Missives of a Baseball Milquetoast

The 2009 New York Yankees ball cap is a special one for me because it not only marks the inaugural year of Yankee Stadium but it also reminds me of my last baseball season in California before I made New York City my new hometown. I had never owned a Yankees cap before I purchased a 2009 World Series cap. However, while the World Series patch was accurate, the logo on the rear of the cap was not the inaugural patch, but rather the grey and white MLB batter-man logo from 2010. I didn't realize that the cap I had obtained was not a correct game-worn representation until I revisited some video footage and saw that the inaugural patch was so prominent. This probably means that New Era wanted to produce more World Series caps but ran out of inaugural patch caps and used the following season's caps, which is a Bush League maneuver if you ask me! One thing that I notice about the caps with the inaugural patch is that they fit looser than the caps with the traditional MLB embroide

I'm not going to lie; I didn't attend the Jay-Z/Eminem shows at Yankee Stadium September 13 & 14, 2010 but I did get my hands on the special commemorative cap designed (hopefully, at least in part) by Hov. The cap is the standard black-on-black cap with the addition of a special additional "All Black Everything" embroidery on the rear of the cap and on the wearer's right side, three embroidered red stripes echoing the album cover art of Jay-Z's 2009 album, The Blueprint, Pt. 3. Personally, I'm a fan of Eminem and Jay-Z's music but I don't make it a habit to dress like a "G. Money All-Star" so this cap is one that I probably won't wear to a Yankees game, nor is it one that I'd wear out and about in New York City. It's a heavily sought-after limited edition release, making it a cap that could get you mugged in some neighborhoods, however it is a solid reminder of my first year in New York and I'm glad that it found its w

The Albuquerque Dukes and Denver Zephyrs are two former Minor League Baseball teams that you probably don't remember unless they played in your hometown or you are a die-hard fan of the Dodgers or Brewers, respectively. Then again, that seemingly obscure nature of these clubs is what is so great about MILB teams in the first place. They provide endless entertainment to appreciative fans who might otherwise never see an MLB game in person. The Dukes and Zephyrs were two teams that I remembered because their prospects would go on to play in the MLB and I can remember my MILB cards featuring Pedro Martinez wearing a Dukes ballcap very similar to the one I have pictured here. I'll post an image of that card as a reference because it's difficult to imagine Pedro wearing anything but a Red Sox cap! However, it's no secret I'm no fan of the Red Sox or the Dodgers so this Dukes cap isn't something that I'll wear to a ballgame or anywhere for that matter, so I'

This special edition New Era cap was first sold on July 9, 2011 at Yankee Stadium, the day Derek Jeter ticked his 3,000th career hit. I picked up two caps from the stadium and both feature the commemorative patch as an embroidery, however one is on the wearer's left side and the other is on the wearer's right side.  The ride side patch seems to be more common at the stadium but the well is drying up so if you haven't purchased a cap yet, now might be a good time to think about doing so! I did purchase some caps from Lids.com and those caps feature the felt-style patches that are common on the All-Star Game and World Series caps. The patch is glued-on the wearer's left side and incidentally, these caps are not available for purchase at Yankee Stadium. The conclusion that I have to draw from this is that the New York Yankees must have ordered the caps from New Era in advance enough to be able to sell them at the stadium the day Jeter broke the record however the fel

This cap is a new favorite of mine as sometimes it gets a bit tiresome wearing the same old Yankees hat to the games. I was fortunate to attend the Rays-Yankees game on July 9, 2011 when Derek Jeter joined the 3,000 hit club. I thought back on how I somehow managed to get him to autograph some cards when he played for the Columbus Clippers either in 1994 or 1995. Even though Jeter only played in Tampa for part of of one season (1994) wearing this cap will always symbolize the amazing journey that this sensational athelete has taken. As a side note, someone who was never a Tampa Yankee, Jorge Posada, hit a grand slam during the game. Coincidentally, I wore this hat to the Rays-Yankees game on August 13, 2011 when they honored Jeter with a slew of fanfare before the game commemorating his 3,000th hit. I didn't spot another Tampa Yankees cap that day, nor did I see a Columbus Clippers or Greensboro Hornets cap for that matter either. I suppose more people would rather wear the World S

In 1993, an instant classic was born for minor league ballcaps. While many might think that Conrad the Crawdad is a hokey mascot, I'm a complete supporter of this cap. Upon the team's relocation to Hickory from Gastonia, they changed their name from the Rangers to the Crawdads and thusly switched from being an affiliate of the Texas Rangers to the Chicago White Sox. The mid-1990's was a new golden era for the White Sox from a marketing perspective when you consider the wild success of this cap as well as the oft-photographed Michael Jordan during his stint with their Double-A affiliate, the Birmingham Barons. I can't say with any certainty that the Nashville Sounds or Vancouver Canadians made as much of a splash as the other two aforementioned teams but I wouldn't mind owning a cap from either one of those clubs. These days, the Crawdads are back to being an affiliate of the Texas Rangers but I'll always remember them as an affiliate of the White Sox. I'm

Next up is an Augusta GreenJackets cap made by Pro-Line. Again, this one has no minor league baseball patch on the rear of the cap and that is something that I enjoy about caps from that era. While they are currently a minor league affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, most people largely remember them as a farm team for the Pittsburgh Pirates. They have also been affiliates of the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals and the Detroit Tigers.