Last week I promised that the landing gear was going down on the recent theme of caps with the letter "B" and I'd say it was a success…B-sides not coming up with a catchy name for the run! Fun puns notwithstanding, this week's Boise Hawks hat will be the last of these "B" caps and like all the previous ones, it features a logo that has been decommissioned for a while now.
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| This cap logo variant was first unveiled in November 2006 by Brandiose, which back then was known as Plan B Branding. Should "Plan B" have been the name of this theme all along?!?! |
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| Made in USA! As an aside, Boise enlisted Brandiose to tweak their identity some more again in 2013, which was right around the time I procured this cap. This was great timing because sadly soon after that year is when New Era ramped up the production of foreign-made MILB caps. |
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| This is a very distinctive colorway for the MILB batterman and eyelets and I'm really into it! |
I mentioned earlier that this logo is now obsolete but unlike the other teams from the past few weeks, there is still a team known as the Boise Hawks! Their 2021 caps and uniforms have yet to be shared with the general public but my guess is they will most likely continue wearing the "scratch mark" logo that they've donned the past few years.
When the 2021 season begins, this new iteration of the Boise Hawks will play as part of the Pioneer League which as of this year is no longer considered a Rookie Advanced league. Its new designation will be as an independent partner league and in my opinion this league might be the grittiest of them all due in part to the sheer distance between cities.
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| This map shows the Northern Colorado Owlz will be welcomed as the 9th team in the Pioneer League in 2022 and I imagine a 10th team should get added at some point to even things out. Hopefully this new format will stoke enthusiasm for baseball out in the Mountain States. |
I think eventually bringing back teams in Provo, Helena and Casper would be an ambitious long-term goal for the Pioneer League and while that would make the Northern division a bit top-heavy, it could forge a path toward creating a Central Division. The highlighted cells in the table below represent the new teams that would flesh out my proposed restructuring:
Calculating miles between the Northern and Southern teams in the table above really makes you appreciate how the Great Falls Voyagers are so aptly named as it's at least a 13 hour drive when they have to trek to the play the Vibes in Colorado Springs, CO.
That specific route inspired me to look up the 2019 schedules for the Voyagers and Vibes and I was relieved to see teams hosted divisional rivals three times and non-division clubs only once per season. Having 12 teams in the league might seem like travel would be even harder but the 2021 Pioneer League schedule for the Billing Mustangs offers a unique approach to road trips.
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| The six-game home-stand will get tiresome for some fans but I'm sure they're thankful for what they've got as it's the best possible scenario for small teams playing in such a vast region. |
This week's Fresh Fitted Friday selection is not going on the Trading Block however please don't hesitate to reach out if you want any other cap from that list and you are willing to part with any of the hats on my Wish List or even just something you think might be interesting to me!
As always, thanks for coming back to read about baseball hat geekery. I've got comments disabled here so if you'd like to discuss a trade or simply just chat about hats, please feel free to connect via the following social sites:
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Twitter: @FittedFriday
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