Missives of a Baseball Milquetoast

The past two write-ups have been notably more verbose than usual around here so  I hope this 4th of July weekend brings a sort of return to form as we celebrate the tailgating and cookout aspect of the holiday with a Milwaukee Brewers City Connect "Grill" cap for this week's Fresh Fitted Friday post. This is a Hat Club exclusive which varies from the on-field version the Brew Crew wears during its City Connect games. In terms of aesthetics, I actually prefer how the baseball-stitched grill design from the right sleeve patch of the team's j ersey is the primary focus on this hat. Hat Club also released a non-rail version of this cap which flips the placement of the cooler and grill designs. Even though the "Brewed in Milwaukee" is not as easy to read here, I chose this one because the baseball grill logo needed to be front and center. Clean flat batterman logo on a powder blue crown is one of the most ultimate retro 1980s ways to go which means I am in full

I shared lots of words in last week's impromptu tribute to Willie Mays and the topic for this post is another one that needs discussion as today is the anniversary of the Stonewall riots which began on June 28, 1969. The police brutality inflicted upon the  gay and lesbian community brought national attention on the desperate need to ensure civil rights in the protection from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. In addition to being an important political moment, one of the  cultural effects was those who were marginalized began to openly "come out" regarding their gender identity. I was born a decade after these events began to unfold and feel fortunate to have gotten to know so many lovely gay and lesbian folks growing up which shaped my inclusive nature early on. I was also inspired by queer icons in entertainment such as Elton John and Freddie Mercury however it was John Waters' 1972 film 'Pink Flamingos' that made the greatest impact on me.

While writing this week's Fresh Fitted Friday post, I am also watching the telecast of  this year's special  "MLB at Rickwood Field: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues" with the   St. Louis Cardinals (as they wear the uniforms of the St. Louis Stars) playing my San Francisco Giants (wearing uniforms of the San Francisco Sea Lions) at the oldest professional ballpark in the United States in Birmingham, AL. The Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues called Rickwood Field home as did Willie Mays when the  Alabama-native  got his first professional baseball assignment playing for the Black Barons as a 17 year old in 1948. All three scheduled events were set to honor  Mays who was the last living member of the Black Barons but died two nights before Thursday's finale. There were so many tributes (both large and small) to Mays when news of his passing arrived during Tuesday night's MILB showcase in which the  Birmingham Barons (playing as the Black Barons) hosted

When I began posting about my caps back in August 2011, there were only a few sites out there dedicated to the hobby of collecting but two posts that I was thrilled to come upon in those early days were  Paul Carr's   The Chronology of New Era Cap Tags: A Guide and The San Diego Padres "Taco Bell" Caps . Over the years, Paul has since added more  brilliant blog  entries  in his  "Taco Bell"   series and even worked with Ebbets Field Flannels to create a retro of the 1978 Reno Silver Sox cap which was the focus of his  Minoring in Taco Bell  post. Also in that time, I as well have endeared myself to this wacky style enough to  run for the border to join in the "Taco Bell" fun when possible! I chose  the Reno Silver Sox retro to be  this week's  Fresh Fitted Friday  selection   to continue in that paternal theme  that I started in my only  previous "Father's Day" post which as it happens was for a  Early 1980s San Diego Padres "T

There is no MLB-wide holiday to commemorate this week so for this Fresh Fitted Friday post I have decided to highlight what would have been the 66th birthday of legendary musician, Prince Rogers Nelson (aka Prince) with Hat Club's  "Grape Jelly" colorway of a  Minnesota Twins cap which features a Target Field 10th anniversary patch. As someone who grew up in the 1980s, Prince's songs figure largely in the soundtrack of my youth however a genuine appreciation of his music would only truly occur as I grew older and it continues to grow to this day. While his mastery as a recording artist is beyond compare, I think there should be more discussion around how strong he was as a performer as well. I regret never having seen him in concert however I am fortunate in that there are lots of videos out there that document his showmanship. And even though this is a baseball blog, I want to shout out  Prince's performance at Super Bowl XLI Halftime Show in 2007  which I high

I was not vastly verbose in last week's post and I might be even less loquacious today but I am having fun with alliteration as well as continuing what might be a yearly tradition of posting a New York Yankees cap in honor of Lou Gehrig Day where MLB raises awareness for ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig Disease. I had a great-uncle who passed away with the disease and so this yearly event definitely brings out some emotions for me. Like many others, I sincerely hope that we can  eventually "strike out ALS" once and for all. And until then, we must continue to play for each other just as "The Iron Horse" did for his teammates and visa versa. While the  Red-Bottomed Yankees cap from last year's tribute  was more fashion-forward, I am running it back to the classics with this vintage circa-1923 style hat from Cooperstown Ballcap Co. The leather sweatband and dark green undervisor are definitely a switch-up from the Ebbets Field Flan

The San Francisco Giants have just pulled into New York and I am currently feeling the jitters of seeing my team play in person for the first time this year as they are about to  start a three game series against the New York Mets at CitiField. I always have a hard time settling on what Giants hat to wear at away games but this time I have it figured out! I went a little long on my 5/10 post highlighting my 1950 Oakland Oaks from Ebbets Field Flannels so I do not feel too bad about not having much commentary this week other than I am happy to keep the  "O"  party going with a  1951 Ottawa Giants hat that I recently picked up from Ebbets as well. The Ottawa Giants moved there from Jersey City after the 1950 season because the local television broadcasts of the New York Giants obliterated the "Little Giants" attendance at Roosevelt Stadium. Sadly, the Giants relationship only lasted for only one season as the team became affiliated with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1