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Showing posts with the label DeLong

Mid-1990s Cedar Rapids Kernels, Fresh Fitted Friday!!!!

The great thing about being a cap collector is that laying eyes on fresh new logos is as exciting as the classics that got you into the hobby which will always resonate with you. That's why after all these years, the logo the  Cedar Rapids Kernels wore on their caps from 1993 - 2006 is as exciting to me now as always. The Cedar Rapids Reds became the Kernels when the Minnesota Twins became their parent club in 1993 and even though the logo doesn't have the cartoonistic Poochie Effect  that other teams began to employ in the mid-1990s, this cornball has a lot going for it. I've written DeLong caps in previous posts however only the ones I've identified as being from 1993 and beyond have featured the loose MILB tag so finding out the exact year it first appeared might need to be my next project. DeLong's calling card is the square brim which provides a slightly different result once these caps are broken in.  I put the "Favorites" label on this post as well

1993-99 Cedar Rapids Kernels

Wella-wella-wella welcome back, y'all! Last week was way too busy for me to turn in a quality post but we are keeping the spirit of the Midwest League theme going this week with a classic cap from another Iowa-based franchise: the Cedar Rapids Kernels. I've written about the current version of the Kernels cap but in truth, that one has never been my favorite. Virtually every sports team has a logo that I feel is their greatest and to me, this week's cap is the classiest and most elegant logo the Kernels have ever worn. Firstly, a baseball gently emerging from a corn husk is about as Midwest as it gets, folks. Corn's importance in the region is boundless but what I appreciate most about the imagery is it represents new life as every spring, a new season of baseball begins in Cedar Rapids. I've never been to Iowa but teams like the Kernels, Clinton LumberKings and Quad Cities River Bandits have piqued my interest since an early age. The movie F

1992-95 Prince William Cannons Cap

I've probably mentioned this more than a few times already but my life-long love for baseball truly is something that's shaped the person I am today. F lipping through baseball cards as a child helped developed my knack for matching names with faces while poring over stats on the backs of those cards led to my o bsession with analyzing data.  As far as the subject matter in this blog, my appreciation for visual aesthetics in design is rooted in hours spent staring at logos on caps and uniforms of ballplayers while organizing my cards and watching games on television. My penchant for nostalgia is so blatant, it should't surprise you that my first hats are ones that resonate the deepest with me. My first MLB caps were the caps worn by the Chicago White Sox and Florida Marlins in the early 1990's and my first MILB caps were the New Haven Ravens, Greensboro Hornets and Prince William Cannons. Because the current theme here is the Carolina League, I've got not one, b

1993-1997 Buffalo Bisons

Fall doesn't officially end for another month but we had our first snow in New York yesterday so I've decided to put myself in a winter mindset starting now. Another wintry experience I had this week was attending the Buffalo Bills-New York Jets game at MetLife Stadium and in the eight years that I've lived in New York, i t was my first time seeing a game there  which isn't surprising as I'm not much of a football fan. Even though I'm not that big into football, I've always made it a point to half-heartedly adopt a team from any city in which I've resided.  I latched onto the Denver Broncos when  I was at the University of Colorado and in the following years when I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, I took to the 49ers but when I moved to New York in 2010, I just couldn't decide between the Jets and the Giants. There wasn't anything about either one that attracted or repelled me in any way so I decided to expand my definition of a "loc

Syracuse Chiefs - Fresh Fitted Friday!!!

For the third week in a row, I've had the perfect hat to wear to a game and ended up not going however that's not going to stop me from sharing some photos of it. I picked this Syracuse Chiefs hat to wear to the Washington Nationals series at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday but I chose to go see Robert Plant at Forrest Hills Stadium instead. The Chiefs wore this cap logo from 1989 through 1996. It's a challenge to ascertain what year this cap is from as it's a DeLong and not New Era, which usually give hints when looking at the sweatband tags. Disclaimer: I've worn this hat around more than a few times already so it's not as Fresh of a Fresh Fitted Friday as previous weeks. Sorry about that! This hat would have been a perfect troll on the Nationals as their player development contract runs out at the end of this year and the Mets are going to be setting up shop there in 2019. It's not known where Washington's Triple-A affiliate will b

Mid 1990's Spokane Indians - Fresh Fitted Friday!!!!

As stated in last week's post  and many times before, it's always special when a Fresh Fitted makes its debut at a ballgame. Those of you who have seen the love given to minor league caps will know that wearing this Spokane Indians cap to a minor league game tonight is going to be extra special. As much as I'd love to debut this vintage gem at a Spokane Indians game, that's not an option. So instead of catching a Pacific League Baseball game on the west coast, tonight I'll be taking a ferry from Manhattan to my first Staten Island Yankees game.   I know this is another team's cap but I figure the S.I. on the logo is close enough to fit in with the locals even though the cap is red, white and blue. Of course, the best part about this logo is the serifs on the letters which are reminiscent of a Shreveport Captains cap that remains one of my favorites. I've only written about one other DeLong hat, but this is the my first snapback from this

Early 1990's Charleston Rainbows Cap - Fresh Fitted Friday!!!!

Longtime readers of the 'Toast (no one really calls it that, except for me just now) are fully aware that getting my hands on a vintage Charleston Rainbows cap has been a top priority of mine. In fact, it was almost a year ago that I was lamenting with friends on Twitter about how this hat was my holy grail and that any leads on finding one would be appreciated. My pleading and research finally paid off when I learned that starting in 2014, the Charleston RiverDogs of the Class-A South Atlantic League have held a yearly Pride Night where the players would wear throwback Rainbows uniforms.  I do have to admit that I'm a bit surprised that this year they changed the night's theme name from Pride Night to Rainbows Night . The team is however once again holding a jersey auction for the jerseys worn that night with the proceeds going to Charleston Pride. I'm sure that the intent of the name change was simply to be clear that they would be honoring the Rainbows rather t