The Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Weekend begins today in Cooperstown and ends on Sunday when Fred McGriff and Scott Rolen are enshrined in the Class of 2023. As a San Francisco Giants fan, I have yet to see a Giant who I actively cheered for get inducted in my lifetime and our next best shot means waiting until Buster Posey appears on the 2027 ballot.
Giants fans will just have to hate-watch the results starting with Chase Utley who makes his BBWAA ballot debut next year. This will be especially poignant considering 2023 was Jeff Kent's last year on that ballot. Kent was a notoriously bad fielder so despite outslugging Utley in almost every offensive category, comparing the two second basemen is futile.
Both played for 16 seasons but the writers will likely vote Utley in based on some combination of his superb defensive metrics and his solid offensive numbers while Kent was discarded from the ballot because his defensive capabilities left so much to be desired. Personally, I think their rationale is phooey so I'll be rooting against Utley out of spite just as I did with Rolen.
Compared to Rolen, Kent was again superior at hitting yet the fact that they played at different positions of the infield means they are judged differently. Well, that's not necessarily how I look at things because Scott Rolen's error against the Giants in the 10th inning of Game 3 of the 2012 ALDS will be a memory that I will cherish until the end of time.
Schadenfreude is also helping me cope with last week's news of Anchor Steam Brewing ceasing the distribution of its beers outside of California. Like many niche hobbies, the interest around new beers in the craft market has spiked over the past few years and sadly, long-time icons such as Anchor have seen their best days.
 |
| I don't typically suggest drowning one's sorrows away but to combat this week's woes of Cooperstown neglecting my Giants and the decimation of Anchor Steam's production, this hat from Hat Club's "Beer Pack" hits just right with a colorway inspired by the Anchor beer label. |
 |
| The green used on the 25th anniversary patch here has more of a lime effect than the hue that we were used to seeing on bottles of Anchor but pretty soon there will be no bottles of Anchor so we will have nothing to compare it to! |
 |
| I suppose the Cooperstown tag on the sweatband is there because Hat Club used the 1977-82 cap logo style since the Giants would have been celebrating their 25th Anniversary season in 1982. |
 |
| I think the amber color of an Anchor beer and its bottle would have also been a good call for the undervisor but the yellow works here if you're looking at it as part of a package with the blue on the visor above. |
 |
| If Hat Club ever does another Beer Pack, my vote is to lean on the dark green and bright red seen on the label of Russian River Brewing Company's Pliny the Elder. For the undervisor, I would once again recommend looking to the amber colored glass on the bottle or perhaps that straw-ish yellow with maybe some white along the outer edge to symbolize the beautiful head on the beer. Ok maybe that's asking a lot but this beer means a lot to me so I say go for it! |
This week's Fresh Fitted Friday selection is not going on the Trading Block however 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
Comments