Missives of a Baseball Milquetoast

Before I get started on this week's Fresh Fitted, I feel obligated to offer hearty congratulations to the Boston Red Sox on their 2013 World Series championship. It's too difficult for a New York City resident to actively root for a Boston team, but in light of the Boston Marathon bombing earlier in the year my thought is that losing the World Series would have been an especially hard pill to swallow for Red Sox Nation. My only positive spin on this victory is that the New York Yankees will undoubtedly feel extra pressure to dominate the AL East next year. In light of all this, I deemed it appropriate that the first post of the off-season should showcase a rare cap from one of my favorite former Yankees farm teams: the Columbus Clippers. I know I've featured the Clippers in the recent past but this cap really stands out as one of the great forgotten ones of yesteryear. Behold the official (short-lived) on-field batting practice cap that the Clippers wore when they were a

There will be no more "winter is coming" warnings; the end of MLB's 2013 season means winter has come. For those who are already starved for baseball, there is the option to turn one's eyes to the "Land of the Rising Sun" as there is at least a one more game left to play in deciding the next Japan Series title champions. As of now the Ratuken Eagles are up 3-2 in the series against the Yomiuri Giants.  While the Giants have competed in the Nippon Professional League since it's inception in 1950 (and since 1934 as part of Japan's Independent League and the Japanese Baseball League) the Eagles have only been around since 2005. The Giants - along with the Hanshin Tigers - are the most known and profitable teams in Japanese baseball so it's nice to see a newer team like the Eagles contending with these heavy hitters. As a San Francisco Giants fan, it seems unfitting to root for any team other than one called the Giants. Even though there is no a

I know I did a tribute to a San Francisco Giants minor league team last week but I just couldn't resist the opportunity to honor another former Giants farm club: the Phoenix Firebirds.  As time goes on, t his cap's logo becomes increasingly more obscure to even longtime ("die-hard") Giants fans. After all, who can really be expected to remember a team that has been defunct since 1998? Because of the Firebirds' affiliation and that the Giants have held their spring training in Arizona since 1947,  Phoenix was always full of Giants fans . When MLB awarded Arizona with an expansion team, the Firebirds packed up and moved to Tuscon and became known as the Sidewinders.  The team that was already there was called the Tuscon Toros (which was an Astros affiliate at the time) so they in turn moved to Fresno and called themselves the Grizzlies. There was also an organizational shake-up as the Sidewinders became an affiliate of the Diamondbacks while the Grizz

You've got to accept what is the truth. Dave Parker and Lou Brock were some pretty slick dudes back in their playing days on the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals, respectively. To be fair, Andrew McCutchen and Yadier Molina add some swagger to the current iteration of these teams; plus, they are in tremendous physical shape compared to the most of the players from Parker and Brock's generation. I nevertheless have a soft spot in my heart for guys like Parker and Brock who exemplified an era of players who played hard on the field and by looking at these photos, you can tell they probably played hard off the field as well!  I dug up these photos of Parker and Brock because they are shown wearing the controversial pillbox caps of the mid to late 1970's. While the Cardinals are generally considered to be one of the most storied franchises in baseball, the Pirates haven't had much success in recent years until this season. As my obsession is fitted c

It happens every year around this time. As baseball's regular season comes to a close, I can't help but feel sadness when the San Francisco Giants don't make it to the postseason. It's happened a lot over the years so you'd think I'd be used to it by now but it never gets easier. Even after two World Series wins in three years, I'm finding that this year stings especially hard because not only did the Giants finish poorly but the Los Angeles Dodgers are West Division champions. It's hard to write that, and it's even harder to read. In times like these I have to cheer myself (and hopefully some other distraught Giants fans out there) up with a vintage cap from a former Giants minor league affiliate. I was lucky enough to scoop-up this Shreveport Captains cap on eBay for a great deal a little while back.  I am still on the lookout for backups but every time i see a new listing for one  it's some ass-clown trying to get anywhere from $50 to $100

For this week's issue of Fresh Fitted Friday I'm featuring a 1950's New York Giants cap that was produced by Cooperstown Ballcap Co. I chose this  cap because i thought it important to recognize the rich history that the Giants had in New York City.  Doing a little background on the Giants will tell you that the Giants, or rather the Gothams as they were known when they joined the National League in 1883, were the main attraction for many years when it came to baseball in New York. The rivalry that they had with the Brooklyn Dodgers remains as one of the greatest baseball rivalries of all time.  The Giants were dominant in the National League in their early years and achieved more than their fair share of NL pennants. Still though, the New York Yankees winning World Series championships for the American League year after year effectively stole the spotlight from the Giants and the Dodgers. In 1958, both the Giants and the Dodgers moved to San Franc

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