In the movie "Bull Durham", what is the symbol on Max Patkin's jersey?

In the movie "Bull Durham," the symbol on Max Patkin’s jersey is a question mark.

Patkin appears in the film as himself during the Durham Bulls’ baseball world. His unusual uniform reflects his real-life stage identity as the “Clown Prince of Baseball,” a performer famous for comic routines at ballparks. Instead of wearing a conventional player number, Patkin’s baggy uniform displays a question mark, making the visual joke immediately recognizable.

Max Patkin was a genuine baseball entertainer, not a fictional character invented for the movie. His career grew from working around professional baseball and developed into decades of clowning, improvisation, exaggerated gestures, and crowd interaction. His appearance gives "Bull Durham" an extra connection to the culture of minor-league ballparks, where entertainment between innings was part of the experience.

The symbol is sometimes described simply as “?” rather than “question mark,” but those answers mean the same thing. It is not the Durham Bulls’ bull logo and not a jersey number. The question refers specifically to Patkin’s personal performance uniform.