The bars in St. Louis’ Ballpark Village don’t want you to wear baseball caps inside

One would think that a development of bars and restaurants called “Ballpark Village,” located right across the street from a big ol’ ballpark would want to attract baseball fans. According to the Riverfront Times, however, the dress code in most of the bars in the complex doesn’t want folks, you know, wearing the sorts of things you see at the ballpark. Like baseball caps. Really. Here’s the dress code for one of the bars, which is substantially similar to that of all but one of the other bars:

The following is not permitted under our dress code after 9pm: Main Level: sleeveless shirts on men, profanity on clothing, exposed undergarments on men, sweat pants, full sweat suits, excessively long shirts (when standing upright with arms at your side, the bottom of your shirt can not extend below the tip of your fingers), athletic shorts, excessively sagging pants or shorts, and bandanas. Second Level: the above list of prohibited articles of clothing and, in addition: jerseys (sleeved jerseys are permitted in conjunction with a Cardinals game or any other major St. Louis sporting event) and hats.

It’s the hats that kills me. You tellin’ me you can’t leave Busch Stadium after a game and go into a bar wearing a hat?

With the understanding that, on its face, the dress code makes no racial distinctions at all, it is probably worth noting that bans on jerseys without sleeves are clearly aimed at basketball jerseys and all of the saggy/loose clothing rules are often aimed at keeping out a certain, urban-style-oriented element. And as Deadspin notes, the company running Ballpark Village has gotten sued elsewhere for allegedly targeting black patrons and trying to keep them out.

So this should be fun.