Metro

Yankee shirt stop!

Major League Baseball normally salutes its fans by reaching into their pockets, but in the case of Bleacher Creature “Bald Vinny” Milano, it stole the shirt off his back.

As the de facto leader of the Creatures, Milano, 34, runs a side business designing T-shirts and selling them to his fellow Yankee diehards.

His $15 “Swisher Salute” shirt, which shows the right fielder saluting during the Bleacher Creature roll call at the Stadium, was such a hit that Nick Swisher himself started wearing it under his uniform every game.

So when a $20 knockoff of the shirt showed up for sale at Modell’s and Sports Authority, Milano was furious. And when he learned that Nick Swisher trademarked “Swisher Salute” on Oct. 1, Milano said he “felt like fool.”

“I just couldn’t believe he’d stab me in the back like that, because Swisher has been so cool to us,” he said. “He’s such a fan favorite. I just couldn’t believe he’d betray me like that.”

But when Milano vented on Twitter, Swisher’s reps called to say it wasn’t so.

“The only ‘Swisher Salute’ shirt I know about and wear is at baldvinny.com,” the player then posted to his Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Swisher did trademark the phrase, but that’s just for his protection, his agent, Joe Bick, told The Post.

“We know this kind of thing is going to happen and simply want Nick to have some protection if a certain product is overly negative, obscene, etc.,” he said.

It turns out the shirt idea was grabbed by the Major League Baseball Players Association, which licenses gear to third parties, often without getting the consent of the player, Bick said.

Swisher, like all players, gets a share of the total licensing revenue.

The MLB Players Association did not immediately return calls and e-mails for comment.

Milano was relieved he wouldn’t have to sit down during Swisher’s portion of the roll call during the playoffs but said getting the right fielder’s blessing won’t help him compete with the giant retailers.

“I’ve only sold a few hundred shirts and am hardly breaking the bank here,” he said.

Milano said he dreams of one day getting the backing to expand his business beyond the maniacs in Section 203.

“If you’re the type of guy going to Modell’s and looking for your first Jeter shirt, then you probably have never heard of me,” he said. “But if you open your closet and 90 percent is Yankee gear, or if you’ve got three Yankee tattoos, you’re my customer.”

jeremy.olshan@nypost.com