Missives of a Baseball Milquetoast

Y'all know how much I love these little "mini-series within a series" things so brace yourselves for the second part of the Columbus RedStixx celebration within the greater South Atlantic League jubilee! To celebrate this meta-gala proper, I'll be popping the tags on a cap that is about 25 years old! This week's cap is special because it's the logo I remember most from my time as a minor league baseball fanatic in the mid-1990's. The RedStixx wore this one from their inaugural season in 1992 through 1994 but possibly up until 1997. For some reason MILB cards from seemed to become more scarce as the decade progressed. The sweatband tags here are standard issue for the mid-1990's but the white satin taping has inspired me to create a new label that I'll be applying to previous posts as needed. The MILB batterman on the back of the cap here tells me this one's from 1994 at the earliest and the last year it could be from is 1996 

I've probably mentioned this more than a few times already but my life-long love for baseball truly is something that's shaped the person I am today. F lipping through baseball cards as a child helped developed my knack for matching names with faces while poring over stats on the backs of those cards led to my o bsession with analyzing data.  As far as the subject matter in this blog, my appreciation for visual aesthetics in design is rooted in hours spent staring at logos on caps and uniforms of ballplayers while organizing my cards and watching games on television. My penchant for nostalgia is so blatant, it should't surprise you that my first hats are ones that resonate the deepest with me. My first MLB caps were the caps worn by the Chicago White Sox and Florida Marlins in the early 1990's and my first MILB caps were the New Haven Ravens, Greensboro Hornets and Prince William Cannons. Because the current theme here is the Carolina League, I've got not one, b

As difficult as it was for me to be a Boston Red Sox fan for almost an entire week as they faced the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, it's all over now. I was happy to watch the Dodgers be eliminated at home for the second year in a row but... That's it. I was happy to watch the Dodger be eliminated at home for the second year in a row.  Ok but now it's time to reassess my priorities and the first thing I'll do is sulk about the fact that there are no baseball games to watch. At some point in mid-February I'd sell my soul to watch an impossibly tortuous game where the Dodgers play the Dodgers or something silly like that so someone please remind me not to make this deal! Thankfully, I know that soon enough the 2019 season will be here and I'll be going to lots of games at CitiField and Yankee Stadium so— Wait a second. How am I going to go to Yankee Stadium after I've actively rooted for the Red Sox in the World Series? I guess my saving

I’ve been spoiled with all of the baseball games I’ve been to lately and it continues this weekend as I’m seeing the Oakland Athletics — who are, of course the natural geographic rival to my San Francisco Giants — on their annual visit to Yankee Stadium. I’m the furthest thing from an A’s fan but it’s the perfect opportunity to wear this vintage Nashville Sounds cap to the game as Nashville has been Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate in the Pacific Coast League since 2015 and were also the Yankees Double-A affiliate from 1980 through 1984. I love the honky tonk guy swinging his gee-tar at a baseball in front of the fattened version of the note-shaped letter “N” which had been the team’s cap logo since its inaugural season in 1978. The sweatband tags here are what you’d typically find on caps from before 1994 so that's really the earliest year this cap could be from because this logo wasn't worn until that year. Red, white and blue batterman here is perfect fo

We're wrapping up the second week of MLB's 2018 season however I'm showing no signs of slowing down with the inventory of minor league caps from Florida teams. This week's cap is a Florida State League classic: a Brevard County Manatees cap from 1994-96. From what I've seen, this version of the cap with a teal brim is less common than the all black. For what it's worth, I've only seen it on cards from 1994. Usual suspects as far as sweatband tags from 1994 to 1996 are concerned.  The black and teal batterman here makes me think of pure waters where Manatees may float and snack as they please. Graze on. I've mentioned this before but it's worth repeating that the peak level of my interest in minor league baseball came in the mid-1990's so it's no surprise that when the Portland Sea Dogs and the Brevard County Manatees showed up in 1994 with black and teal caps, I was sold on these teams immediately. The Manatees and Sea Do

After bringing the heat last week, I really wanted to continue the love for the Albany Yankees and since I just happened to have an even more rare hat of theirs on ice, you know I had to do it to ‘em! Even though Albany wore two different cap logos in 1994, the one shown here was only worn during that final season in Albany which makes slapping a year on this hat a slam dunk. I also love that future Hall-of-Famers  Andy Pettitte  and Derek Jeter  wore this cap during that season. The New Era and size tags on this cap are the same as last week although u nlike last week’s cap, the New Era and MILB tags haven’t been ripped out of this one. Also of note, last week's ripped out MILB tag looks to be an older version of the one used for this cap. While I would love it if the Albany Yankees caps that I’ve featured over the past few weeks receive the retro treatment, I just hope they don’t get MAGA-tized with a custom all red release. I know I’ve been r

In celebration of the first Spring Training exhibition games of 2018, I’ve got something extra special to share for this week’s Fresh Fitted Friday : a 1994 Albany-Colonie Yankees cap. I'm glad to finally check this cap off my wishlist. Well, really it's just moving into the second tier because I'd like to eventually find one without the red button and eyelets but enough with the nitpicking! If you look closely you can tell that the tags that were ripped out are ones that were used from 1994-1996. Because the Double-A affiliate's last season in Albany was 1994, this cap could only be from that year. I've seen the MILB batterman on caps that could be from 1993 but I'm holding firm in my estimation that this cap is from 1994 due to the ripped out size tags used in the photo above this one. If you are familiar with my cap wishlist, you know most are there because I love their logo design but some are also there for the rarity. This cap meets both