Missives of a Baseball Milquetoast

During the December 4, 2015 write-up of my Vermont Lake Monsters vintage cap, I discussed the wide-range of fan reactions regarding the newly redesigned Norfolk Tides cap logo. Naturally, the old guard was hesitant to swap out the beloved wave-topped T logo that the Tides have employed since 1993 in favor of the trident-wielding seahorse created by Brandiose which for the unfamiliar is a design firm based in San Diego. It turns out that the fans ended up appreciating Brandiose's efforts to the point that the Tides cannot keep the caps in supply enough to match the demand. I've followed Brandiose's output over the past few years and I'm thrilled with this collaboration with the Tides and that my hometown team now has a much-needed fresh new look. If you are browsing this page on a desktop machine, check out the social links on the right and if you are on a mobile device, click these links below: Instagram:  @baseballmilquetoast Twitter:  @FittedFriday F

I've said it before but here it is again: it really has been too long since I've last posted. I hope y'all know how much I enjoy sharing these sweet glamour shots of my caps on here. If what they say is true and absence does in fact make the heart grow fonder then you will surely have no reason to turn away this week's featured cap: a Buffalo Bisons Snapback from 2003! I dig this red "super-hero" style "B" on the cap. Also, the lighting may be a bit off in this shot but it's definitely a green cap! I don't mind the Christmas colorway one bit! Very crisp representation of a New Era snapback from the early 2003's, complete with the squarish brim. Sweatband tags and panel liner definitely fall in line with other New Era caps from 2003. When I first got the idea to write about this cap (I'll get to that later), I thought the  Buffalo Bisons were a more popular baseball team than they are . It turns out that there weren&#

Not long ago I picked up this 1999 Columbus Clippers cap but haven't worn it until right now because it looks like next week will be my first Yankees game of the year. I'll need to be rocking a Yankees cap with some uniqueness to it and I think this will do the trick. This is the classic "Big C" logo that the Clippers wore from 1996 through 2008. You can pick up a legit reproduction at Sole Collector while supplies last. Get on that! The sweatband tags match the ones from the  1998 World Series New York Yankees cap , yet the "New Era" flag didn't show up  on Clippers caps until 1999, making this the earliest year this cap could have been produced. That MILB batter man is completely murdered-out. I haven't seen one like that before or since this cap! The Clippers wore this cap from 1996 through the 2008 season and while it's not going to be the most obscure cap in the bleachers, I still doubt most of the fans will recognize

I spent this past Memorial Day weekend relaxing in my childhood hometown of Virginia Beach, Virginia. The holiday always symbolized the beginning of summer to me and because I can only associate this impending season with baseball, I feel compelled to showcase a hat from the team that entertained me for so many summers: the Norfolk Tides. ....and now for some sad news: This style is one that the Tides only wear on the road and sadly I've never actually seen them wearing this cap as I haven't yet had a chance to see them play anywhere other than Harbor Park in Norfolk. This particular cap is from 2011, but I've been unable to find any photos of Tides wearing the cap in any cards before 2009 and there doesn't seem to be too many recent cards out there where they are wearing it either. On a more positive note, I personally like this logo more than any of the other versions from recent years, though I'm not sure if I could really describe what action is happening

Before I get started on this week's Fresh Fitted, I feel obligated to offer hearty congratulations to the Boston Red Sox on their 2013 World Series championship. It's too difficult for a New York City resident to actively root for a Boston team, but in light of the Boston Marathon bombing earlier in the year my thought is that losing the World Series would have been an especially hard pill to swallow for Red Sox Nation. My only positive spin on this victory is that the New York Yankees will undoubtedly feel extra pressure to dominate the AL East next year. In light of all this, I deemed it appropriate that the first post of the off-season should showcase a rare cap from one of my favorite former Yankees farm teams: the Columbus Clippers. I know I've featured the Clippers in the recent past but this cap really stands out as one of the great forgotten ones of yesteryear. Behold the official (short-lived) on-field batting practice cap that the Clippers wore when they were a

Alright, so for this edition of Fresh Fitted Friday I thought I'd do another throwback however this time, I want to pay some respect to a ballplayer who hasn't had a lot of time on the field this season: #2, Derek Jeter. I've seen the man do some tremendous things at Yankee Stadium, but I'll always really remember him as a scrappy prospect with the Columbus Clippers. Here's a great baseball card where he's wearing a cap very similar to the one featured here today: As some of you might know, I grew up in Norfolk, VA and going to Tidewater Tides games at Met Park was an intregal part of many summers in my youth. I remember getting to the ballpark early in the afternoon when the players arrived to scam some autographs and then I'd wait for the guys to leave after the game to get even more autographs. Some of them made some snarky comments here and there, but the beauty of time is that now I can only remember the good memories. I got lots of 'gr