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Showing posts with the label Trading Block

1998-2001 Fresno Grizzlies Snapback

After last week's double-dose of Denver Bears hats, I must ask if you are prepared for yet another bear-themed cap this week because today is National Teddy Bear Day as well as National Care Bears Share Your Care Day and I had no choice but to break out this 1998 Fresno Grizzlies snapback for the occasion. It's also California Admission Day and if you've ever glanced upon California's state flag, you are most likely envisioning the grizzly bear featured on it at this very moment. I am almost ashamed to admit this as a former resident of California yet I never once took interest in researching why the state is known as the  "Bear Flag Republic" until today. I'll spare you the history discourse on the Mexican-American war and Mexico's War of Independence for the time being but I should note the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846  only lasted a total of 25 days and the events that transpired were a key component in California being officially annexed by the United

1996 Erie Sea Wolves (Carolina Blue Snapback)

The past two posts since returning from my mini-break have been proper Fresh Fitted Friday entries however this week I'm switching it up with an Erie Sea Wolves snapback in honor of National Dog Day which is today, August 26. Erie sported this Carolina Blue look on their caps from their inaugural season in 1996 through 1998 however the next photo will support my argument that this cap is most likely from their first season. The lack of New Era flag branding on this cap supports my conclusion that it's probably from 1996 since the flag logo came about the following year. And judging by the condition of the sweatband on this cap, I don't think anyone has washed it since 1996 either. I obtained this cap in a big haul a few years ago in order to scoop up an  Appleton Foxes cap  and while that was a worthwhile purchase, I haven't even worn that cap nor this one because the sweatband situation is so dire. I mentioned earlier that today is National Dog Day and while a Sea Wolf

1998-2002 Jupiter Hammerheads - Fresh Fitted Friday

It's the third Friday in April and folks, I'm here to tell you that I'm not done playing tricks on you yet as I've got a snapback for this week's Fresh Fitted Friday selection! I'll get to this week's hat and the inspiration behind choosing it shortly but first I want say I've been giving serious thought to the topic of last week's post and I'm starting to really think it just makes more sense to celebrate the new year in April when Spring has begun rather than during the dead of winter. Another reason to shift the beginning of the year to April is it will then coincide with the start of the MLB season. That particular argument only holds in the northern hemisphere however because the Australian Baseball League season tends to kick off in early-to-middle of November and usually ends near the halfway point in February. I've mentioned in previous Australia Day posts that I share a birthday with the official national day of Australia and I trul

2003 World Series - New York Yankees

Without MLB game results and general happenings to inspire my weekly write-ups, I typically look to "National Day" holidays and current events to guide me during these slow times. Luckily, there is no shortage of transactions occurring this time of year. As it turns out today's date, January 14, was an eventful one for the two teams I follow the most which are the San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees  in 2002 and 2001 , respectively. The big move San Francisco made on this date in 2002 was signing Barry Bonds to a 5 year $90 million contract extension. Getting his team to the World Series that year validated San Francisco's determination to do what ever it took to ensure Bonds was in a Giants uniform while shattering hitting records up throughout the remainder of his career. The Yankees have not make a splash on January 14 in the past 50 years however  their division rivals did in 2001 when the Toronto Blue Jays traded  David Wells–who was the Yankees 1998 ALCS M

2004 Richmond Braves - Fresh Fitted Friday!!!!

My prayers to the baseball gods for the Dodgers' elimination from the NLCS have been met with smiles as the Atlanta Braves emerged victorious. To show my appreciation for this miraculous event, I dug up a 2004 Richmond Braves hat which I was not planning on writing about until now. I grew up seeing the R-Braves quite often when they came to play my hometown Norfolk (then known as Tidewater) Tides however I associate with the team with the navy crowned version of the cap rather than this red and black version which appeared around 1996 at the earliest. The satin taping in the crown is consistent with hats from 2002-04 as are the New Era and size tags although the MILB tag is something that I have only seen on caps from 2004 so that is my best possible guess of years that this one was worn.  I really like how the black pops on the MILB batterman here but I'm still not crazy about red hats so one day I would love to see a retro feature a reversed colorway of this cap with a bla

1993-96 Syracuse Chiefs

I was speaking with someone recently who made reference to some album having come out 30 years ago and after a few automatic nods in obligatory agreement, it dawned on me that we were talking about something that happened in 1991, folks! I'm not sure if this type of confusion becomes a more frequent occurrence the older we get but, this one really threw me for a loop. I happened to be watching baseball during this conversation so it's no surprise I started to think about how this year's top teams fared thirty years ago.  The Atlanta Braves were the big story in 1991 when they became the first National League team to appear in a World Series after having finished the previous season in last place. Even though they ended up falling to the the Minnesota Twins in Game 7 of that most memorable series, that season brought the team its first of 14 consecutive division titles. The Braves had an even better record the following year, returning to the Fall Classic once again however

2004 Montgomery Biscuits Alternate

If you're the kind of person who keeps up with the National Today calendar, you'll notice I forgot to mention in last week's Asheville Yacumamas post that another reason (besides Mother's Day) I decided to write about the Asheville Tourists "Copa" cap  on that date is because "National Tourism Day" has taken place in the US on  May 7 every year since 1983. Hopefully you forgive my oversight in that instance and in the spirt of continuing on with the National Day trend, today is National Buttermilk Biscuit Day so I’ve got a Montgomery Biscuits alternate cap that I estimate to be from 2004.  I've talked about the Poochie Effect lots here lately but this logo is latter day Poochie rather than the 1.0 Era, which I believe began in 1994 with the advent of the Charleston RiverDogs, Brevard County Manatees, Ottawa Lynx, Albany Polecats and to a lesser extent, Augusta GreenJackets. This sweatband tag set is identical to my  2003 Hudson Valley Renegades

1996 Savannah Sand Gnats

In this week's episode of Did You Know…? , I've got a fun little fact to share about today's date that I just recently learned which is March 12 is National Girl Scout Day! For those of us who were not in a troop, the most immediate association commonly had when discussing Girl Scouts is the cookies and to be honest, I was guilty of this before I did a little research. As I dug deeper in reading up on this incredible organization, I learned how it provides an inclusive, all-female environment that nurtures   leadership development skills to all the girls! You're now probably wondering how this ties into a blog about baseball hats. The connection there is through my exploration I learned that  Juliette Gordon Low (founder of the  Girl Scouts of the USA ) is from Savannah, GA which reminded me of my Savannah Sand Gnats cap that has been sitting in my closet for far too long. The Savannah Cardinals rebranded as the Sand Gnats in 1996 which as we know was during the early y

1997 New Britain Rock Cats

Welcome back folks! I’m happy to report I’ll be picking up this week right where we left off before the break as I’ve got yet another classic, yet now-defunct, Eastern League relic for this week’s Fresh Fitted Friday post. It’s been five years since my New Britain Rock Cats snapback blog post and unsurprisingly the logo on this fitted version of the cap seems just as wacky to me now as it ever has! The lack of an embroidered New Era flag on the outside of the cap tells me this cap is definitely from before 1999 but we will need to look under the hood for the whole story. These New Era and MILB tags were last used in 1996 so it’s safe to say those tags are leftovers from those years and that this cap is actually from 1997 as that is when this particular size tag first appeared. A nice and flat MILB batterman is one of those small touches that I miss most from the caps of yesteryear. The Rock Cats logo has always been an enigma to me. On one hand I appreciate them adopting a fresh and

Pre-2004 Erie SeaWolves

I hope y'all are down to continue the love-fest for the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania again this week because I've got this Erie SeaWolves hat that I estimate to be from before 2004 and it really makes me want to keep this Keystone State party going!  There is some mild mid-1990's cheese factor going on here and while this logo properly ranks highly among the worst in all of MILB history, I still somehow prefer it to the bat-less logo that the team has been rocking since 2013. The messy satin taping here is something I've seen on a few caps from 2002, which as it happens was around the time these particular New Era and Size tags began to appear as well as the last year this version of the MILB sweatband tag tag was used. As a Giants fan, I've got serious love for the black and orange MILB batterman embroidery here.  Former Giant Cody Ross was on the SeaWolves in 2002 and here's a  video of Ross the Boss 2010 highlights which has been instrumental in mainta

1999-Present Lake Elsinore Storm Home Cap

I'm getting close to putting down the landing gear on this six-month long  Viaje  (Spanish for "Road Trip")  of west coast MILB teams and there is not a better California League cap to bring it on home on than the Lake Elsinore home cap, which the team has worn consistently since 1999. This is one of the most popular logos in all of minor league baseball, but I'm personally not as into it. The eyes remind me of those "No Fear" shirts from the early 1990s which are only fondly remembered by those who enjoyed wearing toxic masculinity on a t-shirt back then. I'm unable to pin down a year for this cap because it was acquired secondhand a few years ago through a bulk purchase that I occasionally refer to as the Great eBay Haul, or just the eBay Haul if I'm feeling modest. Also, the team has worn this logo since the beginning of time. The price sticker on this "low-profile" style cap reads $28 so it would seem whoever owned this cap before me

San Bernardino Spirit (Hat Club Retro) - Fresh Fitted Friday!!!!

After a few weeks in MLB-appreciation land, I've decided to shift my attention back toward MILB. This week's San Bernardino Spirit retro that I picked up from Hat Club in 2019 is  the perfect cap to segue into yet another caravan of caps from West Coast teams and not just because it  fulfills the "star" theme requirement seen in the previous three posts. The main connection this cap shares with last week's Seattle Mariners cap is that it was one of the first logos worn by the generation of Mariners who were drafted right after the upside down trident drifted off to sea for good in 1987. It me, the guy who bought a 7 1/8 and not a 7 3/8 or 7 1/2 like I normally wear. All good though as my Hat Jack has been working overtime this past year trying to stretch it out to my size. I hope Hat Club decides to retro this cap again one day because I'm not even close to forgiving myself for ordering the wrong size here. Plus, this hat is so tight I'm about to pass out