I'm finally taking a break from the "National Day" theme for this week's Fresh Fitted Friday selection because for the first time in a long while I've got some baseball-related current events that correspond with hats in my collection that I need to tell you good folks about!
The Chicago White Sox clinched the American League East on Thursday night earlier this week which is exciting as this is their first postseason appearance since they faced the Tampa Bay Rays in the League Division Series in 2008. The White Sox were my AL team growing up and I'm all in on cheering for them as they are set to face the Houston Astros in the LDS.
My affection for the White Sox without a doubt began–see what I'm doing here?–when Frank Thomas started putting up big numbers in 1991 which in turn led me to collecting as many baseball cards as possible of my new favorite player.
The cards featuring Thomas in his Auburn University uniform were cool but the ones that are truly ingrained in my mind are the 1990 Leaf and 1990 Score cards. He wears the uniform the team wore during those seasons which is why I've selected the White Sox cap from that era for this week's post.
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| The White Sox only wore this logo from 1987 through 1990 but like I mentioned earlier, to me this design is synonymous with Frank Thomas' early days with the team so I will love it forever. |
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| These sweatband tags are indicative of the caps worn from 1988 through 1990 and if you're wondering how I know this, check out Paul Carr's The Chronology of New Era Cap Tags: A Guide which is as helpful now as it was when I first came across it ten years ago. |
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| In Carr's guide, you'll notice that the tags here only match up with caps from 1988-92. Also, look closely to see how the little diamonds on the pinstripes in the "Diamond Collection" tag match up with hats from those years. |
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| Other indications that this cap is from 1988-90 which I gleaned from the Chronology guide is the tiny "Since 1920" text on the New Era tag and the "Lot/Price" on the size tag. |
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| Of course, the batterman not being here makes sense given that this cap couldn't be from any year after 1990. |
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