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Thread: Capping Off the Uniform: The Caps of Major League Baseball

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    Just The Big Picture macro's Avatar
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    Capping Off the Uniform: The Caps of Major League Baseball

    Capping Off the Uniform
    by Dave Murray


    http://www.baseballtruth.com/diamond...uds_120704.htm

    What makes a good cap? Like with jerseys, there is a Gray Flannel Rule for caps, a couple things I expect to see in quality headware:

    1.) Tradition is important, like for jerseys. The best caps have been around for years, linking generations. It's a bit of a curse, because it prevents teams from following the trends of the minute. But it seems when teams who stick with their traditions look back at their histories, they're glad they did. Of course, in these days of alternate caps, teams can do both, having their cake and selling it in the team shop, too, so to speak.

    2.) Letters are desired over a logo, particularly if they represent the home city. There are a couple notable exceptions, mainly linked to tradition. The White Sox, for example, have used S-O-X on their caps for most of their existence. And the Blue Jays had a nice logo, for a while.

    In ways, caps are more important than the jersey in terms of establishing team identity. Relatively few people walk around in jerseys outside of a game, but lots of people wear caps. They're a more affordable link between the team and the fans. They're also a legitimate part of the major-league uniform we all can wear. When was the last time you saw someone walking around in a football helmet?

    So with that in mind, here are my rankings of the best and worst caps. These are stacked in alphabetical order within a few groups. And remember, all things are relative. Even the worst baseball cap is better than most things in all other sports.

    The Classic

    Atlanta Braves: The Braves went through cringeworthy caps until going retro with a look that uses the colors from their Milwaukee days as well as the 'A' they first used when arriving in Atlanta

    Boston Red Sox: Just some slight, barely noticeable changes to the cap worn by Ted Williams. They should never change. I've purged the red-crowned caps from the 1970s from my memory.

    Chicago Cubs (blue): Pure Cubbie, playful and traditional.

    Cincinnati Reds (red): The classic cap with the wishbone 'C' should never be abandoned or even tinkered with after the reign of the Big Red Machine.


    Note to Reds fans: He is referring to the solid red alternate caps that the Reds never wear. He references the regular home and road models later in the article. - macro

    Detroit Tigers (home and road): I have no particular love for the Old English 'D,' but you have to respect a tradition that goes back 100 years. The orange 'D' on the road cap works with the gray uniforms.

    Kansas City Royals (blue): I salute the Royals for sticking with this design. Like the entire Royals uniform, it's pretty bland, but you have to respect the tradition.

    Los Angeles Dodgers: Few letters can be linked so effortlessly as the 'L' and 'A' in this classic cap.

    New York Mets (blue): Like treasures passed down from one generation to another, the 1962 expansion Mets introduced a cap that included blue from the departed Dodgers and orange interlocking NY from the also-departed Giants.

    The Other New York Team: Yes, they belong on this list. No, there's no way I'm going to say anything nice about them. Move along.

    Pittsburgh Pirates (solid black): Just like Roberto Clemente wore.

    San Francisco Giants: Just like Willie Mays wore. That seems like a copout, especially back-to-back with the Pirates, but I think players like that form an identity for the team, especially when carried for decades. Both the Pirates and Giants have tinkered over the years but had the sense to return home.

    Washington Nationals (solid red and blue versions): Well done! Using the old Senators' "pretzel" cap was a stroke of genius, restoring tradition and a fine-looking cap. I still would like to see some kind of homage to the Expos, maybe the pretzel on a tri-panel cap for an alternate.

    The Very Good

    Anaheim Angels: If the team still lists Anaheim as it's home town, this is a worthy cap, especially with the little halo atop the 'A.' I've long yearned for the return of the complete halo on the crown from back in the early days, which would automatically make the cap a classic.

    Baltimore Orioles (black and the black with orange visor): The Orioles caps stand out because there's nothing like them. A detailed Oriole stretches across the front. It's neat, it's different, I like it. The orange-visored version gets a slight nod, but they are both solid caps. A rare exception to the Gray Flannel test.

    Chicago Cubs (red visor): There's nothing wrong with this cap, but the solid-blue version looks better and is more traditional.

    Chicago White Sox: I have a black tie with the Sox logo on it. One day I wore it to work, and someone said 'Why are you wearing a tie that says 'Sex' all over it?" Looking at it closely, part of the Old English 'S' cuts down through the 'O' and makes it look like an 'e' if you aren't looking closely. I've never worn the tie again, and really it's my only beef with the logo. I liked the block letters on Sox caps in the 1960s, but they sure wouldn't look good on the current uniform. If they would amend the logo to space out the letters and avoid this problem, the cap would be a classic.

    Colorado Rockies (solid black): A nice, respectable cap, neat lettering, easy to read from a distance. This cap is on its way to being a classic.

    Florida Marlins: I like the Marlins, and I like that they were able to combine a graphic element and the letter in a neat way. I thought the team's original teal versions were very South Florida. But I always thought the black version just looked better.

    Houston Astros (black): The Astros have had a star on their cap -- albeit with an 'H' -- since the name change. The 'H' was dropped, but a star remains, making this a Texas tradition. I didn't like this version at first, preferring the "star in motion" it replaced. But this is one design that has grown on me.

    Houston Astros ("brick"): This is one alternate cap that looks good, possibly better than the main cap.

    New York Mets (blue visor, black crown): I prefer the traditional, solid-blue version, but this cap looks good, especially with the solid-white uniforms. Raised dark blue letters are outlined in orange and can be a little dark.

    Minnesota Twins (TC on solid navy blue): The classic Twin Cities cap was restored a couple years ago and warmly welcomed.

    Oakland Athletics (gold visor, green crown): This cap has existed long enough that it qualifies as a tradition, though the green has darkened from the bright 1970s. Having an 'A' instead of an 'O' has been in place since the days of Connie Mack, though there was some KC activity in the 1960s.

    Oakland Athletics (green): A solid road cap, if there must be such things.

    Philadelphia Phillies (red): I considered elevating this cap to the classic level. It's not far from it.

    St. Louis Cardinals (alternate): Old-schoolers -- and I tend to be one -- will howl, but I like this alternate cap better than the traditional cap. The bird on the bat logo just looks cool.

    Texas Rangers (blue): A fine cap and certainly better than the one they wore from birth through the Ryan era. There's a version with a white 'T' and another with a red 'T' that are so similar that having the second version is hard to justify.

    The Good

    Arizona Diamondbacks (purple with 'A'): I'm not keen on purple as a cap color, but I like the Diamondbacks 'A' logo, which has snake scales and a little tongue as part of the 'A.'

    Cincinnati Reds (black visor, red crown): A team called the Reds should have solid-red caps, and that version seems to be banished to alternate land. But this version still looks good.

    Milwaukee Brewers: The problem with this cap isn't what it is, it's what it isn't. The 'M' is OK and the wheat a nice touch. But the whole world (at least it seems like it) is screaming for the team to bring back the classic ball-in-glove logo.

    New York Mets (black): It's not bad as far as alternate black caps go. There's no reason for it to exist, but that alone doesn't make it ugly.

    Pittsburgh Pirates (yellow bill): An alternate they wear with the black jerseys. Had the traditional cap not been a classic, this would be a worthy cap. At least it's better than the stovepipes.

    The Just OK

    Arizona Diamondbacks (black with 'D'): The logo, a snake shaped into a 'D,' isn't bad, but caps are supposed to have the letter of the home city not team name. And I just don't think black works as a color for a team from Phoenix.

    Colorado Rockies (solid purple and black crown, purple bill): There's no real reason for either of these to exist. The team should stick with the solid-black version.

    Minnesota Twins ('M' on solid navy blue): Like the jerseys they came with, the 'M' caps just kind of lay there. Not good enough to be good and not bad enough to end up on the ugly list.

    St. Louis Cardinals (red and blue): Tough call here, because the Cardinals uniforms are Hall of Fame material. But while the jerseys are amazing, the caps fall as flat as the team's performance in the 2004 World Series. I know those are tough letters to work into something interesting, and I also realize this has been the team's logo forever. But it just doesn't do much for me.

    San Diego Padres (white and gold letters): The interlocking SD is all that remains from that first Padres team, surviving some of the strangest jerseys ever worn. These are plain but don't offend.

    Seattle Mariners: Not a horrible cap by any means. But the compass atop the 'S' makes things a little too busy for my tastes.

    Tampa Bay Devil Rays (all three versions): There are three large elements here, a 'T,' a 'B' and the ray, and it just looks too crowded. Some simplification is in order. Maybe have one with just the ray? I lump all three versions here because they differ only in color. But the shift is from black to dark green and really isn't that noticeable.

    The Ugly

    You'll notice a trend here. A lot of these caps have an element of black added in the past couple years and foisted on us to sell alternate caps.

    Cincinnati Reds (red visor, black crown): Too dark, especially for a team called the Reds.

    Cleveland Indians (solid blue and red visor): Opinions on this are going to rest on your opinion of Chief Wahoo. I've said he doesn't bother me, but I'm interviewed American Indians, and it really offends them. I haven't worn my Indians cap in a while because it makes me feel kind of funny, so I'm going to finally come down on the side that says it's time to retire Wahoo.

    Cleveland Indians (a thing they claim is an 'I' logo): Based on the previous rant, my thinking is the Indians are trying to slowly distance themselves from Wahoo, and my guess is this will be the primary cap in a few years. But they can do better. I look at this logo and I see a 'G,' possibly a 'J,' maybe a 'T.' But unless they added to the alphabet Mrs. White taught me back in kindergarten, that is not an 'I.'

    Kansas City Royals (black crown, blue bill): Another cap that exists just to have an alternate cap.

    Oakland Athletics (black): Unlike the Mets' unnecessary black cap, this one actually is ugly. Dark lettering on a dark cap is a bad thing.

    Minnesota Twins (TC with red crown): Not all retro things are cool. Some should be left on the scrap heap of history.

    Philadelphia Phillies (blue bill, blue star in P): Just plain dumb. This screams, "We needed an alternate cap, and this was the best we could do."

    Texas Rangers (black bill): Yet another design that exists just to have an alternate cap. The black bill doesn't work.

    Toronto Blue Jays (black): Aside from being ugly, the logo is too darn big. This looks like a minor-league cap. And it's black. A team named Blue Jays needs to have blue as the dominant color in its uniform. The sad part is the Jays had excellent caps during their World Series run, with the solid-blue version getting the nod over the one with the white panel. And if they're going to have a letter on their cap, it needs to be a 'T' for Toronto instead of a 'J,' which I might add is only PART of the team name.

    The Embarrassment to Humanity

    Toronto Blue Jays (graphite): This is what happens when you turn your design completely over to the marketing types who apparently either don't know squat about baseball and its traditions or just don't give a damn.

    Help stamp out, eliminate, and do away with redundancy.


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  3. #2
    Member RollyInRaleigh's Avatar
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    Re: Capping Off the Uniform: The Caps of Major League Baseball

    Good article, macro, but I can't believe that he doesn't rate the Cardinals classic cap higher than the likes of Houson, Colorado, Florida, Arizona, Milwaukee, and Texas.

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    Just The Big Picture macro's Avatar
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    Re: Capping Off the Uniform: The Caps of Major League Baseball

    Yeah, I agreed with most of his choices, but I'm with you on the St Louis thing. He put both the Cards regular home and road caps in "The Just OK" category, while I would have put the red one in the classic category and the navy one in the Very Good category.

    I especially agreed with most of his choices in The Ugly category. My vote for the worst transgression with regard to black would be the Rangers alternate, the one with the black bill. It looks absolutely horrible and out of place. Second place would go to the Mets black. Am I the only one who can't see the NY on those caps and helmets unless you're five feet away?

    Help stamp out, eliminate, and do away with redundancy.

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    Member RollyInRaleigh's Avatar
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    Re: Capping Off the Uniform: The Caps of Major League Baseball

    Nope. The black thing has went completely overboard.

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    MassDebater smith288's Avatar
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    Re: Capping Off the Uniform: The Caps of Major League Baseball

    I dont mind the Reds black and i dont think the author does. His beef is that they just arent following their nickname.

    The Reds wear red socks...so its nothing more than reaching back to history and being "Red Legs".

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    I Love Birds
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    Re: Capping Off the Uniform: The Caps of Major League Baseball

    [QUOTE=macro]Yeah, I agreed with most of his choices, but I'm with you on the St Louis thing. He put both the Cards regular home and road caps in "The Just OK" category, while I would have put the red one in the classic category and the navy one in the Very Good category.
    QUOTE]

    I would agree. Not because I'm biased which I am , but because I like caps that tell something about the team. Our stl red caps tell everyone where the team is from. I also like it because I can pick out a Cardinals cap anywhere because of the logo and the shape of the letters on it. It's nice to pick out a person in a large crowd wearing the cap of the city/team you love.
    (Watching a couple kissing at Busch Stadium) “Well, he’s kissing her on the strikes and she’s kissing him on the balls.”---a classic "Shannonism" from Cardinals broadcaster Mike Shannon

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    Member Reds/Flyers Fan's Avatar
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    Who has the best hats in MLB? The worst?

    I'm watching the Bud Selig tribute game (ASG) tonight and started to get an appreciation for the Washington Nationals hats. Which got me thinking, which teams' hats do I like? Which ones do I not like?

    Here are my top 5 (in no particular order):

    1. Cincinnati Reds -- I love the red hat with black bill. I also like the 3D wishbone C that is on the hats today, as opposed to the "C" of the past. Very sharp.

    2. Washington Nationals -- I love the script "W" and I even like the color.

    3. San Franscisco Giants -- This actually might be my favorite. I love the interlocking "S" and "F" and I think orange and black look great together (Who Dey!).

    4. Cleveland Indians -- I think Chief Wahoo is a great emblem for the Tribe and it looks great on the navy blue hats. I even like the script "I" hats that Cleveland wears on Sundays.

    5. LA Dodgers -- The white LA pops out on the Dodger blue caps. It's a very clean cap without the gimicks.

    Honorable mention: Detroit Tigers -- classic

    ***

    Here's my botton 5:

    1. Baltimore Orioles -- The bird looks like a chicken.

    2. Houston Astros -- If that star is supposed to look like the letter "A"...it doesn't.

    3. NY Mets -- Too many different versions of this hat, and none of them are any good. The black looks forced and the "NY" looks like a poor cousin of the more traditional Yankee "NY" -- kind of like the team.

    4. Colorado Rockies -- I can't believe that this hat hasn't been tinkered with since the Rox started play. It's boring. With all the design opportunities that the Rocky Mountains offer, what's the deal with the boring "CR"?

    5. Chicago White Sox -- Horrible. It's almost like this hat was designed to sell to gang members and not baseball fans. This gets my vote for worst MLB hat, hands down.

    Honorable mention: Toronto Blue Jays -- Too busy, too clumsy.

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    SERP Emeritus paintmered's Avatar
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    Re: Who has the best hats in MLB? The worst?

    My Top Five in no particular order

    1. Cincinnati - I do wish they would go with an all red cap though.
    2. Boston
    3. St. Louis
    4. NY Yankees
    5. Minnesota

    Honorable mention: Detroit, SF, LA, Washington

    Teh Suck Hats

    1. Milwaukee
    2. Tampa Bay
    3. Houston
    4. Toronto
    5. Mets

    Honorable Mention: Chisox, Colorado, Florida
    All models are wrong. Some of them are useful.

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    Smells Like Teen Spirit jmcclain19's Avatar
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    Re: Capping Off the Uniform: The Caps of Major League Baseball

    I'll go against the grain.

    I really like the new Toronto Hats. As opposed to the former cartoonish bird/maple leaf setup. I actually picked up one of their batting practice caps, the gray with new logo on it. I think it's pretty slick, myself.

    So my top five

    1. Giants - R/F Fan said it best - simple, understated
    2. Dodgers - Same reasons as the
    3. Old Milwaukee Brewers - the glove with the ball in the middle - a classic, should have never changed
    4. Minnesota's T/C - When I figured out as a little boy what the T/C meant, I wanted to tell everyone.
    5. Athletics - Absolute classic - plus the yellow and green is a great combo.

    1. Dbacks/Rockies - Purple should not be a usable sports color. Ever.
    2. Mets - You're a team that's 40 years old. Lets come up with a tradition that doesn't steal from others.
    3. Nationals Batting Pratice caps- Should have used the Senators W. And they should have been called the Senators too, BTW. Hopefully new ownership sees this. Looks like a 10 year old spent 5 minutes in Photoshop and came up with the logo.
    4. Reds Home hats - Just say no to black. The team is called the "Reds", for goodness sake.
    5. Royals Home hats - Same reason as the Reds - Royal blue is just fine, no need to ruin it by adding useless black.

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    Big Red Machine RedsBaron's Avatar
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    Re: Capping Off the Uniform: The Caps of Major League Baseball

    I agree with everything he wrote regarding the Reds caps. The all red cap is classic ( have one), I like (and own) the black bill/red crown cap, and I don't care for the red bill/black crown cap.
    "Hey...Dad. Wanna Have A Catch?" Kevin Costner in "Field Of Dreams."

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    For a Level Playing Field
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    Re: Capping Off the Uniform: The Caps of Major League Baseball

    The Ugly
    Cincinnati Reds (red visor, black crown): Too dark, especially for a team called the Reds.
    Oh man... the hat that I wear!

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    Member cumberlandreds's Avatar
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    Re: Capping Off the Uniform: The Caps of Major League Baseball

    My wife looked for me a traditional Reds cap with the wishbone white C but couldn't find one for my birthday. I had to settle for the Red C and black cap. I really don't like the variations they come up with. But it's all about marketing and making more $$$$.

    My top five:

    Traditional Reds cap
    Detroit
    St. Louis
    LA
    NYY

    The worst by far is Toronto's followed by TB's.

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    Joe Oliver love-child Blimpie's Avatar
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    Re: Who has the best hats in MLB? The worst?

    Quote Originally Posted by Reds/Flyers Fan
    4. Colorado Rockies -- I can't believe that this hat hasn't been tinkered with since the Rox started play. It's boring. With all the design opportunities that the Rocky Mountains offer, what's the deal with the boring "CR"?
    Everytime I see that symbol, I think back to the HBO special that Chris Rock had a few years back. The stage had a huge "CR" backdrop that was the same style and color as the Rockies.

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    Resident optimist OldRightHander's Avatar
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    Re: Capping Off the Uniform: The Caps of Major League Baseball

    I'm surprised nobody mentioned those striped ones the Pirates wore a few years back. I wonder where those would rate.

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    Will post for food BuckeyeRedleg's Avatar
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    Re: Capping Off the Uniform: The Caps of Major League Baseball

    I really dislike anything but the all red caps. The black on the helmets look pretty ridiculous as well. I also think the sleeveless thing needs to go, as well as the pinstripes on the home uni's.

    I would like to see them go back to an all white home uniform (with sleeves) and the all red hat and helmet, with black cleats (circa Big Red Machine Era).

    It's clean and simple.


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