The past two write-ups have been notably more verbose than usual around here so I hope this 4th of July weekend brings a sort of return to form as we celebrate the tailgating and cookout aspect of the holiday with a Milwaukee Brewers City Connect "Grill" cap for this week's Fresh Fitted Friday post.
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This is a Hat Club exclusive which varies from the on-field version the Brew Crew wears during its City Connect games. In terms of aesthetics, I actually prefer how the baseball-stitched grill design from the right sleeve patch of the team's jersey is the primary focus on this hat. |
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| Hat Club also released a non-rail version of this cap which flips the placement of the cooler and grill designs. Even though the "Brewed in Milwaukee" is not as easy to read here, I chose this one because the baseball grill logo needed to be front and center. |
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| Clean flat batterman logo on a powder blue crown is one of the most ultimate retro 1980s ways to go which means I am in full support. |
As a current New Yorker and former Bay Area resident, I am sad yet understanding of the fact that the Yankees are not likely to ever wear a City Connect uniform and I expect the A's to wait until their move to Las Vegas is complete before creating one. This means at this current moment, every team with a City Connect identity has worn their uniform already this year.
And as a hat enthusiast, I have already purchased my favorites in that bunch which I will eventually write about but for now I wanted to memorialize my current ordering of the overall top-tier uniforms which are the White Sox, Mets, Rays, Orioles, Reds, Angels, Arizona, Tigers and Nationals. Each of those teams looks top notch while playing in these get-ups even if the cap worn is not necessarily one I would like for myself.
The next round includes the Rangers, Blue Jays, Dodgers, Braves, Cubs, Rockies, Pirates, Brewers, Marlins, Padres, Royals and Astros. I do not have the official City Connect cap from any of these teams but I am very close on the Pirates, Brewers and Marlins so if proper tweaks are made to next iteration of these hats I might be swayed.
The bottom rung has the Mariners, Red Sox, Giants, Phillies, Twins, Cardinals and Guardians whose uniforms are so exceptionally boring I almost forgot to list them! In fact, the only one that is not dull in that pack is the Giants' who are in the group because their kits are simply just flat out ugly in my view.
For a detailed and well thought-out redesign of the Giants City Connect set I recommend checking out this entry from March 2024 on Uniwatch.com. I love the rust orange color scheme and the idea of implementing a Seal patch on the left sleeve logo but the Golden Gate Bridge design on the hat does not go far enough for me, just as the current on-field does not either.
I was blown away by how subtly yet masterfully the Mets incorporated the Queensboro Bridge on their City Connect caps and I am unsure how the Giants could match that, or if they even should attempt to do so. Instead, I would like to further highlight the other elements that make San Francisco such a unique place without focusing on just one thing such as the fog.
Before the Giants arrived from New York in 1958, the Seals had spent the previous 50 years being San Francisco's main draw for baseball entertainment. So perhaps of looking back for sources of creativity, the team could draw inspiration from San Francisco's city flag.
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To describe a city that has been shaken by earthquakes and burned by fires only to be built back up into something glorious, I cannot think of a better analogy than a phoenix rising from flames which to me in this design resemble a crown and is yet another pathway that could be explored in the design process. |
According to the Uniwatch article I mentioned earlier, the Giants have already fulfilled their 3 year requirement of wearing this City Connect uniform so perhaps the time is ripe for a new design to rise from the ashes. I will probably come back to this topic again soon but for now I want to get back to eating delicious grilled foods and drinking cold beers so I'll end it here!
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. If you'd like to discuss a trade or simply just chat about hats, please feel free to connect via the following social sites:
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