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Showing posts from December, 2018

Leigh Valley IronPigs and Toledo Mud Hens: Bacon and Eggs

Well folks, it's the last Fresh Fitted Friday of 2018 so I want to thank everyone for checking in with the blog throughout the year and whether you're on a weekly/monthly/bi-yearly or whatever reading schedule, keep doing it because it feels good knowing that people out there are interested in picking up what I'm laying down. As much as I'd love to end the year with a big bang for Fresh Fitted Friday— that's exactly what I'm going to! While this week's hat isn't vintage or rare, this Leigh Valley IronPigs X Toledo Mud Hens "Bacon and Eggs" collaboration cap is one of my favorite MILB logos because to me it screams teamwork. After all, is there a greater example of synergy than the simple dish of bacon and eggs?  The "Bacon and Eggs" series has been a yearly staple since 2015 however only the IronPigs refer to it as such while the Mud Hens call it the "Eggs and Bacon" series. The former sounds better to me becaus...

2002 Toledo Mud Hens

The International League festivities continue this week with a cap from a team whose city has a history of hosting professional baseball that goes as far back as the origin of the league itself which was founded in 1884 while a year earlier, the Toledo Blue Stockings was an inaugural member of the Northwestern League which was all teams from the midwest.  They later became the Toledo Mud Hens in 1902 when they joined the American Association, which was an independent league that later jumped up to Double-A in 1912. The team then got another promotion when  the American Association became a Triple-A league in 1946 and stayed at that level when they joined the International League in 1965. To me this cap is synonymous with my appreciation of the International League as it was the cap the Mud Hens wore when I started going to games almost 30 years ago. The fact that the team still wears this cap is a testament to its longevity. The satin taping is typica...

Pre-1992 Rochester Red Wings

I'm glad to be getting back into a regular groove of posting and hopefully you are enjoying the posts, too! I also hope that you won't mind that this week's Fresh Fitted Friday selection is actually a snapback! Truth be told, you can't even be mad at this one because the material on the crown is Fresh Mesh plus it's yet another Rochester Red Wings cap! The details surrounding the years this cap might have been worn are fuzzy —as is the embroidery on the top right portion of the cap logo—seeing as how I can't seem to find an exact match for the logo via my usual resources.  The solo sweatband tag on here tells me that this cap definitely has some age on it and it actually reminds me of my 1992 Tidewater Tides cap that once belonged to Kevin Baez. Speaking of Kevin Baez... Baez played the 1994 season in Rochester. He's seen here wearing the cap logo used from 1992 through that season however I believe the red brim was only wor...

Rochester Red Wings Road Cap

I thought about writing about another Buffalo Bisons hat this week but I don't think that will do much to alleviate my sadness regarding New Era closing its Derby plant. Instead I think I should focus on another legendary International League team from Western New York like the Rochester Red Wings. As I've mentioned before, my hometown team growing up was the Norfolk Tides and I got to see a lot of games against the Red Wings who were affiliated with the Baltimore Orioles during those years. Something interesting I just found out about Rochester is that the "Flour City" has been a charter member of the league since its earliest incarnation in 1886! Like all minor league teams in the late 19th century, the first Rochester squads were all independent clubs however another thing I learned recently is that moniker is likely derived from the fact that their first major league affiliation which was with the St. Louis Cardinals which lasted from 1929 through 1960 and exp...