It all began on a mild June night at Miller Park.  Lyle Overbay had just completed a record-breaking season by slugging 57 doubles and finishing the season hitting an even .300 despite somewhat of a second half slump.  The ominous "O" sound from the crowd loomed over every Overbay at bat, certainly a product of each Brewer fan's anticipation of another extra-base hit.

It was at this time amidst the frenzy that my brother Andy and I decided something must be done.  Something that would capture the imagination of Brewers fans, but something subliminal enough that only a fan would recognize it.  Shortly after this epiphany, the idea of the "O" shirt was born.

When we thought of the "O" shirt, the design would be simple.  Take a picture of a fan with their arms up in an O shape as all the fans at Miller Park did in Overbay's presence at the plate, darken it into a silhouette, and put it on the front of a t-shirt.  Many more ideas were tossed around, such as putting the number 11 inside the O, the name on the back, or a logo located somewhere on the shirt.  But whatever we came up with, the simple idea of the silhouette itself ultimately prevailed.  This way, only those who knew the story behind the picture would understand it, and keeping it a cultural item would be the key selling point.

A couple of weeks later, production of the shirts began.  Never before had we carried out on any of our wacky Brewer-related ideas, so the excitement generated from the project was palpable.  My brother and I sold the shirts to friends, relatives, friends of relatives, and whoever else was willing to fork over $10 for a shirt that cost less than $3 to make.  Eventually we took the design to a silk-screening shop, and it turned out to be one of the better ideas we had.

On July 26th of '05, it all blew up.  During the 6th inning of a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Miller Park, with the Brewers trailing 2-1, a trio of O-shirt customers were shown on the FSN broadcast during an Overbay at-bat.  The sight was no doubt awesome at first, and commentator Daron Sutton was quick to comment on the shirts' likeability.  "Borderline artistic" were the play-by-play man's exact words.  Shortly after Overbay fittingly slapped a single to left, the inning ended and Bob Brainerd was in the stands to interview the fans wearing the O shirts.

Since the announcers were so intent on finding out how to get a hold of the shirts, Brainerd did some investigation work that resulted in my brother's business card being displayed on television for everyone tuned in to see.  Within seconds, his phone began ringing off the hook and the blitz was underway.  Aside from dozens of individual orders, Overbay's friend from Washington, who was tuned in on MLB Extra Innings, also dialed in and ordered a whopping 40 T-shirts.

As the calls piled up, the Brew Crew rallied in the 7th, scoring 6 runs to take a 7-2 victory over the Diamondbacks.  Andy, worn out from the sudden rush, went along with it all and had more shirts printed for more sales.  Before long, I saw people I did not recognize wearing the shirts to the games, perhaps swept up in our own little craze that we measly baseball fans came up with one night in the stands.  Nobody made a boatload of money, though some prosperity was enjoyed momentarily, but the satisfaction we gained from seeing others partake in our idea created a memory far more joyous than we could have imagined.

In the months following, we heard rumors through the grapevine that the Brewers management was looking to print the shirts up themselves so they could capitalize on our idea.  Andy would not stand for this and made sure the front office knew that our image and ideas were copyrighted (blatant lies) and if they were to start profiting from it, they would have a pair of angry fans on their tails, and that is publicity they simply could not afford to have.  So the idea was apparently nixed in somewhat of a moral victory.

As we all know, Overbay would then be traded to Toronto, and all we have left from the craze is a pair of autographed O shirts from Lyle himself, one of which hangs in my room to this day.  And as a die-hard, life-long Brewer fan from the womb to the grave, that alone is more than any amount of money could have purchased.