By Lane Rizzardini

            San Francisco closer Brian Wilson was fined by the National League for wearing what it called “non conforming shoes” (pictured) and, according to the report by the San Francisco Chronicle, “was told that half of each shoe must be black.”

July 13, 2010; Anaheim, CA, USA; National League pitcher Brian Wilson of the San Francisco Giants throws a pitch during the 2010 All Star game at Angel Stadium. The National League won 3-1. Photo via Newscom

The fine closely follows a Tuesday night game against the Florida Marlins in which Marlins’ manager Edwin Rodriguez actually complained to the umps about Wilson’s eccentric cleats.

Clearly he was offended, but from a competitive standpoint? Or was he simply distracted by a total fashion faux pas? Neon is so 1984 after all. Let’s see what the skipper says, via the Palm Beach Post:

"A little bit too bright, too flashy.”

He also added, "I think there should be a rule. They should be consistent. There's a rule for the uniform and there should be a rule for the shoes."

 Apparently the Fashion Police at the National League offices agreed, handing Wilson a $1,000 fine.

Wilson, a man known for his wild fauxhawk, obviously had something to say,

"Too flashy. I didn't know that's in the rulebook. Oh it's not in the rulebook. The fact that he thinks these shoes throw 97 to 100 with cut might be a little farfetched. I guess we should have these checked as performance-enhancing shoes."

Point, Wilson.

It should be noted that there is precedence for this in sports. Remember Rickey Henderson’s neon green batting gloves? No pitchers ever complained about those waving around in their face as they tried to keep fast Rickey off the base paths. And who can forget the old Tampa Bay Buccaneer creamsicle jerseys from the ‘70’s? While those were indeed retired, the reason had less to do because they were distracting and more so they could forget their 0-26 start as a franchise.

While in those instances changes were voluntary, Wilson is not so lucky. He has come up with an excellent solution though, promising to color in 50% of the offending footwear with a Sharpie Marker, to be debuted at a later date.

Lane Rizzardini is a recent graduate of Indiana University’s English program, and is a contributing writer for DigitalSportsDaily.com and Fantasyplanet.com. He hopes to someday turn his passion for sports and writing into a career, perhaps as a sportswriter.

You can contact him at Lanerizz@digitalsportsdaily.comor through his Twitter page.