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Showing posts with the label Chicago White Sox

1992 Chicago White Sox

This week's Fresh Fitted Friday finds me barely able to contain my composure as my  San Francisco Giants are in a two-horse race with the New York Yankees in the Aaron Judge Sweepstakes. For anyone who needs a reminder, the Giants haven't made a splash this big in the free agent realm since signing Barry Bonds to a 7 year deal on December 8, 1992. When Bonds signed that deal I became even more steadfast in preferring the Giants over the Oakland Athletics whose popularity across the Bay extended all the way to the east coast where I was just a lad firmly obsessed with baseball and learning everything I could about the game. The player who had my full attention though was Frank Thomas of the Chicago White Sox. I was lucky to be living in the Bay Area when Thomas had stints on the A's especially during his brief "return to greatness" season in 2006. In retrospect, I was probably more focused on catching Bonds' at-bats as he marched toward breaking the career hom

1987-90 Chicago White Sox

I'm finally taking a break from the "National Day" theme for this week's Fresh Fitted Friday selection because for the first time in a long while I've got some baseball-related current events that correspond with hats in my collection that I need to tell you good folks about! The Chicago White Sox clinched the American League East on Thursday night ea rlier this week which is exciting as this is their first postseason appearance since they faced the Tampa Bay Rays in the League Division Series in 2008. The White Sox were my AL team growing up and I'm all in on cheering for them as they are set to face the Houston Astros in the LDS. My affection for the White Sox without a doubt began –see what I'm doing here?– when Frank Thomas started putting up big numbers in 1991 which in turn led me to collecting as many baseball cards as possible of my new favorite player. The cards featuring Thomas in his Auburn University uniform were cool but the ones that are tru

1988-90 Utica Blue Sox

If there's a personality trait every baseball fan should possess it has to be dynamism. Accepting the possibility of the 2020 baseball season never even beginning is sobering and I'm searching for coping mechanisms other than reminiscing on all the other times fans have been let down when it comes to the one-sided obsession we have with this game. Besides the strike-shortened season of 1994, I'm fortunate that the only adjustment I've had to make was the prior year. My hometown team, the Tidewater Tides, dropped the alliteration in their catchy team name in favor of acknowledging the City of Norfolk, which in all fairness was an overdue gesture as Norfolk had been hosting the team since 1969. The name change seemed like a big deal at the time but maybe that's because it also came with a change of scenery as the Tides left their well-worn  environs of Metropolitan Park and moved into brand new digs.  Harbor Park  still stands as home to the Tides currently and is

1994-96 Nashville Sounds - Fresh Fitted Friday!!!!

I’ve been spoiled with all of the baseball games I’ve been to lately and it continues this weekend as I’m seeing the Oakland Athletics — who are, of course the natural geographic rival to my San Francisco Giants — on their annual visit to Yankee Stadium. I’m the furthest thing from an A’s fan but it’s the perfect opportunity to wear this vintage Nashville Sounds cap to the game as Nashville has been Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate in the Pacific Coast League since 2015 and were also the Yankees Double-A affiliate from 1980 through 1984. I love the honky tonk guy swinging his gee-tar at a baseball in front of the fattened version of the note-shaped letter “N” which had been the team’s cap logo since its inaugural season in 1978. The sweatband tags here are what you’d typically find on caps from before 1994 so that's really the earliest year this cap could be from because this logo wasn't worn until that year. Red, white and blue batterman here is perfect fo

1993-94 Birmingham Barons - Fresh Fitted Friday!!!!

If you follow  @baseballmilquetoast on Instagram —if not, please do so immediately— you'll know that on MLK Day I posted a photo of my Birmingham Black Barons cap to commemorate Dr. King's legacy and more specifically, his "Letter From Birmingham Jail" which was an open letter written while Dr. King was unjustly incarcerated.  While that hat has much historical significance, I also have an emotional connection with the Birmingham Barons of the Southern League as I associate that team with  Frank Thomas, who is  my all-time favorite baseball player. This card from 1990 shows Thomas wearing the Old English "B" cap logo lettering that the Barons had used since their reintroduction into the Southern League in 1981.  This is the photo used in Thomas' 1990 Best Card and I love that it's signed by the man himself. I don't collect autographs anymore but if I ever met Thomas I'd have to ask him for one. "The Big Hurt"

1982-86 Chicago White Sox

08/27/2023 Update : I'm rather embarrassed that it has taken me this long to update this post with disclaimer that I don't actually own this cap. I've only written about a handful of hats that I don't actually own but at times I feel doing so is necessary as it helps collectors come up with accurage years in which caps were produced. To keep things more organized, I've added a "Disclaimer" logo to this post as well as others in which it would also be applicable. It would seem like this week's Fresh Fitted is just an extension off last week's Disco Era Chicago White Sox caps logo but this cap's significance to me is a lot greater than that. I mentioned last time that a minor league team called the Peninsula White Sox (also known as the Pen-Sox) wore this cap from 1986-87.  There aren't many photos or baseball cards of the Pen-Sox but the ones I could find both show them wearing the navy crown/red brim version of the block-style "Sox&q

1976 Chicago White Sox Cap - Fresh Fitted Friday

Welcome to the first Fresh Fitted Friday of 2017, folks! Last year was one that many would rather not remember yet I'd like to propose a different way of bidding it farewall. If you're old enough to remember the 1970's, you could possibly rank certain years in the 1970's lower than 2016.  While 2016 was awful, I'm hesitant to write it off as the worst year EVER.  After all if you are a Chicago Cubs fan, you will definitely take comfort in the team winning their first World Series since 1908. However, if you want to be reminded of a truly awful year —at least in terms of sports— then never let yourself forget that in 1976 the Cubs' crosstown rival  Chicago White Sox  had the gall to wear shorts as part of their uniform! Rich Gossage is rocking the aerodynamic butterfly collar and short trousers in this photo courtesy of  CBS Sports The White Sox wore this blue-billed version of this cap logo from 1976-1981. The sweatband tags were fairly consistent in the late

Great Falls Voyagers - Fresh Fitted Friday!!!

This week's  Fresh Fitted Friday  selection is the official on-field home cap of the Great Falls Voyagers of the Rocky Mountain region's Pioneer League.  This big red "V" over the poison-green planet reminds me of both of what happens when it's your first time seeing The Rocky Horror Picture Show in a theatre as well as this insanely awesome TV miniseries from the 80's called... V   Made in U.S.A. tag is a must once again although I would like to see what kind of quality can be produced on the other planets of our solar system... How much I would give to have the MILB batterman be red and poison-green? From 2003 to 2007, this minor league affiliate of the Chicago White Sox went by the name of Great Falls White Sox but enlisted the help of a local advertising agency in Montana named Banik Communications to help them rebrand in time for the 2008 season.  Banik's efforts were a great success and a catchy slogan emerged around it: "