Missives of a Baseball Milquetoast

As we enter the final weekend before the MLB All-Star break, now is a good time for some levity. I searched for some fun baseball-related trivia and the best I could find was that today is the 45th anniversary of the Disco Demolition Night  promotion hosted at Comiskey Park as the  Detroit Tigers faced the Chicago White Sox on a fateful summer evening. Music fans no doubt recognize Chicago and Detroit as two cities with rich musical histories so admonishing a "lesser" style like disco the night they play each other is apt. Unfortunately, I have no disco-themed caps—or even an interesting one from either team—but the "Old English D" on my Denver Bears retro from Ebbets can easily be taken for a Detroit cap. I do not know the technical terms for this wordmark's design elements other than serif but I will say there is a notable difference between this and Detroit's current logo. Interestingly enough, the embroidery here very closely resembles the logo used by ...

I was planning on taking off this week on account of the holiday weekend but then I remembered that I'm coming off a nice-sized break so I decided to up the ante and do a long-winded  double-cap post which is something I am fairly certain was last done with vintage and retro Jacksonville Expos caps  I wrote about in 2017. Otherwise, the closest I've come to such a thing in recent years was with consecutive posts of very similar hats worn by the  Albany-Colonie Yankees which was also in 2017 as well as the vintage and retro 1988-92 Buffalo Bisons caps  in 2021. This week's double-cap post features the logo the Denver Bears wore from 1982-84 which has been my most sought after design ever since I got serious about hat collecting many years ago. As I've stated in previous posts, I went to college in Colorado which probably explains why most things related to the Centennial State are of interest to me. As is the case with many hat hoarders, it all began with ...

This week's Fresh Fitted Friday selection is unique in that it's actually of the Fresh Foam variety!  This is the second ever foam pillbox cap that I've written about with the first being a  Tidewater Tides snapback  with nearly identical construction as this week's Charleston Charlies hat. The Charlies were a Cleveland affiliate from 1981 through 1983 and this logo takes the block "C" logo their parent team wore from 1979-86 and adds white piping around the crown. That is a touchstone of cap styles in 1983 which was the only year this cap was worn as well as their last season in Charleston, WV. Because this hat was only worn for one season I doubt if a fitted version was even made at the time. Also, I'm not usually a fan of the visor being the same color on both sides but this cap is very rare and sometimes you've got to take what you can get, folks!  The Tides cap I mentioned earlier has a Twins (Enterprise Products) tag on the sweatband while this...

If you are reading this post then you are probably some sort of a baseball nerd which means you know that the last time the New York Mets won the World Series was in 1986. If so, then it's also likely that you recognize this week's featured cap as one the Tidewater Tides wore in the early 1980's when they were the Mets' AAA affiliate.   This is the most iconic Tidewater Tides cap of all time. Clearly the "T" here is more stout than every other Tides cap you will see from this period. Holy Orange! It's held up great after 30 years in storage. Thank you Polyester! Negative points for the flimsy foam construction on this snapback but it captures the spirit of the era perfectly! I'm going to try to keep this gem as crisp as possible so for everyday wear, so I'm thankful that Ebbets Field Flannels has just released this reproduction of the 1983 version of the cap: This is what the "T" should look like on the pi...

As a current resident of New York City, I can't help but root against the Boston Red Sox. I've been to a fair number of Yankees games since I've lived here and the ridicule that the Yankees' fans bestow upon the Red Sox Nation is a true marvel to observe. It's fair to say that Yankees fans are often described as being "entitled" due to their successes over the past two decades. They are also known to be abrasive in comparison to - and in their treatment toward - their counterparts in Flushing. Mets fans embrace their lovable losers and that's admirable but Yankees fans are not as forgiving of their team. Mets fans have fun at games even if they know that their team's losing record in the season means no chance of making a playoff appearance. Yankees fans have become spoiled to the point that not winning a World Series is unacceptable and not making the postseason spells out disaster. I appreciate the dynamic between Mets fans and Yankees fans bu...