Missives of a Baseball Milquetoast

There will be no more "winter is coming" warnings; the end of MLB's 2013 season means winter has come. For those who are already starved for baseball, there is the option to turn one's eyes to the "Land of the Rising Sun" as there is at least a one more game left to play in deciding the next Japan Series title champions. As of now the Ratuken Eagles are up 3-2 in the series against the Yomiuri Giants.  While the Giants have competed in the Nippon Professional League since it's inception in 1950 (and since 1934 as part of Japan's Independent League and the Japanese Baseball League) the Eagles have only been around since 2005. The Giants - along with the Hanshin Tigers - are the most known and profitable teams in Japanese baseball so it's nice to see a newer team like the Eagles contending with these heavy hitters. As a San Francisco Giants fan, it seems unfitting to root for any team other than one called the Giants. Even though there is no a

I know I did a tribute to a San Francisco Giants minor league team last week but I just couldn't resist the opportunity to honor another former Giants farm club: the Phoenix Firebirds.  As time goes on, t his cap's logo becomes increasingly more obscure to even longtime ("die-hard") Giants fans. After all, who can really be expected to remember a team that has been defunct since 1998? Because of the Firebirds' affiliation and that the Giants have held their spring training in Arizona since 1947,  Phoenix was always full of Giants fans . When MLB awarded Arizona with an expansion team, the Firebirds packed up and moved to Tuscon and became known as the Sidewinders.  The team that was already there was called the Tuscon Toros (which was an Astros affiliate at the time) so they in turn moved to Fresno and called themselves the Grizzlies. There was also an organizational shake-up as the Sidewinders became an affiliate of the Diamondbacks while the Grizz

It happens every year around this time. As baseball's regular season comes to a close, I can't help but feel sadness when the San Francisco Giants don't make it to the postseason. It's happened a lot over the years so you'd think I'd be used to it by now but it never gets easier. Even after two World Series wins in three years, I'm finding that this year stings especially hard because not only did the Giants finish poorly but the Los Angeles Dodgers are West Division champions. It's hard to write that, and it's even harder to read. In times like these I have to cheer myself (and hopefully some other distraught Giants fans out there) up with a vintage cap from a former Giants minor league affiliate. I was lucky enough to scoop-up this Shreveport Captains cap on eBay for a great deal a little while back.  I am still on the lookout for backups but every time i see a new listing for one  it's some ass-clown trying to get anywhere from $50 to $100

Alright, this is the last one in the 1983-1993 SF Giants cap. I like this one a lot but haven't worn it in public yet. It might be one that gets used later on but for right now I keep it safe at home! Not much to report on the specifics of the cap but I'm hoping that someone out there can profess some nerdly information on the cap's inside tags!          

Update: I modified some formatting below but mostly kept the content the same otherwise. I'm considering re-writing some of these early posts because these caps are really special to me and I've learned a lot about New Era cap history since writing this one ten years ago so stay tuned! (10/13/2021) This is a great cap that has been seeing some use lately. It's kind of a test-cap of sorts as it came with a glued-on MLB batterman logo patch and I removed it using the heat from a blow-dryer. The cap is fine and there is little evidence that the patch was there.  My main motivation in documenting these caps is to figure out some sort of timeline as to the year in which they were released however, there are stumbling blocks in my speculation.  For example, the rear MLB batterman logo did not appear until 1992, however the "Authentic Diamond Collection" tag on the inside of the cap is only stitched on halfway and does appear to resemble those from caps released before

Update: I modified some formatting below but mostly kept the content the same otherwise. I'm considering re-writing some of these early posts because these caps are really special to me and I've learned a lot about New Era cap history since writing this one ten years ago so stay tuned! (10/13/2021) I own a number of Giants caps from this era for a few reasons with the first being the construction of these caps is top-notch. I also love the fit of the 100% wool caps and the way they eventually mold to the my head. The polyester caps today last a long time and are great if you are out in the rain. In short, the wool caps provide a nostalgic value that the current caps cannot match. As I mentioned in my last post, I've found that the caps from the 1983-1993 era feature a thicker block-style logo than the one on the Orlando Cepeda signed-cap.   I have a suspicion that the lettering variance is situational but I'd like to think that there is some way to track the year-by-yea

I recently picked-up this gem up on eBay for about $35 with free shipping. I didn't know what I was getting into when I ordered it other than the description stated that it was an authentic New Era cap sized 7 5/8 signed by Orlando Cepeda and that the photo showed the San Francisco Giants logo from 1983-1993. The cap's logo reminds me of fond memories growing up watching ballplayers like Will Clark and Matt Williams. I have several hats with that logo style and this one seems thinner overall. Also the orange embroidery is darker than the other caps that I own from this era. While I have no certificate of authenticity to prove that Mr. Cepeda signed this cap I at least have an authentic cap from an era that I greatly cherish. One final note about the cap: the rear MLB logo is a glued-on patch as opposed to the embroidered style that came about more recently. Considering this and the inside tags that I photographed I'm not certain what year this cap was produced. Maybe a fel