees in general. I have several of them and their soft material and incredible designs have made them a staple for me in the summer, at home and at Twins games. I wouldn’t promote anything I wouldn’t personally vouch for, and I know anyone who orders Homage’s merch will be happy with their purchase.
Be sure to grab these tees in support of Twins fans’ favorite Dead Head!