Missives of a Baseball Milquetoast

Continuing with the theme of former Toronto Blue Jays affiliates in the South Atlantic League, I'm obliged to discuss Toronto's presence in South Carolina which began in 1981 with the Florence Blue Jays, who in 1987 became the Myrtle Beach Blue Jays. The team rebranded as the Myrtle Beach Hurricanes in 1991 and after the 1992 season, moved to Hagerstown, MD to become the newest incarnation of the Hagerstown Suns where their affiliation with Toronto continued.  Because the team only existed for two seasons, finding an original hat is an exercise in futility so w hen I learned Hat Club was releasing a retro, I had to pick it up. I had some reservations about pulling the trigger on this cap because the logo is noticeably larger than the OG. Based on how fast the hat sold out, I believe this was a conscious decision by Hat Club as perhaps they felt they'd sell more hats with an aggrandized logo.  For reference, here are  some photos of the more dainty logo on

Despite my moral and ethical obligations, I must congratulate the Los Angeles Dodgers for their NLCS win and upcoming return to the World Series. My heart is cold and black so any joy a Dodgers fan feels makes me miserable however I did get some good news this week: there is talk of MLB returning to the great city of Montreal  and maybe Portland, Oregon too! My main issue with Portland getting a team is that while it has a long history of being one of the great Triple-A cities, it hasn't had a team at that level since 2010. I do believe that Portland has the population and the income to support an MLB franchise so I wish them luck. After all, I like the natural rivalry between Seattle and Portland so this could be good. Although I have concerns about Portland's chances, I feel there isn't a city more deserving of a team right now than Montreal. I've spilled much ink lamenting the demise of the Expos so I'd love for Montreal to get another shot. This rumor has