Even though this is only my sixth post in the last 14 weeks, this week's Fresh Fitted Friday selection breaks a consecutive streak of hats featuring orange and/or green. While this is not a significant piece of information for you to know, I like keeping track of tidbits like that so that I do not place undue emphasis on any one particular color or theme.
One area where I do enjoy being consistent is using this blog to connect my hats with current events as well as my own personal experiences. I also enjoy relating fun holidays to caps I own such as this Lowell Spinners on-field in tribute to "National Flannel Day" by weaving in its connection to the rich history of textile production of Lowell, Massachusetts.
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| I love how the baseball is incorporated into this logo so much it might actually be my all-time favorite cap worn by a Red Sox farm club. |
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| The New Era "Flag" design came about in 1997 which is the year I would say the other sweatband tags here were used. |
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| Red, white and blue looking as classy as ever on that MILB batterman! |
Every day presents an opportunity to learn something new and being able to capture those things here is invaluable. For example, in preparation for this week's post I set out to truly understand what is meant by "flannel" which led me down a rabbit hole trying to understand the difference between knit cloth jerseys and ones made from woven fabrics such as flannel.
Both can be made from wool or cotton materials but only flannel goes through the brushing process which results in a soft, fuzzy and raised texture as opposed to the smooth feel of jersey. Flannel is lauded for being the more durable of the two which is probably why my hats from Ebbets Field Flannels get better over time as opposed to my polyester caps from New Era.
I have been monitoring Ebbets' site in hopes of a new set of minor league ballcaps dropping as February is the usual time for that to happen. From my most recent Ebbets haul, three of the five caps I purchased featured embroidery rather than felt lettering so I feel good about the next crop coming up.
I wish that I could have written about how Lowell's textile industry is still flourishing but sadly the era of its famous mills have long since passed. At least the traditions of the town were briefly honored by Spinners although this former New York-Penn League affiliate of the Red Sox also met its demise with the 2021 restructuring of Minor League Baseball.
Those who have followed along with this blog for a while know that I am a New Yorker with not a lot of patience for Boston-related sports memorabilia so my appreciation for this cap should indicate how I hold it in in such a high regard.
I do love this cap though so unfortunately, 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.
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: