Missives of a Baseball Milquetoast

As you know I’ve been wearing caps from visiting club’s minor league affiliates to games I’ve attended this season. So when I went to the Marlins-Mets series finale at CitiField this past Wednesday night, I wore a cap from the Greensboro Grasshoppers, who have been the Marlins’ Single-A affiliate in the South Atlantic League since 2003. The Grasshoppers have stayed true to this cap logo since 2005 and it has appeared on a variety of different colored crowns such as green, orange and this light khaki one which I think suits it best. This cap was a recent purchase so it's no surprise it's not USA-made but that's still a shame. I also like the way the orange and green MILB batterman looks on the back of this cap's crown. Even though this is not a rare or vintage hat, you can count on me to do some digging to tie in a cap’s present to its past. For me, the biggest connection is the Marlins new owner, Derek Jeter, who played in Greensboro when it was affiliat...

Well, it looks like my super-awesome streak of attending an MLB game once a week is ending as the mini-trip I had planned to see the Padres play the Pirates in Pittsburgh is not happening. Nevertheless, I still want to share photos of the perfect hat to wear to the series: a retro 1986 Hawaii Islanders cap produced by Ebbets Field Flannels in 2016. From the images of baseball cards I’ve seen, the Islanders wore this cap with a red crown and yellow brim from at least 1984 all the way through 1987, which was their last season. I have to give Ebbets props for the logo and cap construction in this retro release. The caps from the 1980’s probably did not have black sweatbands and satin underbrims like this one but I actually like those touches here. There are a couple of reasons why I could have worn this hat to the Padres series in Pittsburgh this weekend and the most obvious is that the former Pacific Coast League franchise was an affiliate of each club for many years. ...

I’ve been spoiled with all of the baseball games I’ve been to lately and it continues this weekend as I’m seeing the Oakland Athletics — who are, of course the natural geographic rival to my San Francisco Giants — on their annual visit to Yankee Stadium. I’m the furthest thing from an A’s fan but it’s the perfect opportunity to wear this vintage Nashville Sounds cap to the game as Nashville has been Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate in the Pacific Coast League since 2015 and were also the Yankees Double-A affiliate from 1980 through 1984. I love the honky tonk guy swinging his gee-tar at a baseball in front of the fattened version of the note-shaped letter “N” which had been the team’s cap logo since its inaugural season in 1978. The sweatband tags here are what you’d typically find on caps from before 1994 so that's really the earliest year this cap could be from because this logo wasn't worn until that year. Red, white and blue batterman here is perfect fo...

While last week's first in-person game of the year was the true beginning of this MLB season for me, I’m even more pumped to attend my first San Francisco Giants game of 2018 this coming Saturday in Atlanta. Yes, I have to settle for an away game but it’s my first time at the newly built SunTrust Park so I’m commemorating the experience with a cap that honors both teams. The Augusta GreenJackets have been affiliated with the Giants since 2005 and wore this logo from 2006 through 2017, which was their last year playing in Augusta, GA. Wait, what? OK, so they’re still the Augusta GreenJackets but after the 2017 season, they moved from Lake Olmstead Stadium in Augusta, GA to SRP Park, which is located in North Augusta, South Carolina. Thanks to this newly learned factoid, I can’t stop thinking about other teams that play and/or have played in cities adjacent to a city with the same name in a bordering state. For current MILB clubs, I’ve got Bristol Tigers and Bl...

MLB’s 2018 season is just a month in however it didn’t truly begin for me until I got to attend my first game of the year this past Wednesday. I’m thankful that technology allows me to watch multiple games in split screen mode on my TV but it can’t compare to the sensation I felt when I made my maiden voyage through the turnstiles at Yankee Stadium. I was fortunate to enjoy the game among the company of three friends who are all hardcore baseball fans and each attending their first game of the season as well. Of course, it was lots of fun and the cherry on top was that I christened a retro Prince William Yankees cap! This custom retro cap of the cap worn by the former Yankees Carolina League affiliate was spearheaded by a friend of mine with whom I jaws about hats a lot on Twitter ( @TerryT804) and Instagram ( @djtdawg) Like the OG cap, this one has a green underbrim but features a black sweatband and but the cap is made of the more modern polyester material, which I pref...

Even though my stock of caps from the Sunshine State isn't quite depleted, I've few other themes in mind for the coming weeks so this one is now winding down. In the meantime, I hope you dig this week's cap: a St. Lucie Mets cap featuring the "Big Fly" logo! I've seen this version of the cap logo on caps as far back as 2001 although it was usually on ones with black crowns until about 2008 MILB switched over to polyester caps with black underbrims in 2008 so that's the earliest this cap could be from which makes sense considering the writing on the satin taping. I like the amount of orange on the MILB batterman here. I'm definitely not a New York Mets fan but you better believe I'll wear this hat to a game at CitiField at least once this season! I'm really digging the 30th Anniversary cap that Justin Dunn is wearing here and that the St. Lucie Mets will be wearing throughout this season. Speaking of anniversary caps, I re...

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...