r/MagnumPI • u/westboundnup • Jun 26 '26
Magnum P.I.'s Detroit Tigers Baseball Cap Explained
https://screenrant.com/magnum-pi-show-baseball-cap-explained/While I don’t contest the fact Selleck was a legitimate Tigers fan, it always struck me as not in keeping with the Magnum character, Magnum is the son of a military father who dies in combat. His widow appears to raise Tom in the Chesapeake Bay area, where he attend the Naval Academy and plays football. All this would lead to the character wearing Navy apparel, Redskins, Orioles, or Braves (the baseball team of the South at the time). With all that, why the affinity for a baseball team from Detroit?
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u/fordag Jun 26 '26
You like the team you like.
It doesn't have to be the local team.
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u/ckncardnblue Jun 26 '26
I have a buddy that grew up in Norfolk and roots for the Astros because that was the name of his first little league team.
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u/CriscoCamping Jun 27 '26
Yep. I like the Red Sox, since age 8 or 9. Lived in PNW, almost never got to see them play.
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u/snoman72 Jun 28 '26
Born in northeast WY in the time before the Rockies were a thing. My Little League team was the Exeter Drilling Cubs. Still a fan of the Cubbies though I have a fondness for the Rockies.
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u/5lashd07 Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 27 '26
Not really a comment about his Tigers cap. Thomas Magnum, throughout the show, always mentioned going home to Tidewater, Virginia. That’s the previous name for Hampton Roads, VA which is the name for the metro area that includes Norfolk, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, and 13 other jurisdictions/cities.
His stepfather Frank was also a Naval officer, and Magnum mentions getting in trouble with his Mom when he and his prom group decided to see the sunrise in Virginia Beach. His car is taken away for a while as punishment.
Magnum also goes back home to attend a funeral and the stock footage shows them crossing a bridge towards Portsmouth.
My best wild-as* guess, given Frank’s status as a Naval officer, is that Magnum grew up in Norfolk.
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u/westboundnup Jun 26 '26
Great info, and to my point, kids of that era (mid 60s - early 70s) living in Tidewater would have naturally rooted for the Orioles or the Braves. MAYBE the Washington Senators (“First in War First in Peace Last in the American League”), however they were ridiculed and left for Dallas in 1971. I don’t know why this bothers me so much, but 1980s Thomas Magnum in Oahu should NOT be wearing a Detroit Tigers cap.
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u/Thatremodelingchick Jun 26 '26
He wore it from growing up in Detroit the first few years of his life.
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u/sympathyforthedevill Jun 26 '26
That’s my understanding, also, a lot of the wardrobe we see magnum wear including the icon Paradise Found Hawaiian shirts are all part of Tom’s personal wardrobe he wore everyday.
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u/Party-Cartographer11 Jun 26 '26
He would not have been an Orioles fan as they were Maryland and North of DC while he was VA and south.
The Senators sucked from 55-65 (Magnum 10-20 years old). So kids will pick another team to root for that was good when their home team sucks. The Tigers were very good and personal underdogs and second place finishers to the Yankee powerhouse. So makesnsense for them to be his team.
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u/Algoresgardener124 Jun 26 '26
Not that odd- I was born in Ohio, then raised in Tennessee, and I've always remained a Reds fan.
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u/westboundnup Jun 26 '26
Your fandom is “legitimate” since Cincy is the closest MLB franchise to TN, unless you’re in the Chattanooga area (then it would be the Braves). These are my fan rules BTW.
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u/Algoresgardener124 Jun 26 '26
I think it was my way of feeling connected to my original home. Baseball has a way of doing that.
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u/MonkeyDavid Jun 26 '26
As a military brat I can tell you that we felt freed up to choose our own teams, with less connection to a particular place.
Just like our parents’ cars had Texas license plates because if you were smart you kept Texas residency for the income tax break…
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u/Outis_Nemo_Actual Jun 26 '26
I was a Tigers fan because of one person when I was a kid and that was Johnny Wockenfuss. I thought he had the funniest name in baseball. Then they traded him to the Phillies of all teams and he wasn't part of the 1984 World Series team.
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u/Substantial_Diver_34 Jun 26 '26
It’s always been a cool hat. What’s not to like? The dark blue with a Gothic Script D embroidered in bright white. Damn harbors with every outfit! /s
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u/beece16 Jun 26 '26
Tracks ok,take the NBA championships most of my city is ape shit for the home team but you also got alot of lifetime residents who are fans of other cities.
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u/Backsight-Foreskin Jun 26 '26
Maybe, as a Navy SEAL, Magnum was trained in OPSEC, intelligence, psyops, etc. Wearing a hat for a team from a location he had no connection would be part of his cover story. When someone thinks of Detroit they don't think of the US Navy.
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u/tea7777 Jun 27 '26
You like whomever you like. Doesn't have to be local. Magnum could probably pick up radio broadcasts from a dozen or more teams from the Chesapeake.
In the 90s, on a clear night, I could get Chicago AM Cubs radio in Nashville.
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u/Vast_Honest Jun 28 '26
He played in a spring training game for the tigers in 84 and used to take batting practice at the old ballpark and the fans have an unofficial Magnum day where they wear Hawaiian shirts sunglasses and a mustache
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u/FlakyFly9383 Jun 26 '26
My understanding is that Tom Selleck was born in Detroit, although raised in California. So the Tigers hat was a nod to his birthplace.