T-shirts featuring the Brewers' "impromptu mascot Hank the dog instantly became hot sellers Tuesday and are likely to become the all-time best-seller in a short-term period," according to Rich Kirchen of the MILWAUKEE BUSINESS JOURNAL. Brewers COO Rick Schlesinger said that the team "sold more than 1,000 shirts Tuesday when they went on sale" and already have "placed an order for more." Some sizes "are sold out." Schlesinger said that the Hank T-shirts will "eclipse the previous short-term big-seller," former RF Nyjer Morgan's "T-Plush" shirts in '11. Twenty percent of the proceeds from the Hank T-shirt sales "will go to the Wisconsin Humane Society." Schlesinger said that the Brewers organization "clearly is capitalizing on Hank’s amazing rise to popularity but is being careful to not overexpose him" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 3/19). In Milwaukee, Jim Stingl noted the tale of Hank the dog began when "a furry white stray wandered up to the Brewers spring training facility in Arizona last month, won everyone over and now lives with the family of a team executive." The Brewers "insist" that is the way it happened. Hank the dog is not "a scheme cooked up just to sell T-shirts and make us forget we're still mad at Ryan Braun for juicing." Brewers VP/Communications Tyler Barnes said, "I wish I was smart enough to have thought of this as a stunt" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 3/19).
