Missives of a Baseball Milquetoast

I mentioned in last week’s post that the San Bernardino Spirit cap would be the last in the “Soto Sweepstakes” series. The news of Modesto losing their team in the 2026 California League Shuffle convinced me to buy a cap from a team that played there. I am not sold on either of the current Modesto Nuts hats so I am looking further back in time at a Modesto A's retro although I would like to stay away from the later era  if possible as the elephant exudes more Oakland energy than I am comfortable with on a cap logo. All this considered, my best option seems to be the "M" script worn from 1977 through 1992. As a San Francisco Giants fan, I am a bit uneasy about wearing an A's-related logo, especially one formerly worn by Oakland superstars such as Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire and most notably, Rickey Henderson who passed away on December 21, 2024. Even though I loathed the A's, I admired Henderson as a young baseball fan so I will make the exception here. If I had to ...

Since the close of the 2024 MLB season, I have had no shortage of blog topics thanks to the flurry of roster moves this offseason. Ass a San Francisco Giants fan I am thrilled at the seven-year deal the team made with shortstop Willy Adames and I am also hoping for a solid addition at first base like Christian Walker and as well as a strong starting pitcher like Corbin Burnes. Even if neither happens, the Adames signing is huge but sadly I do not have a Giants-related cap with a "W" or "A" logo to write about like I did when having a bit of fun  with the "J for Juan" on the Jackson Mets cap for last week's post. Perhaps the "S" can be for Soto on this week's San Bernardino Spirit hat and thus be the conclusion of the "Soto Sweepstakes" celebrations. This week's post is my first featuring a cap from Topperzstore and I have to give them credit for knocking it out of the park with the simple white "S" over the gold st...

When I sat down to write last week's Joplin Miners post, I had yet not considered how the cap logo's "J" could have been a suitable pre-farewell tribute to Juan Soto and his time ending with the New York Yankees but depending on how you look at things, it could also have been regarded as a plea for him to stay in the Bronx! Either way, the Soto Sweepstakes ended when news broke this past Sunday night that the star outfielder agreed to some comically large compensation amount  by signing with the New York Mets. And t his time I will take credit for the tie-in with Soto and the "J" on the logo of this "Fresh Mesh" snapback the Jackson Mets wore from 1979 through 1987. The last Fresh Mesh cap I wrote about was this 1988 Greensboro Hornets post  back in April 2021 but both logos are very close in terms of my love for them. I'm really surprised how clean the sweatband is on this hat which could very well be 40 years old at this point. I am pretty s...

In honor December 6 being National Miners Day, this week's Fresh Fitted Friday selection is an Ebbets Field Flannels retro inspired by the cap the Joplin Miners wore in 1950. I have had this day earmarked on my calendar for a few years now as I wanted to make sure the post was published on the day itself so cheers to that! And most importantly, thank you to the miners! My preference is to have an embroidered logo on my Ebbets hats but every once in a while I grin and bear it when I have to pick one up with this sort of stitched felt letter. The "Ebbets" and "Made in USA" tag combo is classic. I am thrilled to pop the tag on this one and bring it into the rotation! This is a great team shot featuring Mickey Mantle front and center where he belongs! This commemorative minor league card of Miner Mantle was part of a special and limited 5 card set Topps released in 2012 using the 1952 style.   Mantle's card is fantastic but I am a Giants fan first and foremost ...

I might be breaking some sort of rivalry rule by posting a New York Yankees hat for this week's Fresh Fitted Friday post immediately following last week's Baltimore "City Connect" cap but please not however mistake this seemingly brazen selection as anything other than me paying respects to Mariano Rivera as MLB's all-time saves leader turns 55 years old today! My side patch obsession most likely started with the 2007 All-Star Game caps  and it only grew when I moved to New York in 2010 which was highlighted in a post or two   featuring the commemorative caps I purchased while in attendance at Yankee Stadium during the game Derek Jeter reached the 3,000 hit milestone on July 9, 2011. I acted on my side patch impulse once again at the end of that season when Rivera passed Trevor Hoffman's saves record—which only stood for less than a year as he retired following the 2010 season—as the Yankees memorialized with the patch on this week's cap. Interestingly e...

This upcoming Thanksgiving will once again be spent with friends who live a thirty minutes drive away from Camden Yards so this week's Fresh Fitted Friday selection keeps the City Connect theme going with the cap the Baltimore Orioles have worn since becoming the 19th team to launch a uniform for MLB's wildly successful engagement. In contrast to last week's Tampa Bay cap which I love because of its exuberance, here I appreciate the understated elegance of the "B" and the extra significance it holds being the first time the Orioles have worn a birdless cap since 1963 which was their only year doing so. Like last week's sweatband and undervisor, this one goes off on both aspects which I am thrilled about.  I especially love the aspirational message of "you can't clip these wings" here! Detractors of City Connect claim it is a cash grab but for smaller market teams like Baltimore which could use extra exposure and revenue, I fail to see how that is...

In my Milwaukee Brewers City Connect "Grill" cap  post from this past summer, I provided tiers of where each team's City Connect kits ranked in my opinion and while the hat was not the on-field design the Brewers wore for their City Connect games, that exclusive design from Hat Club was my preferred choice between the two. I mentioned then I had gotten some actual City Connect on-field caps and the Tampa Bay Rays cap has the honor of being the first to be posted here, although sadly my driving force in choosing it for this week's Fresh Fitted Friday post was the passing of my Uncle Bobby in Tampa. He was instrumental in getting me to appreciate baseball in my early years and you will never forget the person who taught you how to throw a fastball. I never got a chance to see a Rays game with him but I will be wearing this City Connect hat in tribute whenever I make my first trip to their new ballpark which is slated to open in 2026. I brought up both Juan Soto and the...