Missives of a Baseball Milquetoast

Welcome to the first Fresh Fitted Friday of 2017, folks! Last year was one that many would rather not remember yet I'd like to propose a different way of bidding it farewall. If you're old enough to remember the 1970's, you could possibly rank certain years in the 1970's lower than 2016.  While 2016 was awful, I'm hesitant to write it off as the worst year EVER. After all if you are a Chicago Cubs fan, you will definitely take comfort in the team winning their first World Series since 1908. However, if you want to be reminded of a truly awful year —at least in terms of sports— then never let yourself forget that in 1976 the Cubs' crosstown rival  Chicago White Sox  had the gall to wear shorts as part of their uniform! Rich Gossage is rocking the aerodynamic butterfly collar and short trousers in this photo courtesy of CBS Sports The White Sox wore this blue-billed version of this cap logo from 1976-1981. The sweatband tags were fairly con

Well, this year has sure been...something.  I am looking forward to welcoming 2017 with open arms and I hope you'll join me next Friday for the first Fresh Fitted Friday of the new year. Cheers!

Sorry for the lack of notice on this but I won't be writing about a Fresh Fitted  today. I  hope everyone has a safe and joyous holiday weekend and I'll meet you here next week! 

This Riverside Pilots cap has to be one of most unique caps in my collection and that's mostly just because the team only existed from 1993 through 1995! Their ephemeral existence combined with the fact that they were only a High-A team with a tiny fanbase makes me wonder if I'll come across an unworn vintage Riverside Pilots hat ever again. The spirit of the 1990's is strong here as Tealism is in full effect. The sparkle from the silver lining is regal and that plane on the "R" makes you want to blast off, right? The MILB batterman logo started appearing on the back of minor league caps in 1995 and because that was the Pilots final season, we can be fairly certain this cap is from that year. The three tags were most predominantly used from 1994-96 and to me, they represent the Golden Age of New Era sweatband tags. Here's a rare shot of Raul Ibanez during his time as a Pilot. Special thanks to Mickey's Cards for not only having this card, but a sig

Are you a U.S. citizen who has recently been considering a move to Canada? Perhaps a single-payer healthcare system appeals to you? Maybe you are intrigued that their nation's leader has actual political experience as opposed to simply being a crass reality TV star who inherited a real estate business from his father? Either way, no judgement!  Keep in mind, as a baseball fan in Canada you probably will not attend many live games. The Toronto Blue Jays are an option but what if you are moving to a western province? If your new home is in British Columbia, consider yourself lucky since the only minor league team in Canada affiliated with Major League Baseball is the  Vancouver Canadians . If you don't live in Toronto or Vancouver, independent leagues like the  Can-Am League  and the American Association  have teams representing cities such as Ottawa, Quebec City and Winnipeg. Of course, Montreal is still in serious need of a professional team but so are Canada's 4th a

I hope y'all didn't think that I'd slack on posting a Fresh Fitted today simply because it's Black Friday as I can assure you that is most certainly not the case. In addition, I hope no one thought they'd be getting two fitteds in some sort of "Black Friday deal" because I can assure you that is not the case either! For this week's Fresh Fitted , I wanted to honor the Thanksgiving theme of stuffing one's face by featuring a variation the Asheville Tourists' Mr. Moon where he is happily chomping on some (what I assume are) BBQ pork ribs. This delectable treat is a staple in Southern cuisine so I appreciate that this hat combines two of my greatest interests: BBQ and baseball.  Brandiose delivered this design as an alternate to the standard  Mr. Moon cap logo,  however I've never seen evidence of the team wearing this cap during a game. I've been waiting a while to remove the tags on this cap but I'll have to find a special home f

I had a plan to do something so  innovative that I'd be surprised if anything like it has ever been done. Of course please let me know if you know of any site that for three straight weeks featured a hulking man with facial hair who is brandishing a bat or bat-like object. My plan ended up not coming together due to an inventory snafu on my part but it all worked out as I really dig the cap I'm writing about today.  This is the standard home cap which is the one that I owned rather than the Teddy cap.  Both are swell but maybe this "Double-R" logo has a more  classic  look. Nothing out of the ordinary on the sweatband tags here. If you look closely you can see that the MILB batterman logo is maroon and baby blue which to me is very 1980's Phillies-esque. The supposed trifecta started two weeks ago with the  Butte Copper Kings snapback  and was supposed to end with this cap that features Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt following his own advice of "speak