2001 and 2002 All-Star Game Caps

As you know, last week's Fresh Fitted was not part of my collection but I nevertheless gave it some airtime for the sake of sweatband tag research. I'm mildly obsessed with time-stamping my caps and this week follows in that trend so I hope that's fine by you.

I got into a bit of a rabbit hole looking at All-Star Game caps from years past last week so I've got a bunch to show and tell you about today. For those who are fans of these caps, this is your lucky day. For those who aren't, this is not your lucky day.

Some of you younger folk out there might remember a ballplayer by the name of Mike Hampton. I always thought he was a swell guy but Hampton is the name of a town near where I'm from so I might be biased.

A 1999 All-Star Game cap signed by Mike Hampton was featured here before and while he went 22-4 that year, his 2001 season was not as stellar even though he made the All-Star team.  

The "New Era" and size tags are ones that were typically used before 2000. As is usually the case with All-Star Game and World Series caps, I believe New Era just slapped a patch on whatever hats they had in stock rather than adhering to strict procedure.

Here's a few images of a different Rockies cap from the 2001 All-Star Game as well.

This is an unsigned cap but it varies a little from the previous cap, which will be discussed shortly. 

Here's a better look at the All-Star Game patch.  

Same older version of the sweatband tags but the satin taping is the messy style that we've seen on certain caps before. Just so you can see how out of date these tags are, here's a group of images of the cap worn in the 2000 All-Star Game

The "New Era" and size tags are ones that used before 2000 but as is the case with All-Star Game and World Series caps, I believe New Era just slapped a patch on whatever hats they had in stock rather than adhering to strict procedure.

And to wrap up the segment on caps from the 2001 All-Star Game, here are some images of one that appears to be signed by the ever-polarizing Curt Schilling.

I forgot where I snagged these images from and hopefully one day we all forget about the jerkhole who is Curt Schilling's post-baseball identity. 

Really good look at the All-Star Game patch here.

Now these sweatband tags seem to be consistent with ones we've seen on other caps from 2001.

I didn't want to finish this week's post on a sour note so instead of closing with that previous Schilling cap, here's a 2002 All-Star Game cap signed by Randy Johnson. I know you're thinking the Big Unit is about as cuddly as a cactus but he's actually a nice enough guy out there in the real world which is not something we can say about Schilling. 

Looks like Randy was rough with that autograph pen there. Actually, when he uses one, is it called an autogruff pen? I'll show myself out.

Looks like New Era returned to the embroidered "signature and player number" look for the 2002 All-Star Game cap.

Not a great view of the sweatband tags but you can tell they're on-point as far the time period is concerned. You can also faintly see how the satin taping is that messy style which is unfortunate.

I hope you enjoyed these photos and reading about these swell caps. If you are browsing this page on a desktop machine, check out the social links on the right and if you are on a mobile device, click these links below:

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