Missives of a Baseball Milquetoast

Today's date is March 15 and this day is always a special one for me as it marks the anniversary of my move from the Bay Area to New York City. While it commemorates a major life event for me personally, March 15 is one of the most infamous dates in all of history and it even has an ominous saying to accompany it: "Beware the Ides of March."   As you can imagine, I had difficulties finding a South Atlantic League hat with some kind of connection to Julius Caesar but alas I stumbled upon an Augusta GreenJackets cap that I had not yet written about.  It's common knowledge that the city of Augusta in the US state of Georgia was named for Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha , but the etymology of her given name dates back to  Augustus of Prima Porta , who for those who  need reminding was Julius Caesar's adopted son and thus the eventual and rightful heir to the Roman Empire. Anyway, enough with the super fun history lesson; let's talk about this classic cap

I thought about writing about another Buffalo Bisons hat this week but I don't think that will do much to alleviate my sadness regarding New Era closing its Derby plant. Instead I think I should focus on another legendary International League team from Western New York like the Rochester Red Wings. As I've mentioned before, my hometown team growing up was the Norfolk Tides and I got to see a lot of games against the Red Wings who were affiliated with the Baltimore Orioles during those years. Something interesting I just found out about Rochester is that the "Flour City" has been a charter member of the league since its earliest incarnation in 1886! Like all minor league teams in the late 19th century, the first Rochester squads were all independent clubs however another thing I learned recently is that moniker is likely derived from the fact that their first major league affiliation which was with the St. Louis Cardinals which lasted from 1929 through 1960 and exp

As difficult as it was for me to be a Boston Red Sox fan for almost an entire week as they faced the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, it's all over now. I was happy to watch the Dodgers be eliminated at home for the second year in a row but... That's it. I was happy to watch the Dodger be eliminated at home for the second year in a row.  Ok but now it's time to reassess my priorities and the first thing I'll do is sulk about the fact that there are no baseball games to watch. At some point in mid-February I'd sell my soul to watch an impossibly tortuous game where the Dodgers play the Dodgers or something silly like that so someone please remind me not to make this deal! Thankfully, I know that soon enough the 2019 season will be here and I'll be going to lots of games at CitiField and Yankee Stadium so— Wait a second. How am I going to go to Yankee Stadium after I've actively rooted for the Red Sox in the World Series? I guess my saving

I made it to my first and only game in the month of June last Saturday and while I considered posting the new hats I picked up at the stadium that night, this week's Portland Sea Dogs hat is even more special as I am choosing to feature it in honor of my friends getting married in Maine this weekend.  You have to respect this logo's longevity as the design has been with the club since the inaugural season in 1994. There's no chatter of it going away although there are a few weekend specific caps being worn this year. As we've seen on other hats, the blue box sweatband tags came about sometime in 2005 as did the "Originators of the True Fitted" text on the satin taping, both of which are featured here. I don't usually have much to say about the MILB batterman but one thing of note on this cap is that it's a thicker patch similar to the 2006 West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx hat I wrote about in June 2017. As I mentioned earlier, there a

It's that time of the year again, folks. The Los Angeles Dodgers are coming to New York to play the Mets. As always, I'm tempted to go just to heckle the Dodgers on behalf of my San Francisco Giants fandom. I'll probably skip this series despite tickets being cheap and plentiful as the Mets are well below .500 which means the fans are done for the season too. If I did go to one of the games, I'd wear my New York Giants hat to troll the Dodgers even though I have the perfect hat for a Dodgers fan to wear: a Great Falls Dodgers cap which I believe to be from the 1996 season.  I've posted photos of my all blue Great Falls Dodgers cap before but this version with a white crown is perfect for summer, besides the fact that I despise the Dodgers and would never actually wear it! The MILB batterman here tells me this cap has to be from 1994 at the earliest. Also, i t's rare to find this cap let alone one with unpopped tags!  The absence of the New Era

This week's Florida MILB selection is the current Jupiter Hammerheads cap and it's one that shares a common trait with last week's Brevard County Manatees hat:  Since their inception, both Florida State League teams have hardly altered their cute logo at all!  The shark's name is Hamilton R. Head (Get it? Ham-r head? Dumb right?) The team should have been called the Jupiter Gassers. (Get it? Jupiter is a gas planet? And "gas" is a term for a fastball? I'm a genius? I know.) Standard-issue current day MILB tags here but I appreciate the "Originators of the True Fitted" on the satin taping, which means this cap has some age. Loving this mostly teal MILB batterman. Or is that cyan? I don't care; I'm calling it teal. From 1994-2001, the Manatees had a grey, teal and black cap logo to match the Florida Marlins, who were their original parent club, but traded in that colorway in for grey, blue and red in 2002 when they b

Before we get back to our regularly scheduled programming, I want to thank anyone who took the time to consider the views I shared last week. I really do love the baseball hat community but sometimes folks get carried away when it comes to "maintaining tradition" but this week's New Haven Ravens cap is a safe Eastern League icon you're sure to love. This cap logo is the one the Ravens wore from 1994 through 2000 and I prefer this version because it's the first one I ever knew and besides that, the other logo was only used from 2001 through 2003, which was their final year in New Haven. I'm usually firm in my belief that the New Era flag began to appear in 1999 but the Colorado Rockies logo embroidered on the wearer's right side throws that notion off since 1998 was the last year of the Rockies affiliation with the Ravens. The most recently made hat that I own which features the white satin taping is a 1999 Capital City Bomber

Happy new year, dear reader! As you are well aware, I capped off 2017 by posting some photos of rare gems that had yet to be de-tagged and I'm happy to be starting this year off with another one of those hats. So without further ado, the first Fresh Fitted Friday selection of 2018 is a Portland Rockies hat that I estimate to be from 1995 or 1996.  Portland only hosted this Class A Short Season team from 1995-2000 but this logo is legendary as it combines the major league club's aesthetic along with a rose, which is emblematic of Portland, aka the "City of Roses." I can't be the only one who finds it neat that the price of this cap is exactly the same as the team's inaugural season (as well as the year it was worn).  The usual suspects: classic mid-1990's sweatband tags A purple and black MILB batterman patch is a thing to be treasured.  Well friend, if you wear a size 7 1/8 and you've got a great cap in my size to trade