Missives of a Baseball Milquetoast

As baseball's season is winding down, it's easy to differentiate between the teams that are destined for the playoffs from the teams that are just trying finish the season on somewhat of a high note. Out of 30 teams, only eight will advance to the postseason but I'd be hesitant to say that the teams that won't play any games in October are ready to just "call it in" for the rest of the way. At the beginning of the 2013 season, the Cleveland Indians seemed to have captured lightning in the bottle with a new manager at the helm (Terry Francona) and with new player additions such as Nick Swisher and Michael Bourne. The honeymoon hasn't been completely smooth all the way until now but as of now, the Indians might still have a shot at competing for a postseason spot. I've been considering breaking the hat below out for a while now. First off, I love the huge cap logo featuring Chief Wahoo. The newer caps don't have such a prominent logo and it goes...

I don't go to many Mets games and that is mostly because they've been a disappointing franchise to follow, but I'm also not a fan of the old Ebbets Field influence in the park's design. Despite all of the club's poor business decisions and overt tributes to the Brooklyn Dodgers' legacy, going to a Mets game is a big part of getting my "Flushing-on" in Queens. For me that means relaxing at a ballgame while drinking some craft beers and putting down a few shake shack burgers. It also means heading down to the Chinatown on Main Street in Flushing after the game to enjoy some duck buns, soup dumplings, bubble tea and other tasty edible Asian treats! I love Flushing for many food-related reasons but it doesn't do much to step up my fitted hat game like Brooklyn and the Bronx can. The fact that I don't want any Mets hats in my cap rotation probably has something to do with the fact that the cap I feel most comfortable wearing to CitiField is a ...

What's good today? How about a fitted so vintage that it dares to consider itself fresh ? Well, this week's edition of Fresh Fitted Friday goes out to a man who is known to have brought some serious heat in his day: Rollie Fingers! Before going any further, I would guess that most people in the fitted hat game, when hearing the name "Rollie Fingers" think of this guy: I wouldn't fault you for immediately thinking of Inspectah Deck as he's known to have used this alias on multiple occasions. For me, the most fun part of listening to Inspectah Deck -and Wu-Tang Clan in general- is that they drop some of the best pop-culture references in all of hip-hop. Just do a web search for any of the topics they rap about and you've got some interesting research ahead of you! On Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) , Method Man describes Inspectah Deck as having the uncanny ability to judge the character of others: " Inspectah Deck, he's like that dude that...

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...

I'm sorry about the hiatus but, don't worry; I haven't stopped my rabid consumption of fresh (and sometimes not-so-fresh) hats from my favorite purveyors. It's true that it has been a while since I've hit up this blog. Hopefully you haven't forgotten about me -or perhaps worse- the fitted hat game! This is why I wanted to mark my return by sharing one of my favorite hats of all time: a 1992 Seattle Mariners cap! To me, this cap evokes so much nostalgia because it reminds me of one of my favorite baseball cards from that era: Ken Griffey, Jr.'s 1989 Upper Deck rookie card! Look at that smile! Look at that bling around his neck! Look at that super-comfy turtleneck! But, I digress. We all knew back then that he was going to be a spectacular ballplayer; however, I don't think anyone could have foreseen the magnitude of Ken Griffey Jr.'s legacy. He was one of the best players to ever wear a major league uniform, or any sports uniform for that matt...

Pre- 1992 Montreal Expos cap , a set on Flickr. These are caps from a not-so-easily forgotten moment in time. I love wearing this cap because no true baseball fan could have any ill will toward the Expos and their legacy. The city of Montreal got done dirty by MLB when they lost their team, but at least they'll always have their hockey. This cap gets a +1 for being crafted from some synthetic materials. It's sort of a Proto-Cool Base material and it's the only true retro cap that is not made out of wool, so I guess that counts for something!

While rainfall in Arlington has postponed tonight's Game 2 ALCS matchup of the Tigers and Rangers, the skies are clear here in New York City. If the Yankees had beat the Tigers in Game 5 of the ALDS, the Rangers would have been in town for this game of the series. As it turns out, New York will not taste this particular flavor of the postseason and I'm still a little bitter over Texas beating them in this very round of the playoffs last year. It was annoying to see so many Rangers caps around town after they clinched the American League championship especially because they were facing the Giants, who were my hometown team for all those years I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area. I was hoping to see the Giants play the Yankees in the World Series, but I'm happy that my beloved Giants won it all nonetheless. When I saw this Rangers cap was up for sale as a "Buy It Now" option on eBay for next to nothing, I couldn't resist the classic logo design. It's unfor...