Yesterday was 5/9 and it warmed my heart to see so many lovely Instagram posts honoring New Era's flagship "59Fifty" cap and its importance in this community of hat collectors. Sadly, I did not join in the fun as I am not much of a "regular poster" although this Oakland Oaks cap for 5/10 is a good way to celebrate the 510 area code in "The Town" over in the bright side of the Bay.
Before I get to photos of this week's hat, I want to take a moment to give a shout out to the fans in Oakland who have been creative in their support their team in these times. I saw a recent post of a fan who only goes to A's games on the roads as well as clips of fans sitting behind home plate wearing a "Sell" shirt to the Colliseum as a plea to the owner to "do the right thing" soon.
I suppose "the right thing" is as subjective as it gets but the team's impending and temporary move to West Sacramento next season will be an interesting experiment that I think could turn out to be a way to reward supportive fans in the smaller markets with a taste of major league excitement, even if only for a brief while.
If a team hypothetically finds itself in an abysmal situation both in terms of attendance as well as in the Win-Loss sense, there could potentially be an option to leave their current environs for a place where they might actually shine. Of course, that would pose a problem for teams like the Miami Marlins whose still-newish stadium was funded with $500 million worth of public bonds.
While I have obviously not thought this through fully, there might be an option for the current ownership—or perhaps the new city— to "buy out" the team to facilitate the move. Maybe the Marlins need to stay put for a while but the Tampa Bay Rays might be a good candidate since they are currently going through their own troubles securing a new stadium.
As I think about this, a good landing spot for the Rays could be Nashville which is a town whose population has seen tremendous growth which only figures to grow even more. I wonder if anyone else has floated this type of opportunity before. MLB franchises have a tendency to grow complacent and this could be one way to stir up excitement.
Back to Oakland though, I have no clue how to fix their issue as I have a sense a Minor League team might make more sense to start but I am also unsure of how the territory rights are decided between the A's and the San Francisco Giants. Either way, one thing I am certain of is an MILB team could provide a lower-cost option to cash-strapped fans in the East Bay!
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| If you grew up in the 1980s like I did this logo screams "Omaha Royals" but apparently the Oaks wore this cap on their way to a Pacific Coast League pennant in 1950. |
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| Proudly showing that "Made in the U.S.A." that I love! |
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| Nice a clean on the rear, as it should be! |
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.
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