Missives of a Baseball Milquetoast

This week's Fresh Fitted Friday selection is a 1974 Washington Stars prototype that I picked up from Hat Club. I think this cap is a nice continuation  of last week's "Nationals" theme as that is the name of the current team in Washington as well as the design on this week's cap seeming like a dead ringer for a Nats alternate logo in current times. The single serif is a curious design element here but I am intrigued they chose a logo that so closely resembles the one on the caps worn by the Washington Senators who left for Minnesota in 1960. Interestingly enough, Minnesota is incorporating a nod to the North Star on this year's road caps.    It would be fun if this cap featured a red, white and blue pinwheel crown similar to what the Montreal Expos wore, especially considering the Expos eventually left Montreal for Washington in 2005. Interestingly enough, besides both teams being NL expansion teams in 1969, this article lists out a few other congruities betw

Another week of free agency frenzy has gone by which on Wednesday had me hopefully optimistic due to the 13-year deal brokered between the San Francisco Giants and Carlos Correa, yet the very next day I found myself once again perturbed by the New York Yankees as they signed Carlos Rodón to a six year deal. I think the Giants took a huge risk with Correa that could ultimately pay off if they get six to eight good seasons of output from him who in all likelihood could retire from the game before reaching the end of this contract. As for  Rodón, I have my concerns of him being injury-prone so all I can say is that I wish him good health and success throughout his time in New York. By the way, the diplomacy shown in the last sentence of the previous paragraph even caught me by surprise as I read it out loud but since today is National Underdog Day, I'll take that as my motivation to not drive the bitter bus right now. Also, Giants fans have a lot for which we should be grateful. Even

Two consecutive posts since returning from my most recent break and now I'm firmly back in my wheelhouse which is showing love to esoteric MILB logos! This week's Fresh Fitted Friday selection is a 1982 Wichita Aeros retro that I got from Hat Club back in the early part of 2021 while they were on a tear of releasing retro MILB caps. Wichita only wore this logo for one season in 1982 and despite the original cap being of the "Fresh Mesh" variety and that the thickness of Hat Club's "W" is way too thick here, what grated on me was their decision to use  red stitching on the white panels of the cap . All good though, all I needed was a a seam ripper to be back in business! I have an order in the works with my plug for a vintage snapback version of this cap which also has a green undervisor however for some reason I've always preferred grey undervisors when it comes to Montreal Expos affiliates. Either way I'm happy to have this logo in an "eve

Summer is almost in full swing in New York City and outside of the occasional 90º day, I'm happy to welcome it. The two main things I need to remember at all those fun hangs in the park is to stay hydrated and apply sunscreen, with the former being especially apt as "National Don't Fry Day" is recognized today as it is done each year on the  Friday before Memorial Day Weekend. Overexposure to the sun is something that too often goes unnoticed as we spend time relaxing outdoors and this is especially true during the summer months  so this holiday is a perfect opportunity to raise awareness in regards to the risks involved with those otherwise good times. Because of this, the phrase ‘slip, slop, slap and wrap’—which originated in Australia and New Zealand and is now used worldwide—encourages sun enthusiasts to slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen,  slap on a hat, and wrap on sunglasses. To that point, I'm not sure if there is any better way for me to honor the sig

Last week’s Música de Memphis cap was a great accessory to have on my trip to Mexico and I’m so happy to be back in the States in time for March 4 which is an unofficial holiday called March Forth due to its name being a homophone of the date. In reading up on the holiday I learned that the full version of its name is March Forth and Do Something Day but I think “March Forth” gets the message across just fine.  My research also brought to my attention that since 2017, March 4 has been used as the day to celebrate Marching Music Day . Because the “march” music genre traces its roots back to its military origins, this seems like an excellent opportunity to bring out my Jackson Generals retro from Hat Club. The five stars on the cap logo worn by the Jackson Generals of the Texas League is a reference to the highest military rank in the United States. Interestingly enough two stars was the highest rank received by Andrew Jackson, who is the inspiration for both the team’s moniker as well

This week's National Day theme is of the three-day variety as we are about to embark upon Presidents' Day Weekend! To celebrate this much appreciated respite from the routine grind, I cherry-picked a Fredericksburg Nationals "George" alternate cap to celebrate the first President of the United States. I obtained this hat up from Hat Club in early 2021 and to me, this design is a fantastic way to tie American folklore into a baseball cap logo. I cannot tell a lie: I prefer caps that are made in the U.S.A. If there's ever a good time for a red, white and blue batterman, it's Presidents' Day One of the first things schoolchildren in the US are taught about George Washington is the Cherry Tree Myth and I only now  just learned from this article  that the whole story was fabricated so they could sell more books about the President. When students are learning about irony in later grades, this exact scenario should be highlighted as a key example. Well, back to

It has yet to get chilly here in New York so since this Christmas is looking to be a mild one, I will just have to bring in the cold for this week's Fresh Fitted Friday post with a Québec Carnavals retro cap from Hat Club. The jolly little fella adorning this cap is called the bonhomme —meaning "good man" in French—and his claim to fame is being the mascot for Carnaval de Québec, which is the city's yearly winter carnival.   This cap is a recent pickup which sadly means it doesn't get the "Made In USA" treatment. As a child of the 1970s, I have nothing but great appreciation for a powder blue cap with a green undervisor. I had never heard of the Carnavals before Hat Club started releasing retro caps of this one and other variants, for which I'm thankful as it inspired me to learn all about the Carnavals being the Montreal Expos first ever Double-A affiliate in 1971. The team became the Québec Metros in 1975 and stayed put through 1977 before moving

This week's Fresh Fitted Friday entry is a Utica Blue Sox retro from Hat Club and in the spirit of being completely forthcoming, my main inspiration in selecting it for this week's post is National Sock Day being tomorrow, Saturday, December 4, 2021.  Utica wore this logo during its tenure as the Short-Season A affiliate of the Florida Marlins in the New York-Penn League from 1997 through 2001, which sadly was its last season in the league. I've always found it interesting that the socks were not teal to match Florida's colorway but perhaps they had exhausted that theme with the Elmira Pioneers who were their previous affiliate in the league.  Over the past few years, Hat Club has slowed down its production of MILB cap retros in favor of releasing brightly colored variants of MLB logos, usually with some sort of commemorative patch embroidered on the side. I'm glad I was able to pick up this "Made in U.S.A." cap before that transition happened. That bab

I was thinking of taking this week off due to the holiday but a few days ago I was thinking a lot about the origin story that's usually told of Thanksgiving and  came across an article from Smithsonian Magazine this past Tuesday (November 21, 2021) titled  How to Tell the Thanksgiving Story on Its 400th Anniversary  which offers new insights and perspectives. From a baseball standpoint, I also thought about how Native American cultural depictions have historically figured into baseball as well as some changes I think are appropriate and might happen one day soon. That plus the Friday after Thanksgiving being officially known as Native American Heritage Day was another contributing factor in my desire to post this week. The American Indian imagery the Atlanta Braves continue to disrespectfully incorporate into their branding of a people's culture into a mascot is a practice I believe needs to end. A worthwhile read on the topic is National Congress of American Indians Respond to

Season's greetings, folks! I hope y'all didn't think I'd just leave you high and dry with no post today just because it's Christmas. And in 2020 of all years? I actually considered skipping this week but then I remembered next Friday is New Year's Eve so what would stop me from wanting to take a break then too? Well, luckily for everyone who cares, I just happen to have the perfect caps for this week and the next so here we go! This "Slide Sox" cap is a Hat Club exclusive and it definitely exudes yuletide vibes. The slides are a staple of holiday season loungewear and the stockings evoke fond Christmas memories for so many of us. I like the dark green undervisor here for this cap rather than kelly green. Either shade combines nicely with the red and white on the logo and thus completing the Christmas theme however. This year was a hard one for everyone and I hope what I'm about to say doesn't sound crazy but I'm really thankful for companie

After a few weeks in MLB-appreciation land, I've decided to shift my attention back toward MILB. This week's San Bernardino Spirit retro that I picked up from Hat Club in 2019 is  the perfect cap to segue into yet another caravan of caps from West Coast teams and not just because it  fulfills the "star" theme requirement seen in the previous three posts. The main connection this cap shares with last week's Seattle Mariners cap is that it was one of the first logos worn by the generation of Mariners who were drafted right after the upside down trident drifted off to sea for good in 1987. It me, the guy who bought a 7 1/8 and not a 7 3/8 or 7 1/2 like I normally wear. All good though as my Hat Jack has been working overtime this past year trying to stretch it out to my size. I hope Hat Club decides to retro this cap again one day because I'm not even close to forgiving myself for ordering the wrong size here. Plus, this hat is so tight I'm about to pass out

This week's episode of The Quarantine Road Trip takes us to Denver which is just a few miles away from my alma mater, University of Colorado at Boulder. I showed love to Denver's MILB past back  in one of my earliest posts  but it must be said that  the longest-standing team name associated with the Mile High is the Bears, and not the Zephyrs. According some really low-quality photos I had to squint to decipher, I've determined that the Denver Bears only wore this logo from 1982-84 and  I'm going to go on believing that  until someone proves otherwise! I normally wear 7 3/8 so I'm not really sure why I went with a 7 1/2 here. Either way, it's better to go a size up than a size down, or two sizes down which is also a thing that I accidentally not long ago. The MILB batterman looks a little strange with the green underbrim but it's incredibly difficult to find a Denver Bears hat so I'll take it. The story of why this week's cap is ver