Missives of a Baseball Milquetoast

The team logo for the Scottsdale Scorpions might not be widely recognized by most casual baseball fans but die-hard San Francisco Giants fans sure know it when they see it.  I have had my eye on this one for a good while now as I have enjoyed watching many young Giants wearing this Arizona Fall League affiliate's cap over the past few years. Major League Baseball's teams typically send their top prospects to varying Fall League teams every year but the Giants have consistently sent their top prospects to Scottsdale since the 2006 season and possibly before.  The first few current Giants who are Scorpions alumni that come to mind for me are Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford who both played for Scottsdale in 2009. All murdered-out simplicity at its finest but curiously there is no MLB/MILB tag on the inside but there is the Batterman patch on the back. I wish I could share some fun relics of Posey and Crawford as Scorpions from yesteryear but all the photos I

If you are reading this post then you are probably some sort of a baseball nerd which means you know that the last time the New York Mets won the World Series was in 1986. If so, then it's also likely that you recognize this week's featured cap as one the Tidewater Tides wore in the early 1980's when they were the Mets' AAA affiliate.   This is the most iconic Tidewater Tides cap of all time. Clearly the "T" here is more stout than every other Tides cap you will see from this period. Holy Orange! It's held up great after 30 years in storage. Thank you Polyester! Negative points for the flimsy foam construction on this snapback but it captures the spirit of the era perfectly! I'm going to try to keep this gem as crisp as possible so for everyday wear, so I'm thankful that Ebbets Field Flannels has just released this reproduction of the 1983 version of the cap: This is what the "T" should look like on the pi

Hey folks, wouldn’t you know, it’s time for the 2015 Back-to-School edition of Fresh Fitted Friday! Hopefully y'all had a great summer; I know it has been a fun one for me but one downside is I haven’t posted in far too long. Well all that changes today as I’ve got a new (to me) snapback that I’m excited to welcome to the family: a New Britain Rock Cats cap from the early 2000’s. Look at that Cattitude! The "N" and "B" are for New Britain but kitty has no problem covering them up! If i had to put a firm year on it I’d say it’s from 2003 based on the inside tags, which are identical to those found on this 2003 Buffalo Bisons Cap . Same inside-of-the-cap tags action as other minor league caps from 2003. This Minor League Baseball tag seems to be unique to this cap, though I have never attempted to  hide my distaste for teams that utilize fictitious animals however, this cap has something different about it. Maybe I'll feel ok wearin

I admit that I might have gotten a little case of Yankee Fever after last week's showcase of the 2007 All-Star Game cap . I wore that cap to the Yankees game that night as they hosted the visiting Seattle Mariners but the game was only exciting if you are a home-run addict. The Yankees won that night and thankfully the run tally was not lopsided as it had been in a few of the recent games that I've attended. I also enjoyed a healthy serving of second-hand schadenfreude watching a former beloved Yankee struggle at the plate as a visiting player. Robinson Cano went 0-4 and the Yankees fans had a tad too much fun booing him every time he was denied access to a base. Even though Cano had a rough night, he was 3-4 the next day and clubbed his 9th homerun of the season to boot. I'm sure even those who jeered him Friday could applaud his efforts Saturday despite him playing on another team. They probably won't though. I can relate to the frustration that Yankees fan

Update: I modified some formatting below and fixed some broken image links (with old, somewhat blurry photos) but kept the content the same otherwise. (10/13/2021) I know that it's not right that it has been such a long while since I've actually showcased a fitted cap on "Fresh Fitted Friday" but believe me when I tell you that I have been waiting for just the right time to drop this one y'all. This is the ultimate cap to wear when you are trying to say, "Yeah I'm at a Yankees game but I'm a sneaky Giants fan at heart!" To fully appreciate the significance of this cap, perhaps a little background story might be in order. I was living a happy life in the Bay Area w hen the San Francisco Giants hosted the 2007 MLB All-Star Game, although I was not fortunate enough to attend the Mid-Summer Classic that year. I'm fine with that though; there are lots of baseball fans that never get to go to an All-Star Game. What is not acceptable though is t

I know that I sang the praises of a sweet SnapBack just last week however, this Portland Sea Dogs cap from 1999 is  Fresh  enough to garner serious attention from you kids.  I got a hold of this cap a few months ago and have been waiting all this time for just the right moment to share it with y'all. I figured because I am visiting Maine for the first time in over 15 years that this is that time!  There is one problem though; I'm not quite sure how crazy I am about this cap logo... It's no secret that I'm more partial to the ferocious minor league cap logo styles (eg. Clearwater Threshers, Pensacola Blue Wahoos, Richmond Flying Squirrels) than the cute family-friendly ones (eg. Charleston River Dogs, Midland Rock Hounds, New Britain Rock Cats). Those adorable logos of imaginary animals with two word names are usually created ad hoc, usually via fan voting. I suppose my main issue with these team names