Missives of a Baseball Milquetoast

This week's Fresh Fitted Friday selection is a 1974 Washington Stars prototype that I picked up from Hat Club. I think this cap is a nice continuation  of last week's "Nationals" theme as that is the name of the current team in Washington as well as the design on this week's cap seeming like a dead ringer for a Nats alternate logo in current times. The single serif is a curious design element here but I am intrigued they chose a logo that so closely resembles the one on the caps worn by the Washington Senators who left for Minnesota in 1960. Interestingly enough, Minnesota is incorporating a nod to the North Star on this year's road caps.    It would be fun if this cap featured a red, white and blue pinwheel crown similar to what the Montreal Expos wore, especially considering the Expos eventually left Montreal for Washington in 2005. Interestingly enough, besides both teams being NL expansion teams in 1969, this article lists out a few other congruities betw

I've featured many Ebbets hats here over the years but this 1933 Regina Nationals retro cap is perfect for this week's Fresh Fitted Friday post because today's date is February 10 which means we celebrate National Umbrella Day as well as National Flannel Day, although I'm not sure if those holidays hold the same weight in Canada. A common misconception many U.S. folks have is that it's gloomy in all parts of Canada so flannels and umbrellas are required no matter where you are however  just 390mm of precipitation accumulates per year on average in  Regina, Saskatchewan. Just for reference, that equals the amount of rain in Denver and less than what Salt Lake City gets in a year. By contrast, the average temperature is considerably higher in those US cities than what is experienced in Regina so it's good to have a flannel hat there as well as here  in NYC where it's still rather chilly, especially as  Punxsutawney Phil determined this past Groundhog Day tha

It's been over a month since my last post but things don't feel all that different for me as it's just as cold in New York now as it was then although at least I've got a little change of scenery right now as today I'm en route to New Orleans for my first time as an adult! I was hoping to make this trip during Jazz Fest but the timing worked out for it to happen this weekend so here we are! I won't be in town long but I'm going to cram in lots of food and music-laden adventures and thankfully I've got a fresh New Orleans Zephyrs hat to wear while doing so. I love the distinctive logo on this cap and even though this team's origins are based in Denver, the vibrant colors worked well when the team moved to New Orleans in 1993 as the team used the Zephyrs moniker until changing their name to the Baby Cakes in 2017. The sweatband tags here are consistent with MILB caps that New Era produced from 1994 through 1996 and writing ones initials on the undervis

Another week of free agency frenzy has gone by which on Wednesday had me hopefully optimistic due to the 13-year deal brokered between the San Francisco Giants and Carlos Correa, yet the very next day I found myself once again perturbed by the New York Yankees as they signed Carlos Rodón to a six year deal. I think the Giants took a huge risk with Correa that could ultimately pay off if they get six to eight good seasons of output from him who in all likelihood could retire from the game before reaching the end of this contract. As for  Rodón, I have my concerns of him being injury-prone so all I can say is that I wish him good health and success throughout his time in New York. By the way, the diplomacy shown in the last sentence of the previous paragraph even caught me by surprise as I read it out loud but since today is National Underdog Day, I'll take that as my motivation to not drive the bitter bus right now. Also, Giants fans have a lot for which we should be grateful. Even

This week's Fresh Fitted Friday finds me once again barely able to contain my composure as my San Francisco Giants have lost their two-horse race with the New York Yankees in the Aaron Judge Sweepstakes. Since last week's post, Jacob DeGrom departed from the New York Mets to join the Texas Rangers while Justin Verlander signed with the Mets to help fill that void. This now leaves Carlos  Rodón as the lone pitching ace without a place to call home in 2023 and at this point, I'm rather disinterested in where he ends up as long as it's not the Los Angeles Dodgers. Luckily, this recent article from MLB Trade Rumors  linking  Rodón with the Texas Rangers has me feeling confident that my rivals in LA are not likely to sign him to a deal.  My voodoo powers were ineffective last week but that didn't stop me from selecting the cap worn by the Rangers' High-A affiliates in Hickory, NC for this week's post! Ever since 2019, the Hickory Crawdads have been known as the

This week's Fresh Fitted Friday finds me barely able to contain my composure as my  San Francisco Giants are in a two-horse race with the New York Yankees in the Aaron Judge Sweepstakes. For anyone who needs a reminder, the Giants haven't made a splash this big in the free agent realm since signing Barry Bonds to a 7 year deal on December 8, 1992. When Bonds signed that deal I became even more steadfast in preferring the Giants over the Oakland Athletics whose popularity across the Bay extended all the way to the east coast where I was just a lad firmly obsessed with baseball and learning everything I could about the game. The player who had my full attention though was Frank Thomas of the Chicago White Sox. I was lucky to be living in the Bay Area when Thomas had stints on the A's especially during his brief "return to greatness" season in 2006. In retrospect, I was probably more focused on catching Bonds' at-bats as he marched toward breaking the career hom