Missives of a Baseball Milquetoast

In honor December 6 being National Miners Day, this week's Fresh Fitted Friday selection is an Ebbets Field Flannels retro inspired by the cap the Joplin Miners wore in 1950. I have had this day earmarked on my calendar for a few years now as I wanted to make sure the post was published on the day itself so cheers to that! And most importantly, thank you to the miners! My preference is to have an embroidered logo on my Ebbets hats but every once in a while I grin and bear it when I have to pick one up with this sort of stitched felt letter. The "Ebbets" and "Made in USA" tag combo is classic. I am thrilled to pop the tag on this one and bring it into the rotation! This is a great team shot featuring Mickey Mantle front and center where he belongs! This commemorative minor league card of Miner Mantle was part of a special and limited 5 card set Topps released in 2012 using the 1952 style.   Mantle's card is fantastic but I am a Giants fan first and foremost ...

The 2023 MLB season concluded with the Texas Rangers defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks to clinch the franchise's first World Series championship this past Wednesday, November 1. As a San Francisco Giants fan, I am thrilled Bruce Bochy led the Rangers to win it all during his first year managing since coming out of his brief retirement which began ahead of the 2020 season. Another point of elation—albeit on a more petty level— is that the Diamondbacks suffered the loss at home in front of their fans although the crowd reaction in Arizona when the Rangers scored made me forget which team was on the road. Nevertheless, the 2024 season will be here soon enough and I have high hopes for Bob Melvin's first year managing the Giants. My ideal scenario would be Melvin and Bochy squaring off in the World Series but those are the types of ambitions one can really only have a few days into the offseason during that time when every team has a shot. Once the chips start falling in the free ...