Since last week's post the time zones in baseball have been out of whack considering Spring Training was in full in effect for all 30 teams but then the regular season began with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs facing off for a two-game series in Tokyo the following Tuesday.
Before the series, both teams played and lost an exhibition matchup against the Hanshin Tigers (previously known as the Osaka Tigers) and both won exhibition games against the Yomiuri Giants who were known as the the Tokyo Kyojin when they began play as an independent team before becoming one of the four inaugural members of the Japanese Baseball League in 1936.
Sadly for me and all San Francisco Giants fans out there, the Dodgers won both games and will have an undefeated record for about a week! And now that the teams are back in the States, they're about to switch back into Spring Training mode to play more exhibition games this coming weekend.
All that back-and-forth seems maddening to me but I'm not the one setting the schedule or even playing the games so my opinion does not carry much weight here. The Tokyo Series actually gives me the perfect excuse to break out my 1940 Tokyo Kyojin (Giants) hat which is just one of many retro ballcaps that I've have purchased from Ebbets Field Flannels over the years.
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| I'm more of an embroidered guy when it comes to Ebbets hats but this early era Tokyo Kyojin (Giants) cap has a great story to tell which as the kanji character in the logo is 巨 (kyō) which means "large" or "great" so it really is the perfect hat for a Giants fan! |
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| I admit I wore this cap a few times before I got around to snapping photos of it so the "Made in U.S.A." tag is a little faded here. |
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| I will never tire of seeing a nice green satin under visor next to the black broadcloth wool. |
Another reason for highlighting this cap is to discuss the recent news of Ebbets Field Flannels retooling their business model in efforts to appeal to a wider customer audience. Whether you are against or supportive of this campaign, I would say the writing has been on the wall for a few years now and I am glad to have stocked up when the getting was good.
For a brand that was built on evoking feelings of nostalgia via their products, the only change you can expect your customers to embrace is if you promise to double-down on the nostalgia. I think it is a terrible mistake that Ebbets is backing away from nostalgia while leaning in more toward following the streetwear trends.
When I first started purchasing caps from Ebbets in the early 2010s I felt like I stumbled upon some cap collecting cheat code because they placed unique logos onto top-notch materials that were made in America. This really set them apart from brands like New Era who around that time made the switch from wool to polyester and eventually closed their U.S. plants.
Another unfathomable aspect of Ebbets back then was their reasonably priced caps which helped justified my binge purchases in those days. In fact, looking back at old emails from 2011, I see their Cap Triple Play deal allowed you to purchase any three authentic ball caps for $79.
Their prices slowly started to climb and I certainly had no argument when the deal's price rose to $84 or even $99 and I eventually made a few Triple Play purchases at $135. Something I noticed though over time is how I felt less excitement for each release which seems like the opposite of what you would expect considering the releases continually decreased in frequency.
As of writing, the Ebbets Authentic caps are going for $68 each and the logos are mostly all the same ones that have been floating around for the past three years. To make things worse, the Triple Play deal does not seem to be applied once three authentic caps are in your cart so if that holds true going forward, I doubt that I will ever purchase another cap from Ebbets again.
I hope the naysayers have it wrong but if not then the only Ebbets caps I would buy will be "vintage" ones on the secondary market which is ironic because these retro caps were made to "appear vintage" at the outset. While there appears to be a full-circle thing happening here, my real wish is for Ebbets to eventually return to the standards that made them great to begin with.
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:
Instagram: @baseballmilquetoast
Twitter: @FittedFriday
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