Any country worth the dirt their trees are planted in should have a holiday to pay homage to their land's woody perennial plants and those of us in the United States observe National Arbor Day on the last Friday of April which happens to be today!
The holiday dovetails nicely with Earth Day and I happened to celebrate both in 2023 with retro caps of the 1940 Oakland Oaks and a 1948 Oakland Oaks produced by Ebbets Field Flannels. The current state of Ebbets is dreadful but I am so thankful I purchased as many caps as I did because soon enough those caps will become vintage relics themselves!
Moving my focus to current things that are thriving, I am celebrating the trees this year with an Asheville Tourists retro designed by @djmach716 of the New Era store in Buffalo, NY. My friend @yellowsub73 came through once again with a clutch assist for which I am so thankful as this version of the Tourists logo hardly ever gets the retro treatment.
This post marks the tenth time I have showcased an exclusive design from the Buffalo flagship and the backstory on this cap goes all the way back to the 2010 Major League Baseball draft. The Colorado Rockies used their fourth round pick to draft Russell Wilson who is currently a quarterback with the New York Football Giants.
The highest level Wilson achieved in baseball was in 2011 as a member of the Asheville Tourists who were the Rockies Class A affiliate in the South Atlantic League from 1994 through 2020. The cap's colorway is a nod to the team colors of the Denver Broncos whom were defeated in Super Bowl XLVIII by Wilson leading the Seattle Seahawks to their first Super Bowl victory.
Wilson performed well in his final years in Seattle before tensions were high enough the organization traded him to the Denver Broncos ahead of the 2022 season and later signed a five-year, $245 million extension with the team. I am no football expert but I know Wilson was terrible enough on the Broncos that they released him at the end of his second season.
While this cap could have been really cool had everything worked out between Wilson and the Broncos, the fact that it all blew up only adds to the intrigue. And if you are tempted by schadenfreude, you might draw a parallel between Wilson's horrid performance in Denver with what the Rockies would expect by calling up the most average player from the Tourists’ roster.
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| I am instantly sold on any logo that can incorporate baseball and nature. I love the current Tourists logo but this one from 2005-2010 is sorely underappreciated. And as luck would have it, there's another Denver connection here as this 1982 Denver Bears cap was my first pickup from the Buffalo Flagship. |
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| I have not yet figured out the connection between the hydrangea blue on the undervisor and either Wilson or the Broncos but it could be something as simple as that particular hue being one that is used currently in the Asheville Tourists uniform |
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| Loving the crisp white sweatband 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:
Instagram: @baseballmilquetoast
Twitter: @FittedFriday
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