I was speaking with someone recently who made reference to some album having come out 30 years ago and after a few automatic nods in obligatory agreement, it dawned on me that we were talking about something that happened in 1991, folks! I'm not sure if this type of confusion becomes a more frequent occurrence the older we get but, this one really threw me for a loop.
I happened to be watching baseball during this conversation so it's no surprise I started to think about how this year's top teams fared thirty years ago.
The Atlanta Braves were the big story in 1991 when they became the first National League team to appear in a World Series after having finished the previous season in last place. Even though they ended up falling to the the Minnesota Twins in Game 7 of that most memorable series, that season brought the team its first of 14 consecutive division titles.
The Braves had an even better record the following year, returning to the Fall Classic once again however this time they losing to the Toronto Blue Jays in six games. The Jays were great all season but a deciding factor in their success down the stretch must be attributed to acquiring acquiring David Cone from the New York Mets in exchange for Jeff Kent on August 27.
In his first start for his new team, Cone lasted 6.2 innings against gave up seven runs against the Milwaukee Brewers however would only give up eight runs in his 44 innings pitched during the entire month of September. Toronto's record was 18-9 during that time while Mets went 10-20.
If you're wondering what my fixation might be with the Mets in their post-Cone era, it might be worth mentioning that my home team, then known as the Tidewater Tides, was their AAA affiliate at the time. The players that I saw on a daily basis were either former Mets or would one day hope to play for them.
So even though I wasn't a full-on Mets fan, I was definitely invested in the team's transactions and one example of this is the final piece of the Cone deal was Ryan Thompson coming over from the Jays. I had hight hopes for Thompson as I saw him play a fair amount in 1992 when the Syracuse Chiefs, who were Toronto's AAA affiliate at the time, came to play the Tides.
Thompson had a decent season with the Tides the following year which was fun for me to watch and Kent did well with the Mets that season. Still though, it's hard to not mention that Cone parlayed his late season dominance during free agency by signing a three-year deal with the Kansas City Royals for $18 million, making him the highest paid player in the league.
Because the 29th anniversary of that trade falls today, I felt i was right to find a way to pay tribute to the Syracuse Chiefs, who as it happens are now the AAA affiliate for the Mets, by featuring the cap they wore during the majority of the 1990's for this week's Fresh Fitted Friday.
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| This logo appeared for the 1989 season and was worn through 1996, which was their last year before becoming the Syracuse Sky Chiefs the following season. Of course, with that rebrand came new caps and uniforms which were fine but it's tough to top this look. |
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| These are my favorite sweatband tags right here folks. Typically you'll see this combination on caps from 1993 through 1996 so I'd guess this cap was worn during that time. |
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| The royal blue and cool grey on this photo evoke easy breezy summertime vibes for me hopefully they do the same for you! |
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