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Showing posts with the label 2018

2018 Uni Watch Classic Cap (Ebbets Field Flannels)

In all the years posting on this blog, I have never done any sort of Veterans Day post which I think is somewhat of a shame considering my hometown Virginia Beach is mere minutes away from  Naval Station Norfolk which is  the world's largest naval base.  Whether I was seeing the Tidewater Tides play or just out and about in town, uniforms were a regular sight growing up! Perhaps the reason for not having done a dedicated post is that I do not own any of the "Armed Forces Day" hats so while I do not have a military uniform themed cap, what I do have is a sort of meta-uniform cap by way of Paul Lukas's Uni Watch Blog which if we are being honest is a big reason why my blog exists. Obsessing over the nuances of uniforms is a tale as old as time. Lukas worked with Ebbets Field Flanels to create this cap featuring the design prowess of Bryan Molloy in this now-iconic cap logo of winged stirrups. Even though this week's cap is not a military-themed cap, the pride of o

1993-95 Riverside Pilots (2018 Hat Club Retro) - Fresh Fitted Friday!!!!

Last week was a celebration of all things hip-hop but at the end of the post, I mentioned how I began this blog's  Fresh Fitted Friday tradition with my 1992 Seattle Mariners post on August 16, 2013 . To that point, it only makes sense that ten years later I'm coming through with a Riverside Pilots retro which to me is undoubtedly one of the best Mariners affiliate logos ever. It's hard to believe it's already been a year since my  Wichita Aeros post celebrating National Aviation Day  and I am glad to showcase this Riverside Pilots hat to continue the tradition as this year the holiday falls tomorrow, August 19. Made in U.S.A. tags are a welcome treat here for sure as they become increasingly more rare by the year with whatever is floating around continues to get snatched up. The teal, navy and silver batterman looks great on a navy crown and especially here. I love all things 90s so of course the current colorway the Mariners have rocked since 1993 is near and dear to

2018 Música de Memphis (Memphis Redbirds "Copa de la Diversion")

This week's Fresh Fitted Friday takes the posting duties on location to Mexico for the first time ever. To commemorate my very first trip South of the Border, this week's hat is the 2018 "Música de Memphis" hat the Memphis Redbirds wore as part in the inaugural campaign of the Copa de la Diversion in 2018. Memphis only wore this cap for the first two seasons of the Copa campaign but I hope they bring it back in future years because it is such a fun color combination Looking closely at the tag under the sweatband shows that this cap was Made in U.S.A. and besides being a great thing in and of itself, it suggests it was worn during the first Copa season in 2018 because that was the last year New Era produced caps at its plant in Derby, NY I love the festive colors on the MILB batterman ( batterhombre ? bateadorehombre ??) patch here If you're a regular reader of the blog with a decently average memory you know that I was a resident of California during the years i

2015-18 Nashville Sounds (Diamond Era)

I was recently asked again if I had a favorite minor league cap and once more I was unable to field that seemingly simple question! To think it was only a year ago that I last discussed my struggle coming up with a definitive answer in my post on my  Carolina Pescados (Carolina Mudcats - Copa de la Diversion) cap . The hats mentioned in that post still rank highly up there in my view however I should have given a nod to the Nashville Sounds, especially the musically inspired logos Brandiose designed for the team's rebrand in 2015. This week's Fresh Fitted Friday selection is the Diamond Era cap from that set which I consider to be a true unsung hero of the collection. This cap was a wedding gift from a good friend of mine I met in college who grew up in Nashville and still lives in Music City today. Thanks again, Nate! I love how the soft nylon material on the inside of these caps serves as a guard against summer heat. I can imagine it must have been especially handy on some h

2018 Gwinnett Stripers - Fresh Fitted Friday!!!

Many thanks for your understanding of my absence the past few weeks. I've been meaning to do one final Fresh Fitted Friday tribute to the  2021 Atlanta Braves for putting an end to both of baseball's top villains of this season  in the last two rounds of the playoffs but just haven't been able to get to it until now. I suppose the beauty of the offseason is I've got nothing but time on my hands so without further ado, I present to you the 2018-present Gwinnett Stripers on-field alternate cap. This is the Brandiose-designed cap that the Stripers have worn as an alternate since their rebrand in 2018. I personally love the thought of a fish smacking a baseball with its tail rather trying to hold a bat with its tiny fins. I think when you're playing baseball in the water, you should have a special set of rules but maybe that's just me.   This cap is of the Made in Bangladesh variety and to be honest I can't speak to the quality of its construction as I haven&

2018 Brooklyn Nets "City Edition" - Notorious B.I.G. Day!!!!

I'm switching things up in a major way this week as this 2018 Brooklyn Nets "City Edition" cap marks the first time this blog's ever featured an NBA team and the reason being May 21 is Notorious B.I.G. Day in Brooklyn  and Biggie's affinity for Coogi sweaters is what inspires this design. The Coogi pattern on the bill here makes this cap a must have for any fan of hip-hop, even (self-hating) Knicks fans such as myself :::ducks::: Spreading Coogi love all the way to the sweatband. Thats the Brooklyn way. The silhouette on the NBA logo doesn't have a cool name like "MLB Batterman" and until the design switches to Kobe Bryant, which his hopefully one day soon, I think that's fine. The backstory on the silhouette is actually more interesting than the logo itself so if you want to read more on that, here's a great write-up from 2017 by The Undefeated . This week's Fresh Fitted Friday selection is not going on the  Trading Block  however please

2018 “Halfway to Halloween” Fresno Grizzlies - Fresh Fitted Friday!!!!

 Even though technically speaking it’s still October, I am resolute in last week’s decision to halt the “Orange October” with that post because we are a day away from Halloween and this week’s Fresno Grizzlies “Halfway to Halloween” cap is as All Hallows’ as it gets.   For their “Nightmare Before Grizzmas" promotion in 2018, the Grizzlies added a Jack Skellington-styled brim to a purple and black colorway version of their iconic “Slash” logo cap. The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favorite movies of all time so this hat is perfect for me. Unfortunately, this cap is not of the “Made in U.S.A.” variety but for a specialty cap like this, I’m not going to complain too much nor would I with other limited releases Fresno has done such as “The Simpsons”, “Grateful Dead”, “Three Amigos”, “Coming to Fresno”, etc. Of course, I’m going to close this blog post "short and sweet" style because the last thing I want to do is tear up thinking about…the fact…that the Dodgers…w

2015-18 Nashville Sounds Road Hat

The Pacific Coast League theme continues this week as another Tennessee team worth a look is the Nashville Sounds. Sadly, their road cap has just hit the road itself after the 2018 season as  the Sounds rebranded once again leading up to the beginning of their affiliation with the Texas Rangers the following season. I'm not sure  why the Sounds would abandon such an amazing logo, especially after such a brief time. It's also hard to believe that it's been a little over three years since  the home cap was featured on the site ! Unfortunately this is a "Made in China" cap and it definitely feels stiffer and boxier than other caps. It also feels like it's a size or two bigger than 7 3/8 but I suppose that's the risk you take buying New Era caps nowadays. Another thing that's hard to say goodbye to is the "Bred" (black and red) MILB batterman as the newest Sounds caps are dark navy, which I find to be interesting because they certainl

Montgomery Biscuits - Fresh Fitted Friday!!!!

Now that I've apparently run out of Texas League hats, it's time to move on to another theme. Because I always seem to have fun with Double-A teams, I think it makes sense to write about some Southern League caps that I've had waiting in the wings and I'm kicking things off with the Montgomery Biscuits home hat. This is the official "home" cap worn by the Biscuits. Incidentally, I was recently browsing the current cap selection on their site and it seems to be out of stock in most sizes. Does a refresh loom? Sadly, this week's cap is a "Made In China" variant which means I'm not expecting it to have a long life. One of the many things I appreciate about the Biscuits is their team's official colors are listed as "Butter and Blue" so of course I'm loving this colorway on the Butterman logo! Surprisingly enough, I've only recently come around on the Biscuits logo. I suppose that's because it seemed lik

2018 Staten Island Pizza Rats NYC Cap - Fresh Fitted Friday

Welcome to the last post of the 2019  New York-Penn League  celebration! I began the series with the primary cap worn by the Staten Island Yankees when they suit up as the "Pizza Rats" so I'm bookending it with the "NYC" cap.  Both of the "Pizza Rats" logos are fantastic but the "NYC" is quintessentially New York as the design is a callback to the bygone subway tokens of the past. The "Y" as a slice of pizza with a bite taken out of the crust—presumably by a rat—is an incredible touch. I was hoping to catch a  "Pizza Rats" theme night this year but sadly, that did not happen. Rats!  The one game I saw this season was this past Wednesday night as the team  played under its usual moniker and this week's cap is the one I wore to the game. I consider myself to be very fortunate to have procured a "Made in U.S.A" cap last season. My  Baby Bombers experience  this week reinforced my prefere

2018 Lexington Leyandas - Fresh Fitted Friday!!!!

This week's Fresh Fitted Friday is going to stay super topical as I'm not only featuring another South Atlantic League team, but one related to the Copa de la Diversion news of this week; MILB is bringing the campaign back after a wildly successful launch in 2018 and today's hat is the "Lexington Leyandas" cap that the Lexington Legends wore last year. At first I had mixed feelings about this hat. Incorporating a Dia de los Muertos sugar skull into an existing logo is kind of entry-level when it comes to creativity and using the Spanish  word for "legend" (leyandas) seemed to me like the team was taking a shortcut in terms of coming up with a unique identity for the promotion until I gave it some thought. If the essence of Dia de los Muertos is to honor your ancestors, is there a better way to describe the respect you have for the generations that have come and left before you than to refer to them as legends? I don't think there is