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 home run record but I have to admit it never felt right seeing The Big Hurt play in anything but a White Sox uniform.
To this day my affinity for the White Sox remains which is why I had very high hopes when they signed Carlos Rodón to a two year deal ahead of the 2022 season just as he was coming off a monster season with the White Sox. Not surprising anyone, Rodón delivered mightily for the Giants this past year and opted-out of the second year of his contract to explore free agency.
If the Giants can insert Judge into their outfield with Joc Pederson and Mike Yastrzemski, I would hope that increase in guaranteed run support entices Rodón to consider inking a long-term deal to stay in San Francisco for a few more seasons. The first few years of his career were plagued with injuries but I liked him as the ace of the Giants rotation and want him to stay put!
To that point, part of the reason for selecting a 1992 Chicago White Sox week's Fresh Fitted Friday is partly in tribute to that magical baseball season in my memory as well as a sort of voodoo charm to summon a signing of both Judge and Rodón before the year's end. The other reason is I'm getting geared up for National Sock Day which is happening this coming Sunday!
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| I decided to go "extra authenticity" with the throwback theme by using a photo I took of this hat when I first got it in 2011. |
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| I bought this cap secondhand online and sadly I never reached out to the seller to find out out who Mirra was! |
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| The flash was doing a little too much here but I had to include this shot for completeness sake! |
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| This cap has gotten A LOT of use over the years and I'm really glad about that because wearing it always reminds me of the one I got just like this in a Size 7 in 1992. |
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| As piss-stained as this sweatband looks, believe me when I tell you it's pristine in comparison with that size 7 I mentioned in the last caption. |
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| And I still have no idea who Mirra is! |
I've mentioned the Cleveland Guardians in the last few posts and it is not lost on me that I need to feature one of their hats one of these days but I'm just waiting for the right time for that to happen. Now that I think about it though, anyone who thinks "Guardians" is a silly name for a baseball team clearly needs to be reminded of the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox!
Despite "White Sox" being a silly name for a team, I do love this hat very much so while week's Fresh Fitted Friday selection is not going on the Trading Block, please don't hesitate to reach out if you want any other cap from that list and you are willing to part with any of the hats on my Wish List.
As always, thanks for coming back to read about baseball hat geekery. I've got comments disabled here so if you'd like to discuss a trade or simply just chat about hats, please feel free to connect via the following social sites:
Instagram: @baseballmilquetoast
Twitter: @FittedFriday
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