during the 1991 gulf war, when the mlb decreed all players would wear both the canadian and u.s. flags on their batting helmets as a patriotic gesture, van slyke scraped the maple leaf off his helmet, stating "i guess the people in quebec won't be upset because the last time we were there they booed [the canadian] national anthem". mlb commissioner fay vincent ordered that the canadian flag decal be reinserted onto the helmet.