The Ballcap Blog

Did ANNCO make New Era's caps in 1988?

2011-12-24T23:05:00.000-08:00

Back in the old days, New Era made caps for Wilson Sporting Goods under private labeling. After New Era nearly wiped them out as a major competitor, Wilson switched over to having ANNCO (American Needle and Novelty Company, now American Needle) make their caps. In the past ANNCO made the cheap felt souvenir caps that were sold at stadiums. By the time Wilson changed to ANNCO, Wilson was only supplying caps to the Phillies. Around this time, ANNCO made pro model caps under their own label for the Mets. However, the Mets expert I spoke with doesn't believe they were used on the field.

The early caps made by ANNCO for Wilson used cloth sweatbands similar to KM Pro's cloth sweatbands. New Era's Wilson caps also featured the same sweatbands, as the sweatbands and embroidery were originally added by a 3rd party.

Early 80s Phillies Wilson cap (made by ANNCO)

Later on, the sweatbands became one-sided like New Era's.
Mid 80s Phillies Wilson cap (made by ANNCO)

The Mets caps were made with a different type of buckram and didn't resemble a basket weave like the Phillies caps. Also notice the raised embroidery on the Mets logo that resembles a modern New Era. (photos courtesy of Steven August)

From the introduction of the 5950 cap in the 1950s until 1987, New Era's caps were manufactured the exact same way with their own machinery with the exception of a few minor changes here and there. In 1988, New Era and their main competitor Sports Specialties launched the "Diamond Collection". Other on-field apparel makers also carried the label. That year, the 5950 underwent a major redesign. The structure and profile all changed. Inside the cap, satin taping and leather sweatbands were phased out (leather would be available for umpire caps for another 20 years). I personally own one New Era cap from 1988, but it's structure is nearly 100% identical to ANNCO caps.

California Angels New Era cap showing the old-style construction used until 1987

1988 California Angels New Era cap

Notice how similar the inside of the cap looks when compared to the Wilson and ANNCO caps above.

In 1989, New Era went back to their old machinery. The only major change was the sweatband, which lost the liner around the edge. Satin taping returned, along with the "Lot/Price" size tag.

In 1990, New Era's cap design changed again, but that's another story that will continue in my next post.

So do you think that ANNCO made New Era's caps under private label in 1988 or are there just a few similarities? There are a few differences though, such as the button size and the way the visors are stitched. But also, why would New Era go back to their original machinery in 1989? Teething problems with the new machinery? I've also noticed that many of New Era's Cooperstown Collection caps have the exact same logo embroidery designs as ANNCO's original Cooperstown caps. Express your opinion in the comments section!

Happy Holidays everyone!

(Mis?)Adventures In DIY Cap Repair

2011-12-09T22:14:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, I received what should have been the crown jewel of my collection: A genuine 1969 Seattle Pilots cap made by New Era. While the crown of the cap was in perfect condition, there were some problems. All of them had to do with the visor.

Like many caps its age, it suffers from what has become the bane of my existence: a cracked visor board. Actually, it wasn't cracked. It had completely crumbled. Most of the visor board pieces came in an envelope. The seam that kept the visor fabric together had ripped open, and the pieces came out. The other problem was the embroidered wheat stalks on the visor. The thread literally disintegrated. Some of it was already gone by the time it arrived, and the rest rubbed off when I touched it.

I knew that with a little work, I could get the cap into somewhat presentable condition. Luckily, New Era's Pilots caps did not have seams across the visor. There is only a seam between the blue top and green underside. I sacrificed a visor from an old worn-out cap, slid it inside, and glued it back together with fabric glue. It's not perfect, and there are a few patches of dried glue where I missed my mark, but it looks OK. I emailed every embroiderer in town to see if they could re-do the wheat stalk embroidery, but unfortunately no one can do it because the embroidery had been done prior to the assembly of the cap. I figured the next best thing was to find patches on eBay. There were no wheat stalks that were close the original design, so I bought military and airline-style "scrambled egg" wheat stalk patches that were the closest to looking like the original. I then glued them to the visor.

While it isn't perfectly aligned (the visor and crown weren't perfectly aligned to begin with), I placed them exactly on the outlines of where the original embroidery was. It's not the real deal anymore, but I am satisfied with what I was able to do.

If anyone has an intact New Era Seattle Pilots cap, I'm still looking to buy one. In the meantime, I've got a KM Pro version on it's way to me as I write this.

Coming soon: My adventures with the New Era "Re-Cap" kit.

Mysterious Vintage Caps!

2011-11-08T19:37:00.000-08:00

About a week ago, I bought these two old caps on eBay. The seller was no help in figuring out what they are. I have no clue what they are but I'm guessing they may be high school or college caps. Here's two more caps to add to my "Unknown Collection", along with the that duck cap I found. Below are some descriptions along with some detailed photos. If anyone has any clue what they are I would appreciate if you could help me out. Regardless, there are interesting and worth sharing.

The first cap is dark red with an Old English-style embroidered "C". It has a name written in pen on the underside of the visor. It's a well-made pro model with a white leather sweatband made by the Leslie Corporation (Any info on that company is also appreciated!). The construction is identical to a KM Pro cap only it doesn't have the zig-zag buckram behind the front panels. There is no size tag but it may be 7 3/8 or 7 1/2. I'm guessing it's from anywhere between the 40s and 60s. It probably is from the latter era since it's not melton wool.

The second cap is kelley green with a sewn-on felt "B". There is also a number 11 (or a name?) written in pen under the visor, along with a "6" and "4" written on the buckram. There is only a 7 1/4 New Era-type size tag attached to the crumbling leather sweatband. The stitching is also identical to older New Era caps but it looks similar to those old souvenir MLB caps they used to sell. I'm guessing it's from the 30s to the 50s, maybe early 60s at the latest. It looks just like the 1937 Brooklyn Dodgers but I'm sure the "real" ones would have been better quality.

Oddball Alley: 2000 MLB Umpire Cap

2011-10-23T17:02:00.000-07:00

I recently picked up an MLB umpire cap from the year 2000 on eBay.

The MLB logo on the front was only used for the 2000 regular season, which was the first year that the MLB umpires were together in one group. The current MLB umpire logo began use in the 2000 post-season.

The cap features a leather sweatband. Umpires had the option of leather sweatbands through the 2007 season, a full 20 years after players caps lost them. Oddly, the leather is stained and it has rubbed off on the cap enough to show on the outside. I wonder what the season for that is?

If you have a cap you consider to be an "oddball" and would like to have it featured, please email me!

New eBay Account, Updates

2011-10-20T22:39:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

I have a new eBay account. My screen name is now "insomniaccaps186". I currently have three caps from my collection on there now so if you are a Reds or Red Sox fan check it out. I will put various caps up for bid on occasion that I have doubles of or no longer want in my collection, so be sure to check once and a while to see if I have anything.

I have various blog projects in the works that I will finish as time allows. If you have any suggestions or ideas of something you would like me to write about, please don't hesitate to comment or email me! Also, if you personally own or have seen any neat or interesting pro-model baseball caps, I would love to see them.

The Stiff-Visor Blues/Poll Results

2011-10-10T11:29:00.000-07:00

Now that New Era is no longer offering repairs (and I still haven't found a company or person that can do repairs), I've been trying to see if I can find a way to fix visors that are too stiff to bend and are at high risk of breaking. Despite the risk of running some of my caps, I decided to experiment. I held the caps under a faucet and ran water on both sides of the visor until the entire visor was saturated. I was careful to try and get as little water possible on other parts of the cap. Here are the results:

Getting the visors moist DOES make them bendable again. However, older caps go back to being stiff after they dry. Only bend visors of old caps once they are completely saturated. The only reason you should do this to an older cap is to bend a warped/misshaped visor back in to the right shape. However, a few of them became bent out of shape again after drying. Luckily, caps made in the 90s and after seem to be cured and become flexible again. Obviously you must be careful while doing this with older caps (80s and before) and there is always a risk of ruining them, so don't blame me if it happens to you. It appears that running water on the visors doesn't do much to wool fabric the first time, but if you do it again the fabric will begin to warp.

Again, if anyone can find a company or person to repair baseball caps, please contact me.

POLL RESULTS:
The poll showed that pretty much all of you can tell the difference between USA-made and Chinese-made on-field caps. Interestingly enough, there were two people that voted "don't care". If either of you that voted that way are reading this now, I am interested to hear your perspective (you may post in the comments section).

Differences Between USA-made and Chinese-made New Era Caps

2011-09-22T19:04:00.000-07:00

One discussion that keeps coming up between baseball cap enthusiasts is the difference between New Era's USA-made and Chinese-made caps. The 2011 season saw all minor league teams wearing on-field caps made in China, and even some major league caps are being made in China, mostly special events caps. Ironically, the patriotic "stars & stripes" caps seem to be exclusively Chinese-made.

The differences between USA-made and Chinese-made caps are many. I have been told that New Era has received many complaints about Chinese-made caps regarding quality. I will go over the most noticeable differences and compare photos of USA-made and Chinese-made caps.

My example will be the Stockton Ports (Level-A California League Oakland A's affiliate) home cap from the 2011 season. The USA-made cap is my personal cap that I wear, the Chinese-made cap was game used this season by Rashun Dixon, brother of Anthony Dixon of the 49ers. Rashun gave it to a boy that I mentor and take with me to games, and he let me borrow it for the pictures.

USA-made cap.

Chinese-made cap.

The first thing I noticed is the difference in fabric. USA caps have more of a wool feel. Chinese caps feel more like felt or even almost like velvet. Chinese caps also seem to have a larger fit than USA caps. When it comes to the visual differences, the first difference is the size of the crown. The larger crown of the Chinese cap has received many complaints, with some describing them looking like Elmer Fudd's hat.

USA-made on left, Chinese-made cap on right.

The next difference is the stitching. Look at the stitching on the visors. USA-made caps have larger holes between the stitches, Chinese caps (usually) have barely noticeable holes. Chinese-made caps also have thicker stitching on the eyelets.

USA-made cap stitching

Chinese-made cap stitching

Next we have the inside. Although there doesn't look like anything is different, the buckram behind the front panels is much stiffer on Chinese-made caps. The taping is flatter and not as rippled as USA-made caps, and the silver bottom of the button is flat on Chinese-made caps rather than curved.

Inside of the USA-made cap

Inside of the Chinese-made cap

Behind the sweatband, the white "fuse" that keeps the sweatband and crown connected is different. USA-made caps have had this type of fuse since 2007 with the introduction of 100% polyerster on-field caps. Chinese-made caps have the crosshatch-patterned fuse seen on USA-made caps in 2006 and before.

How do you feel about Chinese-made on-field caps versus USA-made on-field caps? Can you tell a difference? Is there anything you notice that I didn't mention? Does it matter? I'd love to hear your feedback.

The Perils of Finding A Company The Does Repairs

2011-09-01T11:16:00.000-07:00

I have spent hours of my time emailing and calling every single cap company that I can think of to find if they will repair caps. I have offered money and free advertising, and the answer from all is a resounding "no".

Here is the list of all the companies that I contacted. If anyone can think of anymore, please let me know.

California Custom Caps - no reply
Bobcat Athletic - no
Ebbets Field Flannels - no reply
Proline - no
Richardson -no reply
(Owner of) Cooperstown Ballcap - no
The Game - no reply
Stall & Dean - email address not functioning
Ninteen47 (Twins Enterprise) - no reply
Graffiti - no
Arizona - no reply
Champion - no

An owner of one of the above cap companies told me that they once tried repairs, but accidentally ruined one of the caps and the owner of it tried to sue them. They explained the process of repairing a cap (which made me more understanding about why New Era decided to stop) and said that it is also an issue of time, and they feel that they would have to charge too much to make it worthwhile. On the plus side, some of the companies that I spoke with had some very interesting information to share with me and events going on behind the scenes that I will write about in the near future.

If anyone wants to call the companies that didn't reply to me via email, they are more than welcome, and let me know what transpires. However, there is a private individual I spoke with that told me that he may try and figure out how to repair broken visors himself. If anything happens with that I will post it here.

New Era Has Stopped All Cap Repairs

2011-08-23T21:44:00.000-07:00

Fellow readers,

New Era would like everyone to know that they have ceased all cap repairs. I spoke to Dan Harrigan (the assistant customer service manager) and he told me that it takes too much time away from production, and they haven't set up a way to charge money for it. All caps that have been shipped in for repairs will be returned un-repaired.

Who is to blame? Well, that would probably be yours truly. Some people that sent their caps in apparently referenced me and my blog, saying that they found out about it that way. Of course, I had no idea that so many people would be sending caps in for repairs, and I also had no idea that so many people were reading my blog! And to top it off, I'm not the only one that has blogged about it. I have sent several batches of caps in for repairs, completely unaware that it was a burden to New Era. After all, I had been told that repairing broken visors was "an easy fix". Had I known otherwise, I probably wouldn't have blogged about it. When Mr. Harrigan informed me that they would no longer do repairs, he was somewhat terse with me, and made me feel as if I had worn out my welcome with him. My last batch of repaired caps arrived shortly thereafter, and included a letter from him repeating what we had discussed on the phone.

A friend of mine with a large collection of caps including a few in need of repairs called New Era yesterday to ask about repairs. A customer service rep told him: "No we do not do that. We are not geared up for repairing caps. Who did you hear this from, a guy in California on the internet? We asked him to remove that information from his website. We did a couple for him as a favor but my boss has told me to return any hats sent to us for repairs after that".

So there you have it. Obviously, the "guy in California on the internet" is me. They never asked me to remove anything, by the way, so I'm putting it out there that they will no longer do repairs.

If anyone has any luck finding another company that will repair caps, please let me know, even if they charge a price.

Sincerely,
" A guy in California on the internet"

ID this cap!

2011-08-21T22:06:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Sorry for the lack of updates, but things have been crazy in my personal life this summer. Luckily, the craziness has died down and things are pretty much back to normal, so I should have some new articles coming soon. I have some things that I am working on. Right now, I just need your help to solve a mystery!

I recently found this cap at a local thrift store. It's a vintage 100% nylon New Era cap that appears to be from the 70s. It features a logo of a duck's head, with a green crown and yellow visor. My first thought was that this was a Oregon Ducks cap, but I can't find any evidence of them ever using this logo. I figure it has to be a college or minor league team, since the cap is a fitted pro model.

Thanks,
Paul

Multiple Turn Back The Clock Game Caps Now Available In Polyester

2011-07-08T10:36:00.000-07:00

Aside from the Angels "Flashback Friday" caps that were released recently, multiple caps for this season's "Turn Back The Clock" games have been released in the modern 100% polyester "Cool Base" style. Availability varies, and they can be found at hatlclub.com, ecapcity.com, and the mlb.com shop. Here are the caps that have been released to the general public thus far:

Tampa Bay Rays as the 1940s "Tampa Bay Smokers"

1940s St. Louis Cardinals

Los Angeles Dodgers as the 1940s "Brooklyn Dodgers"

Early 1980s Seattle Mariners

Washington Nationals as 1930s "Washington Senators"

1970s Atlanta Braves, made for the "Civil Rights Game"

1930s San Diego Padres "Pacific Coast League"

1970s/80s Philadelphia Phillies

Early 1970s Pittsburgh Pirates

Kansas City Royals (I can't find any further information, any help is appreciated)

1960s Baltimore Orioles

More caps are expected to be released throughout the season, I will post any more caps that are released here on the Ballcap Blog. Certain Turn Back The Clock caps haven't been released to retail (yet), such as the 1918 caps that the Cubs and Red Sox wore, and the 80s Padres "Taco Bell" cap.

Angels "Flashback Friday" Caps Coming to Retail

2011-05-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

"Hat Club" announced today via their Facebook page the arrival of the four Angels "Flashback Friday" caps to their retail locations.

What is shocking to me is the fact that they went with the 100% polyester "performace" caps rather than wool models normally used for "Turn Back The Clock" games. Does anyone have these yet? I'd love some detailed pictures!

Two Different New Era Cap Machines?

2011-05-12T11:13:00.000-07:00

Early on in my collecting, I noticed there are two distinct styles of vintage New Era caps. Here are two examples of the exact same caps for two different teams. First we have the mid to late 1970s San Diego Padres caps. Then we have a pair of Chicago Cubs caps circa 1985 - 1987.

The easiest way to tell the difference between the two styles is the visor. Notice the first cap in both pictures features a more "squared-off" visor. The second style has the more rounded edges like New Era caps of today.

Let's talk about the insides. Style "one" on the left has transparent taping and backing behind the front panels. Style "two" on the right has satin taping and more opaque backing.

Another difference is the embroidery. The 70s versions have somewhat of a difference, but on the 80s versions the difference is less drastic. Style one has much flatter embroidery. On style two, the logos are bulkier.

The are other differences as well. I have noticed on style one caps made in the 70s, there is no liner around the sweatband. However, they seem to have been added in the 80s. Also, the oldest New Era caps that I have seen have similar traits to style one. Most adjustable (snapback and velcro) New Era caps, even in recent years, also have many similar traits to style one as well. I'm certain that after New Era received new cap making machines in the late 80s, the cap machines for style one were retained for making adjustable caps, as caps with the same characteristics (usually the visor shape) are still seen today.

What do you think?

Polyester Caps: My Opinion

2011-05-10T10:50:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone and sorry again for the lack of updates, I have actually been working hard on articles for the blog but I have been waiting on responses and I'm still gathering more information on certain things.

Anyway, as most of us know, New Era introduced 100% Polyester on-field caps for MLB and MiLB in 2007. Many purists loathe these caps, but because I sometimes like to wear the latest caps for teams that I support, and I have purchased a few of them. Below are three example of caps that I have worn on a regular basis since 2010.

At first I was skeptical about polyester caps. My first purchase was a 2009 San Jose Giants cap (My home MiLB team) . I though it was cheap and felt like cardboard. However, with time and with the purchase of a few more, I learned to like them. My biggest pet-peeves I had with wool caps were gone-the white stains on the crown, the discoloration of the sweatband, and of course, the shrinking and fading. As a drummer in a hard rock band they are ideal. Not a drop of sweat reaches my brow during a long performance. They have held their shape relatively well and are easy to clean.

Sure, I love the classic wool caps and they are more aesthetically pleasing. I still wear them once and a while. If you want to show off, wear a wool cap. However, I recommend the polyester caps for daily use or if you plan on doing anything that's going to make you sweat. In my opinion, it's just more practical.

IN REGARDS TO COMMENTS

I messed with something on my Google account and for some reason I can't post in the comments section to respond to anything. If you are posting in the comments section to just make a comment about my blog post, by all means please do. However, if you have a question it is more practical to email me. You will get a faster response as well, since I don't receive any notifications when someone comments on a blog post.

Thanks, and more articles are coming soon!

Another Oddball!?!?

2011-03-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

I recently received yet another oddball cap. Everyone knows that from 1977 to 1982, the San Francisco Giants wore caps with orange visors. I already owned two versions of this cap: The regular on-field version made by New Era, and a version made by Roman. This cap is made by New Era but is slightly different than the one that I already owned. The front logo is slightly different, the visor is the "older" style, and the underside visor fabric is green. The Giants had switched to gray in the early 1970s.

Below is a four-way comparison between Giants caps. From left to right, we have a KM Pro cap circa late 1960s/early 1970s, a Roman Pro cap circa 1977 to 1982, the "oddball cap" made by New Era, then the regular 1977 to 1982 version made by New Era.

When it comes to the orange-visor caps, the true on-field version is the one on the far right. Here is Vida Blue to demonstrate.

I figure this cap could be one of two things. Either it's a prototype, or it was just an uncommon version that was available at one time or another. One thing I am certain of is that this must be the prototype for the inaccurate "Cooperstown Collection" versions that are out there. Any thoughts?

Oddball Phillies Cap Made By Wilson

2011-03-06T23:29:00.000-08:00

I recently purchased a Phillies cap made by Wilson, the first Wilson cap in my collection. All Wilson caps were made under private label. Usually, the caps were made by New Era with the embroidery provided by Roman. I have also seen Phillies caps that were obviously made by KM Pro that have Wilson tags. The particular cap that I purchased seems to be a KM (or Roman)/New Era hybrid. The shape of the cap is classic KM. However, the embroidery isn't Roman's, which was more slanted. It looks more like New Era's. The sweatband is also identical to New Era's, but there is no foam inside the band. The backing is quite different from anything I've ever seen.

I believe 1987 was the last year they made Wilson caps, and the Phillies were their last customer. Does anyone know for sure?

Mitchell & Ness Caps: The Best Throwbacks Ever Made?

2011-01-30T22:03:00.000-08:00

For a period of at least a few years, the Mitchell & Ness Nostalgia Co. made what appears to have been the most accurate throwback caps ever made. Until a year or so ago, I didn’t even know they existed! Where were they hiding?

Mitchell & Ness had two different cap manufacturers (under private label) before losing their license to make MLB caps in 2003. The first maker was the Roman Pro Cap Company, who made throwback caps on their own for years but fell into financial difficulties after the 1994 strike. I will focus on these versions. The second maker was American Needle. Their versions of Mitchell & Ness caps still exist today as their own “Deep Dish” series.

Although Mitchell & Ness caps were made by Roman, their only similarity to Roman’s own caps was the embroidery (and leather sweatbands for the caps that called for them). Extra steps were made to have the caps look and feel like the real caps made by Tim McAuliffe & KM Pro, the companies that Roman provided the original embroidery designs for.

The detail and craftsmanship is incredible. For caps based on styles made before the 1970s, satin under-visor fabric and taping is used. Most caps made in the mid-1950s and after didn’t have satin under the visor but it’s a nice touch. The manufacturer’s tag is made to look like a KM Pro tag (some versions have the long tag used in jerseys), which is a nice detail. If the original zig-zag backing had been replicated and if the size had been stamped on the sweatband, it would be very hard to tell the difference between a Mitchell & Ness cap and a Tim McAuliffe/KM Pro cap.

With "KM Pro" style tag

Close up of KM Pro style tag

"Jersey" style tag

For the caps based on 70s caps and later, they are designed to look more like New Era caps. Take the early 80s Padres “taco bell” caps for example. The original Roman version was quite different to the New Era version. The New Era version is what the team used on the field. Mitchell & Ness changed Roman’s piping down the side of the bell to zig-zag stitching and the logo was made flatter and the inside color changed to black. Not even New Era themselves have made a reproduction as accurate as this one. Another great cap is the Phillies 1981 St. Patrick’s Day cap. There was no satin used inside the more recent-style caps, which is my only major complaint because satin taping was used all the way until the late 80s.

What led to the end of the relationship Mitchell & Ness and Roman is a mystery. Roman left the professional sports industry altogether and is now a custom embroidery company called “Apparel 2000”. I have asked representatives of both companies about their relationship but they were no help. All I know is it’s a tragedy that we can’t buy caps of this quality and accuracy anymore.

Roman version

American Needle version

Roman version

American Needle version

These Mitchell & Ness caps are quite scarce today. If you are lucky, you can find the occasional one on eBay, but some might hurt your wallet (I saw a 1950s Brooklyn Dodgers cap sell for $100+). However, a large cache of Mitchell & Ness caps have shown up at The Captain's Vintage Clothing, an online store. Be wary that they have both the Roman and American Needle versions of some caps. Also, they have many rare caps in very large sizes, so if you wear size 7 7/8, 8, and LARGER, you’re in luck! Just click below the banner.

The Captain's Vintage - http://store.thecaptainsvintage.com/

If you have any of these caps or know anything about them, feel free to share something in the comments section!

The San Diego Padres "Taco Bell" Caps (Part 4)

2011-01-22T22:28:00.000-08:00

The saga continues in my never ending quest to find every single variation of this cap!

I have stated previously that the Roman Pro Cap Company never made "Cooperstown Collection" versions of the early 80s cap. Fortunately, I was proven wrong when the only one I've ever seen popped up on eBay a couple of months ago. It was in horrible condition, but the price was right and I got it back into shape. It is nearly 100% identical to the original Roman Pro version. The only difference is the piping down the sides which is slightly larger.

I previously owned a 1970s Padres adjustable "snapback" cap made by New Era. It was unworn, unfortunately the visor was broken and some of the fabric on the back was ripped. Remembering that New Era will repair unworn caps regardless of age (see past blog posts), I mailed it in asking if they can not only fix it, but also turn it into a fitted cap. This is the result; a rather interesting one-of-a-kind vintage/new hybrid. Everything is new except the yellow front panel and button. New Era did an excellent job. I'm very happy with the result. Enjoy!

Team Cap History: Los Angeles/California/Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

2011-01-12T22:22:00.000-08:00

I have spent the past several weeks researching the Angels cap history and it proved to be rather interesting. If I am missing anything email me and I'll add it in. Response may be slow since I will be out of town until Monday. Ironically enough, I will be in Anaheim. A special thanks goes to Rob Loeffler and his website "Rob L's Baseball Memorabilia (http://loefflerrd.webs.com/angelsgameusedmem.htm)". Let's go!

1961 - 1964

The first Angels cap. The team used Tim McAuliffe/KM Pro caps. I have seen New Era versions but I don't think any were ever used by the team. I *believe* I have seen versions without a halo. 100% accurate reproductions were later made by Roman and Mitchell & Ness, with American Needle offering their own version presently. I'm sure New Era has made them at one time or another but I have been unable to find one.

1965 - 1970

The team stuck with using Tim McAuliffe/KM Pro caps, with some being Leslie/KM Pro caps. This is the only Leslie/KM Cap that I have ever seen. There are New Era versions but again I don't think any were ever used by the team. There is indeed versions without a halo, I'm not sure when they were used but my guess it was in the later years. 100% accurate reproductions were later made by Roman, and just like the previous cap American Needle is offering their own version presently and I'm sure New Era has made them at one time or another but I have been unable to find one.

Tim McAuliffe/KM Pro Version

Tim McAuliffe/KM Pro Version interior

Leslie/KM Pro Version interior tags

New Era Version

New Era Version interior

1971

This one year style was again made by KM Pro (now sans the Tim McAuliffe name). I don't recall seeing a New Era version but I'm sure they exist. 100% accurate reproductions were later made by Roman, with American Needle and New Era offering their own versions presently.

Tim McAuliffe/KM Pro Version

Current New Era reproduction

1972 - 1988

There are many variations to this style. KM Pro made these caps probably until the mid 70s when they went out of business, but the switch to New Era may have been made earlier. New Era appears to have been the main supplier from then on. Sports Specialties and I *believe* Roman made on-field versions but I'm not sure if the team used them at all. 100% accurate reproductions were later made by Roman, with American Needle and New Era offering their own versions presently. There are some interesting differences between the New Era on-field versions. Some appear to have the older, smaller/narrower visors. A 70s new Era version I personally own has the regular size visor. A 1985 - 1986 Bobby Grich game used cap shows that the cap has similar traits to the "snapback" cap's interior design (narrow visor, no lining around the sweatband, and sheer white taping instead of satin).

KM Pro Version

KM Pro Version interior

New Era Version 1, 1975 game used by Nolan Ryan

New Era Version 2, mid/late 1970s from my personal collection

New Era Version 2 interior tags, mid/late 1970s from my personal collection

New Era Version 3 (notice the different embroidery texture), 1983 or 1984 style (game used)

New Era Version 4, 1985 to 1987 style (game used)

New Era Version 4(b), 1985 to 1987 style (game used)

New Era Version 5, 1988 Diamond Collection version from my personal collection

New Era Version 5 interior, 1988 Diamond Collection version from my personal collection

Current New Era reproduction (notice embroidery is 100% identical to the 1985 - 1987 version)

1989 - 1992

Most people don't notice the change in the logo between 1972 and 1992 but the 1990 - 1992 variation has a more fatter, stretched out logo. New Era and Sports Specialties made on-field versions but it appears New Era caps were used most of the time. New Era offers their own version presently, and since it has a logo that was created in the relatively recent past, the reproductions are 100% accurate. Original versions are abundant on eBay.

1993 - 1996

These caps reminds me of my childhood. Remember the movie Angels In The Outfield? A movie with an all-star cast made before most of the cast were all-stars. New Era and Sports Specialties offered on-field versions. Sports Specialties caps would have only been used on-field in 1993 only. This was the first time the Angels had home and road caps. I owned a road version made by Sports Specialties during my childhood. I wish I had held onto it... 100% accurate reproductions are presently made by New Era, you just need to know where to look. Original versions are abundant on eBay.

New Era Home Version

New Era Road Version

1997 - 2001

I always though this was a rather striking logo but apparently not to many people liked it. There were home and "Alternate" versions. New Era of course made these and Sports Specialties *might* have made "unofficial" fitted versions that they made for a while in the mid-to-late 90s. 100% accurate reproductions are presently made by New Era, but again you need to know where to look.

Home/Road version

Alternate Version

2002 - Present

The first season the team wore their present design the won the World Series against the San Francisco Giants. Before all teams switched to polyester caps, the Angels experimented with black fabric under the visor, which is now commonplace. Retail versions had gray under the visor, I'm not sure if the caps with black were sold in retail.

2002 - 2005 style game used

2007 - Present version with sticker

New articles coming soon!

2010-12-15T21:53:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all that voted on the upcoming articles I am working on. I have begun to work on more "team cap histories". I have had finals this week for school and have had to work extra so I won't have anything ready until next week unless I find time this weekend. Next week I will have much more free time. As for what teams I will profile for the team cap histories, it will have to be based on the ones I know the most about first. After I get the first one up I will finish my article on visors, and probably to another "collectors corner" since a new one is overdue.

Stay posted! Lots of articles coming in the near future! Until then, vote on the poll on the right so that I can determine which team cap history I should do first. These are the ones I can do off the top of my head the best.

Caps For Sale

2010-12-06T21:51:00.000-08:00

People ask me all the time if any of the caps from my personal collection are for sale. I normally don't sell my caps but with this being the Holiday season and I am low on cash, I am selling a few spare caps and some others I am willing to part with. You can bid on them on eBay RIGHT HERE. Most are in new and unworn condition. If you are wondering about the screen name, it is my girlfriend's account. She shares it with me since my original account got hacked into a couple of years ago...

Also check out Ballcap Blog sponsor SportsMemorabilia.com - a one-stop shop for sports memorabilia fans!

Game-Used Ballcap Mystery

2010-12-04T21:15:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone and sorry for the lack of updates. I should have some more free time in the new year to dedicate to the blog. I am working on an article about the colors of the undersides of visors (aka bills/brims), so if anyone has any information that they feel might be relevant, please contact me.

Anyway, I just recently purchased an (alleged) game-used San Francisco Giants cap. Pictures are below. It is a KM Pro cap that the seller said was used by Danny O'Connell. Now first and foremost, he wasn't trying to dupe me, he simply said he had purchased it in the 1980s and the seller told him that was who used it. O'Connell had played for the Giants from 1957 (their final season in New York) and then in San Francisco in 1958 and 1959. There is just one problem; the cap has a 1970s style KM Pro tag and not a Tim McAuliffe tag like a 1950s cap would. Also, normally a game-used cap would have the player's number written in marker under the visor near the sweatband, or on the backing behind the front of the crown. Instead "Danny O'Connell" is written in marker on the back of the sweatband, and a faint "O CO" to the left of the KM Pro tag on the left side of the sweatband. The cap itself is in very well-used condition. However, what makes it believable that it may be from the 1950s is the green fabric under the visor. The Giants switched to gray sometime between 1969 and 1971. The team last used KM caps in 1976. Since the Tim McAuliffe name disappeared from KM caps in 1969, a cap with a KM tag and a green under-visor must be somewhat rare, and perhaps was only used for one season or two, 1969 and/or 1970.

Another question is why counterfeit a Danny O'Connell cap? He seems like a random player no one's ever heard of. Most likely it was for a morbid reason; O'Connell is dead, and died tragically at the age of 42 in 1969 in an auto accident (another website says it was a "coronary occlusion"), and left behind a wife and four children.

If anyone knows if the cap really could have been used by Danny O'Connell or not, please let me know, or if you have any other comments about the cap!

The front. Notice the embroidery is exactly the same as the 1976 version of the cap in the first picture of my blog "Team Cap History: The San Francisco Giants".

The inside. a vary faint "O CO" can be seen just to the left of the tag on the sweatband, or maybe it's something else?

"Danny O'Connell" written on the back of the sweatband.

End-Of-The-Season Thoughts and My First Pro-Model Cap

2010-11-19T20:24:00.000-08:00

First off, congrats to the San Francisco Giants on winning the World Series! In my opinion, both the Giants and Rangers deserved to win. However, since I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, it feels great to have a local team win. Unfortunately I didn't get to watch it, I was driving to Los Angeles and had to listen to it on the radio.

I learned an interesting cap-related fact while watching the Series. Apparently Giants manager Bruce Bochy has such a large head that his cap is a custom-made size 8 1/8!

Now that the season is over, it's time to wonder what new caps will debut next season and which ones will be phased out. Apparently the Cleveland Indians have ALREADY introduced a new alternate cap and got rid of the one with the cursive "I". I am always too slow to go out and buy recently-phased-out caps before they disappear from stores. The last one I bought was the Chicago Cubs road cap that was phased out after the 2008 season. That cap is one of my personal favorites, and was the first pro-model cap I ever owned. I don't remember when and where I got it, but I wore it practically every day of my life between the ages of nine and ten. I wore it so much that the "C" logo turned white. I don't know what ever happened to it, I'm sure my mother probably threw it away. Below is a picture of yours truly, I'm guessing circa 1995 or 1996, at my grandmother's house on Easter Sunday. My aunt's old wiener dog is behind me.

Feel free to share your story of your first cap in the comments section!

The MLB "Batter Man" Logo

2010-10-28T10:49:00.000-07:00

In 1992, Major League Baseball had two official on-field cap suppliers; New Era and Sports Specialties. I'm not sure who's idea it was or why, but the two cap companies decided to add the MLB "batter man" logo to their caps. The two colors on each side of the batter man would be the two main colors of each team.

It appears at first the logo appeared on the side of the caps. I have never seen a New Era cap like this but I have seen several Sports Specialties caps. Also in the early days the logo was not embroidered straight on to the cap; it was a simply a patch glued onto the cap.

A pre-first season Marlins cap with the logo on the side.

Circa 1992 MLB logo "patch".

Sports Specialties apparently experimented with single-color MLB logos.

In 1994 after New Era became the exclusive cap supplier, on-field caps came with gold pins in the MLB logo's place to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Major League Baseball.

For years the logo remained unchanged on the backs of caps until the switch to polyester caps in 2007. The logo is now embossed instead of being flat.

Old style embroidery.

New style embroidery.

I'm not sure of the "official" name of the MLB logo. I just refer to it as the "batter man" since a New Era employee I once spoke to over the phone called it that. A friend of mine believes the logo is based on Harmon Killebrew. Any thoughts?

Team Cap History: The San Francisco Giants

2010-10-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

As a Bay Area resident I feel the time is right to pay tribute to the San Francisco Giants and their 2010 playoff run by looking at and comparing their caps over the years. (By the way, neither of the Bay Area teams (Giants and A's) are my favorite teams).

Giants caps have really not changed all that much since moving to San Francisco from New York in 1958. The 1958 pre-season saw two different prototypes; one that Willie Mays wore in a press conference, and then the design that was airbrushed onto player's caps on Topps baseball cards (see the "Holy Grails" blog). It's always been the same colors: black and orange. There has been slight variances, most notably the orange visors of the late 70s/early 80s and has an alternate this past regular season.

Let's take a look...

The Giants primary cap maker dating back to the New York days until 1976 was Tim McAuliffe, Inc. (KM Pro after 1969) and remained that way until KM went out of business in 1976. I have seen New Era San Francisco Giants caps from this time period as well. Notice in the early to mid 60s the Giants had slightly larger interlocked "SF" logos, so this is most likely when they used New Era caps. McAuliffe/KM always used the exact same embroidered "SF" logo in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. At some point, most likely in the early 70s, the Giants switched to gray under-visor fabric and were most likely among one of the first teams to do so.

In 1977 The Giants made a drastic change to their uniforms to fit in with all the other flashy 70s uniforms,and the use of more orange was in order. With KM now out of business, New Era was brought in to make new caps with a revised interlocked "SF" logo and an orange visor. The new caps were not 100% wool; the button and visor fabric was nylon. Many teams at that time were experimenting with nylon fabric on caps.

In 1983, the Giants returned to more "traditional" style uniforms and the logo was again revised and the cap returned to all black. The Giants would alternate throughout the 80s between New Era and Sports Specialties as cap makers. The Giants would wear these caps during the 1989 World Series when the big quake struck (which yours truly slept through). The easiest way to tell the New Era and Sports Specialties versions apart is by the embroidery; the Sports Specialties version is wider, flatter, and almost gives the illusion of an orange outline around the outside of the logo.

New Era version

Sports Specialties version

Also of note, Roman Art (McAuliffe/KM's embroiderer, now known as the Roman Pro Cap Company) began reproducing the orange visor caps in the mid 80s and used the 60s/early 70s style embroidery.

Unfortunately, mine is bent out shape due to being shipped in an envelope...

In 1994 the Giants returned to their 60s/early 70s style logo, and by this time New Era was the MLB's lone cap maker. Initial 1994 versions featured non-embossed logos, and so they are the most scarce version of this cap. Embossed logos made their debut that year and the Giants have stuck with that design since.

The year 2001 saw the Giants introduce an alternate cap. The cap was all black and featured a black version of the regular interlocked SF logo outlined in orange. The cap was one of two (or more?) experimental caps that featured black sweatbands and black under-visor fabric which as well all now know are on every on-field cap. After the devastating loss to the Angels in the 2002 World Series, the caps were done away with.

Finally, in 2010, new alternate caps were introduced. They are the same as the current style but features an orange visor very reminiscent of the late 70s/early 80s caps.

Totally Awesome 80s Caps

2010-09-28T16:06:00.000-07:00

I was born in the mid 1980s, but while growing up in the 1990s I lived in an era of "80s backlash". Anything from the 80s was considered extremely "uncool". I hated everything about the 80s; the images, the music, the fashion, ect. but for some reason I loved and still love 80s baseball caps and uniforms. This was the last decade of the wild and outlandishly colorful uniforms. When I was around the age of ten a local Blockbuster video store had various video cassette tapes of highlights from past World Series games. I rented "Highlights of the 1984 World Series" and fell in love with the Padres "taco bell" caps despite the fact that the Padres got creamed by the Tigers. A couple of years later Blockbuster got rid of all of those tapes and I was lucky enough to buy that very tape.

Slowly but surely the colorful uniforms and caps began to disappear around 1983 when designs from the 70s (my favorite decade for caps and uniforms) began to fall out of stlye, and by the early 90s they were all gone. By 1987, many infamous caps disappeared such as the Pirates "pillbox", The A's "kelley green", the Giants orange visor, the Brewers yellow front panel road cap, the Mariners "pitchfork", and even the brightly colored Astros caps. The 80s saw the return of the Indians "Chief Wahoo" to their caps, and three teams currently wear the same cap designs that they switched to in the 80s; the A's, the Braves (which is identical to their 60s design), and the Twins (which has begun to fall out of favor to the logo that it replaced). Also of note, St. Patrick's Day uniforms made their debut during the 1981 spring training, first worn by the Philadelphia Phillies.

In the cap industry, private labeling finally came to an end (Wilson was the last company), and Sports Specialties, Inc. became New Era's last new competitor, quickly becoming New Era's only competitor for on-field caps by the end of the decade when Roman switched to "throwbacks" (old style reproductions) only. Also at the end of the decade was the leather sweatband's disappearance from on-field caps. The last year I believe (feel free to prove otherwise) was 1987. New Era continued to use leather bands in home plate umpire caps until recent years (not sure when they stopped, or did they?). In vogue were nylon caps; a few teams such as the Indians and Blue Jays used them, and then some teams used nylon on just the front panels (on caps made by New Era). Also, on-field baseball caps began to greatly rise in popularity with the debut of the "Diamond Collection" which made on-field caps more widely available in retail.

Let's take a look at some 80s caps from my personal collection.

The Angels used this style for the entire decade. Seen here with an original Diamond Collection tag.

The A's circa 1985 - 1987.

The Blue Jays debuted their first road cap in 1989. This is a nylon cap.

A "royal blue" Braves road cap.

Brewers road cap circa 1983 to 1984 with a nylon front panel.

A Cubs cap made by Sports Specialties.

The Giants cap with what I call the "fat" logo brings back memories of early childhood. Anyone remember the 1989 World Series and the quake? I slept through it on my grandmother's lap (I live in the Bay Area, and I was a three-year-old)!

This Mariners design was born and died in the 80s.

The Padres used this design for the last half of the 80s, to see the earlier "taco bell" design just look through my previous posts on it.

The original Phillies St. Patrick's Day cap. Why a bell? The Liberty Bell in Philadelphia of course. They should have embroidered a crack!

The Rangers had a good thing going with this cap including the last years of Nolan Ryan's great career.

I always liked this White Sox style from the late 80s. Now if I could only find one in my size...

What is your favorite cap from the 80s?

Collectors Corner: Steven August

2010-09-19T12:26:00.000-07:00

Name / Age / Occupation: Steven August /45 / Entrepreneur

When did you first start collecting pro-model baseball caps? 1975

How have you acquired your caps? I purchased many when I was younger, KM Pro used to sell them in the Sporting News. When they went out of business Roman Pro started doing the same. I used to wait for the UPS truck to come and deliver that little brown box with my next new cap in it. I also used to visit Gerry Cosby's in New York City, they had a very large selection as Pro caps were not as popular and easy to get in the 70's.

What do you consider to be your “holy grail/grails”? I have a McAuliffe 1962 Mets cap worn by Jay Hook (who won the first Mets game ever)...pretty cool cap. I also own a few Mets "Pillbox caps" from 1976 which are classic.

What is your favorite cap manufacturer? Without question KM Pro.

What about baseball caps appeals to you? Something about the history and nostalgia behind them. I do believe the best caps made in both quality and simplicity of design were the caps from the 1960's - 70's.

What was your first pro-model baseball cap? NY Mets - KM Pro

What is your favorite cap of all time? Definitely the Mets

What is your favorite baseball team? Mets, then Brooklyn Dodgers.

Do you wear any of your vintage caps, or do you keep them on display, on a shelf, or in a box, ect.? Both, I do wear some of my classics that I have been lucky enough to get in my size.

Wool Caps or Polyester Caps? Wool

Leather Sweatbands or Cloth Sweatbands? Nothing like a classic leather sweatband.

Anything else besides caps that you collect (sports or non-sports related)? I do collect some jerseys, both baseball and hockey.

Any hobbies or other interests? Love to workout and spend time with my wife and kids.

Company Profile: The KM Pro Company

2010-09-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

(Updated 9/17/10 6 PM PST)

The history of the KM Pro Company goes back to 1896, when Tim McAuliffe Inc., a manufacturer of sporting goods was founded in Boston, Mass. McAuliffe supplied caps and uniforms to many sports teams, specifically baseball.

In a time when New Era was supplying caps to only a small number of teams, McAullife was king. McAullife caps weren't always manufactured by the company themselves. McAuliffe caps were often made under private label by companies such as Leslie and even New Era.

McAullife's embroidery was provided by the Roman Art Embroidery Company, also based in Boston. All teams until expansion in the 1960s used McAullife caps at one time or another.

Downsized by competition, the McAullife name was gone by the end of the 1960s. At that time, they became the KM Pro Company (Does anyone out there know what KM stood for? Because I have no idea). KM caps are most easily recognized by their unique "zig-zag" backing pattern.

The KM Pro Cap Company Held it's ground into the early 1970s providing caps for three of the four 1969 expansion teams (the Expos, Padres, and Pilots (and then the Brewers)) and supplied several major teams as well, including the Boston Red Sox. However, their main competitor New Era finally knocked KM out at the end of the decade and the KM Pro Cap Company closed its doors. Due to the major loss of business, the Roman Art Embroidery Company began manufacturing baseball caps in KM's place and the Roman Pro Cap Company was created. The first Roman caps were identical to KM caps but Roman switched to their own design by the 1980s. That decade, Roman began making reproductions of old-style caps by using their archive of McAullife and KM cap embroidery designs. The rest of the story of the Roman Pro Cap Company has already been covered here. Below is the inside of an example of an early Roman cap identical to a KM cap in every way except the label.

Here is an odd one: Collector Steven August has what appears to be a KM & New Era hybrid. It's a game-used New York Mets cap with a KM-style backing and visor, but with a New Era label. Compare the hybrid to the standard New Era on the right side.

BONUS FREEBIE!!! When new, KM caps came with an insert to help the caps maintain their shape. Make your own by printing out the scan of a real KM cap insert. Just print it out on some card stock paper, cut it out, and fold.

Update: A reader sent me a link to the Game Used Universe forums that prided me with some good info on KM Pro.

"KM pro was a joint venture ( for lack of a better term) between Tim McAuliffe and Jack Kaufman. Hence the K M. The hats were produced by Kaufman and sold thru McAuliffe. The embroidery on the hats was done by Roman Art who also did the chainstitch NIC- NIT on the McAuliffe jerseys. Roman Art also produced for McAuliffe/ Stall and Dean all of the patches that weren't MLB mandated. In the mid '70's the New Era owner David Couch purchased at a bankruptcy sale, all of the Kaufman cap manufacturing equipment possibly in an attempt to eliminate competition in that area."

"I used the term "joint venture" because I lacked a better description. The original McAuliffe Co. didn't mfr anything- jerseys hats ect were all done by someone else. Starting in the early '50's the jerseys were mfr'd by Stall and Dean. I don't know how far back the relationship with Kaufman goes back but they did the hats. In 1969 the McAuliffe "label" was taken over by Stall and Dean and they continued the relationship with Kaufman until the mid '70's when the Kaufman assets/equipment was bought by the New Era owner. All of my KM info came from Richard Stall, the former owner of Stall and Dean."

I have also heard that "KM" stood for Tim McAuliffe's wife, Kim.

A special thanks to Steven August and Ted Weisbrich for providing pictures of KM caps from their respective collections.

I Need Your Help!

2010-09-10T18:38:00.000-07:00

I'm asking any readers to please send me pictures of caps made by (Tim) McAuliffe, KM Pro, & Wilson caps since oddly enough I don't have any caps made by those companies, as well as any brand besides New Era, Roman, and Sports Specialties. They must be of MLB teams. Preferably large size and detailed pictures of the insides and out. I need them for future articles!

Thanks in advance! My email is insomniac186@yahoo.com

The San Diego Padres "Taco Bell" Caps (Part 3)

2010-09-09T13:02:00.000-07:00

(Updated 9/10 6:30PM PST)

We now now ad another item to the list of the many variations of Padres "taco bell" caps.

It was discussed several times in the blog that the 1974 - 1979 version of the caps had yellow buttons at the top and that the reproductions with brown buttons were inaccurate. Well...

This a game-used cap worn by Rollie Fingers, which features a brown button. Fingers played for the Padres from 1977 to 1980, so it's hard to figure out exactly when this cap was made. Whether this was an error or not, it does exist.

What will we find next?

Louis Griffel just got a 70s Padres cap back from New Era where it had some repair work done. He got the works! All the stickers and everything! They also left all the original New Era tags despite replacing the sweatband.

Collectors Corner: Tom Jackson

2010-09-07T09:44:00.000-07:00

Name / Age / Occupation: Tom Jackson, age 46, Writer/Business Analyst/Technical Editor/Web Developer

When did you first start collecting pro-model baseball caps? Age 14 (before my birthday in 1979).

How have you acquired your caps? I've bought them via mail order, at the shops outside Wrigley Field (awesome, awesome spots!), at cap/sports apparel shops, via Internet, as gifts, via trade, any way you can get 'em -- I've gotten 'em that way!

What do you consider to be your “holy grail/grails”? Since I have more than 400 (MLB/Minor League/International play authentics, MLB/Minor League/Negro League/International play throwbacks, and many, many others), I would have to say my favorites are the soft-leather-sweatband Mitchell & Ness caps (made by Roman just before going defunct) -- specifically my ,46 Red Sox, and the Ebbets Field Flannels minor league caps like the San Francisco Seals ('55, I believe) and the Vancouver Mounties (late '50s?). Also love the '31 Brooklyn "Robins" from Cooperstown Ballcap -- the best-looking CBC cap I've ever seen. But, like Beatles songs, my favorites tend to change week by week. Right now, my favorite is the Yankees flapless batting helmet (aka, "catcher's helmet"), which I wore behind the plate in the league baseball game I played last week. (The helmet has a "44" on both the tip of the bill and at the back, just like Reggie.) Oh, and my 1980 Houston Astros "Tequila Sunrise orange" cap, which I still wear with my '75 Astros uniform (see one of the photos -- from an article written by Jax White for CornbeltBaseball.com and how the new minor league park -- with all artificial turf -- feels to play on). I also love my adjustible '61 Reds cap, which I got signed by The Famous Chicken.

What is your favorite cap manufacturer? I've always been a New Era guy... but Ebbets Field has overtaken them by making the most comfortable, best-looking wool broadcloth caps ever -- even better than New Era/K M/Spalding made in the '50s or '60s.

What about baseball caps appeals to you? As a huge baseball fan my entire life, my love of baseball caps is academic. Besides, having lost my hair at a very early age, they served a great purpose: To keep the sun off my pale, vulnerable scalp. As for why the pro-model caps appealed to me: I knew that the souvenir types I'd get -- the kinds with the elastic back and sewn-on logo patch -- wasn't like what the real ballplayers wore. Their logos were embroidered, the backs fitted and not stretchy. I always wanted one. (Looking back, I wish I still had some of those old souvenir caps -- like the Dodgers, Angels and Padres, which were made of a lighter wool flannel and were actually pretty neat!)

What was your first pro-model baseball cap? Back in '79, I ordered a home Milwaukee Brewers cap from a New Era ad that ran in the Sporting News. It was $12 plus, like, $3 for shipping and handling. Most of the caps I bought after that, over the next 10 years or so, were at the shops outside of Wrigley Field. I'd spend almost as much time in those shops as I did in the ballpark.

What is your favorite cap of all time? Ooh... man.... How about this: The Minnesota Twins tri-color batting helmet.

What is your favorite baseball team? In order (but all very close proximity, almost like all number ones): Cubs, Red Sox, White Sox. Close behind: Blue Jays, Dodgers, Rays.

Do you wear any of your vintage caps, or do you keep them on display, on a shelf, or in a box, etc.? I'm a wearer -- in theory, all of my caps are for putting on my head. But a bunch are too big (a couple dozen are 7 3/8, from when I weighed about 30 pounds more than I do now), and a few are too small (from when I weighed about, well, 30 pounds LESS than I do now). But I'll wear several dozen of them -- I try to rotate. The ones I wear most, though: A 2006 White Sox alt (white with navy piping and bill, no logo on the front, commemorating their 1906 World Championship), my Red Sox alternate (performance fabric, with the socks on the front and red button on top), and my Ebbets Field '55 Seals and '72 New York Mammoths (from the movie "Bang the Drum Slowly"). As for storing my caps, I have four Rubbermaid containers -- a flat one, a couple of 18-galloners, and a massive 30- or 40-galloner. Plus an entire dresser drawer with about 50 or so Mitchell & Ness/Roman and Ebbets Field Flannels caps. Keeping them out only encourages fading, dust collection and other people messing around with 'em.

Wool Caps or Polyester Caps? Wool for wearing around, Polyester for sweating. (My baseball team wears old Twins alt caps -- red crown, navy bill -- and I bought myself a performance fabric model at Lids to wear when I play.)

Leather Sweatbands or Cloth Sweatbands? Cloth -- much more comfortable. Although the M&N/Roman models with soft leather sure are nice, almost enough to make me a convert.

Anything else besides caps that you collect (sports or non-sports related)? I have a bunch of jerseys -- M&N '63 Cubs, '85 Angels, '89 Royals, '69 Pilots, '85 White Sox; Ebbets '39 Knights home and road, '40-something Neward Eagles, '40-something Cuba National Team, '50-something Portland Beavers (gorgeous chainstitch!), '94 road Marlins, '92 Blue Jays BP, '95 Blue Jays road alt. Complete Houston Astros '75 uniform (I wear the pants when I play ball.)

Any hobbies or other interests? I play baseball -- not softball, BASEBALL. I write, produce and act in movies (here's my IMDB page -- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2931849/), ballroom dancing (that's the quid pro quo with my wife in exchange for the baseball and movies), helping to run a baseball website and writing blogs -- including one on ballcap collecting!

Tom's Links:

Cap Geek: http://cornbeltbaseball.com/?cat=132

Late in the Game: http://cornbeltbaseball.com/?cat=80

Cap Care: Mold & Mildew Removal

2010-09-04T11:22:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest problems today facing vintage cap collectors besides stiff or broken visor boards is mold & mildew. This happens if the cap is stored too long in a warm and humid area. I receive vintage caps with this problem every so often. Since many of these caps are priceless or very hard to replace, I thoroughly clean them rather than throw them out. Here is my tutorial on how I remove mold & mildew on caps.

Supplies: You will need disinfectant wipes and isopropyl alcohol, the strongest you can get. Mine was 99%. If you get sick easily, perhaps you will need a hospital face mask. You can get all of these at your local drugstore.

First, look everywhere on the cap for any signs of mold or mildew. On the outside it may appear as powdery-looking spots. On the inside of the cap and the outer area of the sweatband, they may appear mostly in black, white, and green-ish spots or a larger powdery area or layer.

If you spy plenty of it in plain sight, prepare for an unpleasant surprise on the back of the sweatband! What a sight it was inside this cap! This is where most of your mold & mildew is going to be.

Take out your disinfectant wipes. I take one and fold it to make it thicker. You may want to dab first on any outside areas that may have mold & mildew. Smoothly wipe it along the outer sweatband. The mold should wipe away easy and leave a clean surface. Now do the same on the inside. If it is a leather band it should be moist enough to fold back without damage. If not, be careful or do not attempt if you are uncomfortable with doing so. Make sure you get in-between the leather and the white fabric. Get the other side of the white fabric as well. Then wait for the cap to dry, it shouldn’t take too long. Check it when it’s dry, there should not be a trace of mold left.

I use the 99% isopropyl alcohol to make sure the mold & mildew goes away for good. Plus, it gets into all the places you can't reach with the disinfectant wipes. It also dries fast which reduces the chances of shrinkage of the wool. NOTE: DO NOT USE ALCOHOL IF THE CROWN AND VISOR ARE DIFFERENT COLORS OR ELSE THEY WILL BLEED INTO EACH OTHER. Only use alcohol if the cap is all one color. Also keep the alcohol away from the embroidered logo as the color will bleed into the logo. I pour a small amount on each area that has the mold & mildew. In this case, there were areas on the visor and crown. I then poured some on the bottom outside on the other side of the sweatband area which was where most of the mold was.

Now it is time to let the cap dry. Take any normal precautions you would with any cap to prevent shrinkage. Wear it until its dry if you feel comfortable doing so or just let it sit. Any little white specks that rubbed off from the disinfectant wipes' fabric can be removed with tape.

The mold smell will persist even after cleaning. I recommend dryer fabric softener sheets to reduce the smell. Put one inside the cap and try to cover as many eyelets as you can and then fold the cap in. Change them every few weeks and eventually the smell will start to fade. That’s about all there is that you can really do about it unless someone else has a better idea! Make sure you wash your hands after or better yet take a shower. If you are storing your cap in a box or container of some kind, you should put a package of silica gel in there with it. That’s everything!

DISCLAIMER - I am not responsible for any shrinkage, damage, or any other problem with your cap if you attempt this. There is also a chance this can make you sick. This is what has worked for me; it may or may not work for you. Try at your own risk. Do not attempt if you are prone to illness or have any medical conditions that may be affected by it.

Company Profile: Sports Specialties

2010-09-03T10:47:00.000-07:00

In 1928, David Warsaw founded Sports Specialties Corporation, which was the first company to sign a licensing contract with a professional sports team. While creating and manufacturing sports souvenirs at his Chicago-based company, he came up with the idea for ashtrays in the shape of Wrigley Field and selling them to Cubs fans. He approached Cubs owner Phil Wrigley for permission to sell them at Wrigley Field and won him over when he agreed to pay him a "royalty" on every ashtray sold. As his business grew, so did his ideas. In addition to the ashtrays, David patented a miniature ceramic baseball player, whose head bounced on a small spring. Today, this doll is known around the world as the "bobble-head doll".

David’s sons Jim and Robert entered the family business. Together the Warsaw family grew Sports Specialties into the world's leading licensed sports headwear company. In 1963, Sports Specialties became the first official licensee of the National Football League and was the first to be named as an official championship locker room headwear supplier for special sports events such as the Super Bowl, NBA Finals, All-Star Games, and the NCAA Final Four. Now base out of Irvine, California, Sports Specialties secured the first "Authentic" license agreement in professional sports when the NFL "ProLine" was created in 1984. They became an official licensee of Major League Baseball that same year, entering the on-field professional model cap market, competing against New Era Cap Company and Roman Pro Cap Company. Sports Specialties took the place vacated by Wilson Sporting Goods, which had just left the on-field cap market.

Early 1980s Sports Specialties caps

The company's signature 100% wool sized caps, called “The Pro" (their equivalent to New Era’s 59/50), were the first contracts for "on field" authentic headwear for the NFL, NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball, and the 1992 Olympic Basketball Dream Team, as well as more than 80 countries in the International Baseball Association. Sports Specialties was bought by MacGregor Sporting Goods Inc. in 1986 and was sold by late 1987 to the Oppenheimer-Palmieri Fund L.P. Their caps were used by several Major League Baseball teams throughout the 1980s, giving New Era a run for their money by the end of the decade. More than half of the MLB teams used their caps for at least one season. Around that time, Sports Specialties and New Era were granted dual exclusive licensing for MLB caps, making them the only two makers of on-field professional model caps under the “Diamond Collection” label (Roman Pro and ANNCO were granted dual exclusive licensing under the “Cooperstown Collection”). During the 1989 World Series (between the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants and when the famous earthquake struck) both teams were wearing Sports Specialties caps.

"The Pro" tag from the 1980s

Sports Specialties never truly gained the upper-hand against New Era despite improvements to their caps, but they still continued to supply caps to teams into the 1993 season, including new expansion teams the Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins. In 1994 New Era received the sole exclusive license contract for all teams. However, Sports Specialties continued to make their on-field MLB caps as “generic” versions, no longer carrying the Diamond Collection label or featuring the MLB logo on the back of their caps. The material also changed from 100% wool to 80% acrylic, 20% wool. In the mid-90s Sports Specialties was sold to Nike and is now a division of Nike. They finally left the MLB cap market at the end of the 90s.

Inner tag from a Florida Marlins spring training-issued cap circa 1993

Sports Specialties caps were not made in the United States. They were manufactured by the Young An Hat Company in Korea, which still exists today but no longer makes ballcaps. Their caps were later made in various South American and Asian countries. Sports Specialties caps are recognizable by their thick wool, flat as possible embroidery, and short, narrow visors. Their sizes were also sometimes one to two times larger than New Era's sizes.

The inner tag post-1994

Teams known to have used Sports Specialties caps at one time or another (there is probably more):

Boston Red Sox
Minnesota Twins
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati reds
Colorado Rockies
Detroit Tigers
Florida Marlins
Houston Astros
Milwaukee Brewers
New York Mets
Oakland Athletics
Philadelphia Phillies
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants
St. Louis Cardinals
Texas Rangers

Collectors Corner: Louis Griffel

2010-09-02T09:52:00.000-07:00

Name / Age / Occupation: Louis Griffel / 45 / Clinical Research Medical Director

When did you first start collecting pro-model baseball caps? I first
started collecting pro-models in 1983.

How have you acquired your caps? I have acquired them at Stadiums, in Cooperstown, at Card Shows, Sporting Good Stores, on eBay and other auction sites and from numerous online stores. Prior to the late 90's, whenever I visited a new city I would check the yellow pages for local sporting goods stores and check them out. That is how I originally came upon Mitchell & Ness when I moved to Philadelphia in 1986, which was about a year before they became famous.

What do you consider to be your “holy grail/grails”? For the longest time a 1974-79 and 1980-84 Padres cap were my grails. Now that I have a leather and cotton sweat band version of each of those, my current grail would be a new Era 1976 Mets bicentennial pillbox cap that fits (Size 7 3/8). I picked one up last year in a 7 5/8 but it is huge on me. I could only wear it on top of another cap!

What is your favorite cap manufacturer? No question it is New Era. The overall quality and fit I find significantly superior to any other manufacturer. Before they went out of business, the Cooperstown Ballcap Co was excellent for any cap prior to about 1950. Anything after that just did not look right, but they were great for the true vintage looking caps.

What about baseball caps appeals to you? To be honest, I am not sure. My best guess is that I think it brings me back to my childhood and remembering going to games with my parents and usually getting a new cap. As a kid it was always very exciting to me to get a cap and wear it like the real players. Player model caps were not commonly available back then, and I was young enough that I didn't know the difference.

What was your first pro-model baseball cap? My first was New Era Yankees cap that I purchased at Gerry Cosby's in Madison Square Garden in 1983.

What is your favorite cap of all time? I think I have something in common with you on this one, it would be the 1974-1979 style San Diego Padres cap. In part, I think this is because when we went to games when I was a kid, they inevitably seemed to be against the Expos or the Padres, and I loved the Padres colorful yellow and brown uniforms. Again, I think I like them because they remind me of when I was a kid.

What is your favorite baseball team? As tough as it is to admit the way
they have played and been run lately, it is the Mets.

Do you wear any of your vintage caps, or do you keep them on display, on a shelf, or in a box, etc.? I wear them at home, but not out of the house. I only buy caps that fit, so that I could wear them. I own about 500 caps all told, and there are maybe 10-15 that I actually wear outside. Even so, it bothers me to own a cap that doesn't at least somewhat fit me.

Wool Caps or Polyester Caps? Wool definitely. I purchased a few of the polyester ones when they first came out, but I don't like the feel or the fit. They seem to sit much higher on the head than the wool ones. I have spent my time lately looking for the 2006 and earlier wool caps which are getting quite hard to find.

Leather Sweatbands or Cloth Sweatbands? I like the thought of leather, but I hate how it feels on my head, so cloth.

Anything else besides caps that you collect (sports or non-sports related)? I collect jerseys as well; game used, retail authentics and throwbacks. I used to collect baseball cards. From 1975-2003 I have at least one complete set from each season. It got to the point, though, that with so many sets, chase cards, etc... that I lost interest. I liked being able to collect the complete sets. When there got to be 39 different complete sets and it became impossible to ever have a complete anything with all of the chase cards, I just gave up.

Any hobbies or other interests? I am a huge sports fan and I love going to baseball games. As for hobbies, the sports memorabilia collecting is about it, and it takes up most of my closet space.

Does New Era Repair Broken Visor Boards? Yes, But There's a Catch (a Few Actually)...

2010-08-24T17:20:00.000-07:00

How many collectors out there have vintage caps with broken visor boards (the proper term for the piece of cardboard inside of the brim/bill)? I'm sure there are many. It's a problem many vintage cap collectors face. They get very brittle with time and if you try to bend it at all, even on accident, it cracks with a very loud "pop" or crumbles like a cookie. In my own collection I have a several vintage New Era caps that are in mint condition except for one fact: they have broken visor boards. I had heard from another collector that in the past New Era repaired broken visor boards. I now know that indeed they do (at least when it comes to caps made by them), but there are many catches. I will explain in detail.

On Monday, August 9th, 2010 I called New Era to ask this question. After calling many numbers, going through robot operators and pushing buttons, I got through to New Era's corporate office. After being on hold for 10+ minutes, a very nice lady answered the phone and I told her about my broken visor board problem. She said that they could fix the problem, however New Era DOES NOT REPAIR USED CAPS. The reason is this: New Era's seamstresses are unionized and the unions will not allow them to work on used caps, my guess is for health reasons. I said that was fine as a few of mine are unworn and in new condition. She simply told me that it sounds like an "easy fix", and my instructions were to ship them to the New Era factory in Buffalo, NY, with all of the materials and a letter explaining what I wanted them to do.

I chose three caps from my collection that represented three different variations of vintage New Era caps. First, a 1974 - 1979 San Diego Padres cap with a leather sweatband. I had already partially disassembled the cap and removed the visor myself in an attempt to see if I could repair it on my own. Second, a 1981 - 1986 Seattle Mariners with a cloth band. Third was my 1975 - 1978 Boston Red Sox, also with a cloth band, as well as horsehair backing, satin taping, and a more squared-off shaped visor, the kind that was later more common on snap-back caps used for spring training. I had a San Francisco Giants cap in bad shape that had an identically shaped visor and sent that with the caps in fear that New Era no longer has visor boards in that shape, and it's a good thing because it turns out that was the case. Here are the photos of the exact caps I sent:

That same day I dropped them off at the post office, and I got a confirmation number so that I could make sure the package arrived. On Tuesday, August 24th, 2010 they returned to me. Here are the results:

The Padres cap's visor was perfect. The sweatband and it's tags however, appear to have been removed from each-other at some point. They were reattached, but the tags are now in rough shape. The front of the sweatband also appears to have melted somehow. I will write to New Era to see if I can find out how/why it happened.

The Mariners cap was completely flawless. However, changes to major parts of the cap were made. A COMPLETELY NEW sweatband was placed on the cap. The original LOT/PRICE size tag, and the "Official Licensee" MLB tag were salvaged. Much to my surprise, the original New Era manufacturers' tag was replaced with a new one! Also, the backing under the front panels was replaced. My guess is the sweatband and backing were damaged while taking the cap apart.

The modern tag looks out of place, no?

The new backing.

I was right about the Red Sox cap's visor. The replacement I packed with it was used, and the fabric was sewn onto the visor using the current-style. It also received a new sweatband with a modern manufacturers tag. The original horsehair backing was left in place (thank God!).

You can see the difference in where the seams went onto the visor!

The new tag.

My thoughts are that while I am a little upset that my caps are not not 100% original anymore I am happy that they are finally in one piece again. I am grateful to New Era for doing this for me. They didn't have to, especially free of charge (yes, you heard me, FREE!!!). How many companies of their size do this kind of stuff? Probably not very many. I now have some unique pieces of head-wear that you can't walk down to your local sports apparel store and buy.

Now you are left with a choice: What means more to you? You cap being 100% original but with a broken visor board, or a replaced visor board but a new sweatband and possibly new backing? It's really up to you.

If you try doing this and you are disappointed with the results or never get your caps back, don't blame me. Other collectors have told me that they called New Era and were told that they do not repair caps for individual customers. DO AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!

How about used caps? Well, I tried taking a used cap to some local seamstresses and apparently they need a special machine just for caps to remove everything. I tried contacting other cap companies and I have been met with a resounding "no" even when offered money. I will let everyone know if I find anyone that can repair used caps.

Collector's Corner

2010-08-22T22:24:00.000-07:00

While I am waiting to finish my current Ballcap Blog projects, I will be featuring collectors and their collections. I'm sure some of you are curious about my collection, so I will go first.

Name / Age / Occupation: Paul Carr, 23. Teacher’s Aide, Student, and Drummer (www.undergonelive.com)

How I began collecting: When I was a kid I in the mid-90s, I loved baseball. I always wanted to wear the caps the pros wore, my first pro cap was a Chicago Cubs road cap I got when I was 9 years-old in 1995. Around that time, I received a bunch of 70s baseball cards from my grandparents as a gift. I was fascinated by all the bright-colored caps and odd-looking logos I had never seen before. I went to a local flea market and someone was selling a few old caps. For some reason I ended up with an 80s Angels cap made by New Era which I still have in mint condition today. I also had some kind of sports magazine that advertised the remakes made by Roman and I had my parents order me a few of those. I still have them but I wore them a lot and they fell apart real quick. I usually found others at flea markets and I would just buy them because I knew they didn’t make them anymore. Some I wore, some I didn’t. I don't wear the caps I have now, I just wear contemporary ones and New Era "Cooperstown Collection" reproductions.

I do sell my caps IF I end up with doubles from lots that I purchase. I MIGHT trade if I can get something if I want in return. Contact me at insomniac186@yahoo.com for my want list.

Collection pictures below:

My New Era Collection

My Roman Collection (Partial)

My Sports Specialties Collection

My "Crown Jewels" (Best of My Collection):

1962 Kansas City Athletics (Road) made by New Era

1968 - 69 Oakland Athletics made by New Era

1975 - 82 Oakland Athletics made by New Era

1946 - 49 St. Louis Browns made by New Era (may have been made at a later date but there is no way to tell)

1977 - 82 San Francisco Giants made by New Era

1977 - 80 Seattle Mariners made by New Era

1969 - 73 San Diego Padres made by New Era

1974 - 79 San Diego Padres made by New Era

1980 - 84 (1984 variation) San Diego Padres made by New Era

1981 St. Patrick's Day Philadelphia Phillies made by New Era

1972 - 85 Texas Rangers made by New Era

1975 - 78 Boston Red Sox made by New Era

Game Used/Issued:

Mid-1970s Chicago Cubs used by Steve Swisher, made by New Era

1993 Spring Training Florida Marlins team issued but not used, made by Sports Specialties

Mid-1970s San Diego Padres used by Alan Foster, made by New Era

Late-1980s San Diego Padres used by unknown player, made by Sports Specialties

Thanks and I hope you enjoyed my collection. Please email me at insomniac186@yahoo.com to have your collection featured!

More blogs in the works!!!

2010-08-19T23:02:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updates it's been a busy week. I have a few blogs in the works but I have to rely on other people to get back to me which is taking much longer than I expected, and I have also been out of town and therefore haven't been around a computer long enough to finish the blogs.

I am going to begin featuring cap collectors and interviewing them. If you would like to be featured, please email me at insomniac186@yahoo.com and send pictures of your collection. Please try to get your whole cap collection into one photo and then photograph a few of your "crown jewels." I will then send you an interview as soon as I can. Hopefully this will start early next week.

Thanks!
Paul Carr

The San Diego Padres "Taco Bell" Caps (Part 2)

2010-08-11T09:19:00.000-07:00

The “Taco Bell” cap saga continues.

After my blog about the Padres 70s & 80s "taco bell" caps I received several emails regarding versions of the caps I never knew existed. There have also been some recent happenings regarding the Padres this season and the bell caps. Let’s discuss.

At some point, the 70s-style bell caps had overlapped “SD” logos instead of interlocked ones. I’m guessing it was the earlier ones. I thought I had noticed one before, but a Ballcap Blog reader sent me pictures of several examples. Here is one below.

It turns out that Roman did make a 70s-style bell cap, but it appears to have been under Mitchell & Ness. I received an email with a picture and I was told that they were made for a “Turn Back the Clock Game” about eight or so years ago. There is no manufacturers tag and the cap was leftover from the lot sent to the team. After some research, I found that Mitchell & Ness did indeed sell these in retail, which I confused with American Needle. American Needle has apparently never made the 70s-style cap. The embroidery pattern of the interlocked “SD” is from the embroidery archive of the Roman/KM/McAuliffe companies, which Mitchell & Ness had access to at the time. KM did make Padres caps from around the 1969 to 1971 time frame, so at least with these caps the embroidery is accurate and thus makes it one of the better reproductions.

Turn Back the Clock Game-issue cap. There is no manufacturers tag.

Retail version. Ballcap Blog reader Louis Griffel made his cap seen above more accurate by swapping the incorrect brown button with a yellow one.

I also found out in that in 1997 the Padres wore a cap with a full yellow front panel, during an interleague “Turn Back the Clock Game” against the Angels in 1997. Evidently it was a screw up. The caps for that game were also made by Mitchell & Ness. The screw up may be explained by the fact that Mitchell & Ness did not have an existing pattern for the 70s bell cap design yet, but did have the existing embroidery pattern. Someone has to have one somewhere. If anyone has pictures please let me know.

Here is the awful later Mitchell & Ness version of the 80s cap after they changed cap manufacturers. It’s not even a triangle, and nowhere near the realistic bell shape.

While we're on the subject of reproductions, here is Twins Enterprises’ version of the 80s cap. Not bad compared to the above Mitchell & Ness version, but the only reason I never bought one was because “1984” is embroidered on the bottom rear of the cap. Twins Enterprises’ reproductions have been out of production for a couple of years or so.

Louis Griffel got New Era to make him a 1984 style cap back in late 1997 before New Era started making their reproductions of it. Apparently hand-made by New Era CEO Chris Koch, it is by far the most accurate reproduction ever made (except for the wide bell and gray underbill). The front panel is even made of nylon.

I got an email with a picture about what was supposedly a 1983 spring training prototype. It has been added to the list of “holy grails”. It was sold on eBay around the year 2000.

Evidence now shows that there are THREE different versions of the 1980 to 84 New Era version. I was sent several pictures that show that the 1983 caps had brown interlocked “SD” logos instead of the black "SD" from 1984. The 1980-82 versions had the larger “SD”.

This season, the Padres have been having a promotion called “Throwback Thursdays,” where the Padres wear retro uniforms at Thursday home games. It appears they have been alternating all season between the 1978-style and 1984-style uniforms. Since I had previously reported that the reproduction 70s caps were out of production and that “New Era will probably make more available the next time the Padres have a 70s “turn back the clock” game” I scoured the internet looking for them, and quickly hit a brick wall. Then, a fellow collector told me that they may be exclusive to the team store at the ballpark. I made a phone call to the “Padres Majestic Team Store” at Petco Park in San Diego and sure enough, they had them. Wanting a 70s-style Padres cap I could actually wear, I asked them if they could ship me the cap, as well as the 1984 version. They obliged, and here they are, $42 each (ouch!) plus shipping with FedEx (double ouch!). It was a very pricey purchase, but if you can’t get them anywhere else you have to pay the price. As expected, they seem relatively unchanged from the previous New Era “Cooperstown Collection” versions. They still haven’t put a yellow button on the top of the 70s cap. The logos are now embossed, but not drastically so I’m not complaining. One thing that is different is a big deal to me: there is now an "MLB batter man" logo on the back just like the current caps. However, this is understandable, since the team is wearing the 70s and 80s-style bell caps on a semi-regular basis this season, they are now basically “alternate” on-field caps. One thing that is NOT understandable is the infamous New Era “flag” logo on the side of the cap. At least it is brown so that it blends in. The insides are the same except the taping, which is now black instead of white. The 70s cap also has a black sweatband (perhaps a tribute to leather?). The caps are also 70% acrylic, 30% wool. Yuck! The texture is very rough and scratchy. I can’t believe that New Era is allowing the team to actually wear these! I confirmed that the team is indeed wearing them after reviewing photos of the games. Maybe it’s not New Era’s fault, maybe the team is trying to save a few bucks. A call to New Era revealed nothing other than it may be a team preference.

Here are the official on-field “Throwback Thursday” caps:

I will be out of town through the weekend so don't expect any new posts until after Monday. I do have a few blog projects I am working on and I will try to finish them when I get back next week.
-Paul

The Chronology of New Era Cap Tags

2010-08-07T14:58:00.000-07:00

The history of the New Era Cap Company has been well documented, so we won’t get into that right now. New Era has been the dominant cap maker in Major League Baseball and anything baseball-related for decades, steam-rolling the competition, and now has been the exclusive cap maker for Major League Baseball since 1994 (what monopoly?), after beating out final competitor Sports Specialties Corp.

The oldest New Era cap in my collection is a St. Louis Browns cap circa 1946 to 1949. Don’t ask me how much I paid for it! Anyway, New Era basically used the same tags inside their caps from the early days all the way until 1984. Since then they have changed rapidly, usually about every two years. Now, by tags I mean their manufacturers’ label on the back-center of the sweatband inside the cap, as well as the size tags and what-not.

Let's take a look at the evolution of New Era’s tags from the beginning to the present day. All years are approximate as it’s hard to tell exactly what years they were used, as some may have bled into other years. Special thanks to my friend Adam LeRoy. It was his idea for the blog and he took most of the tag photos from his collection. I filled in the gaps with photos from my collection. If I missed any, please let me know!

Early New Era tags. There is a slight difference between the two; one says “100% WOOL FABRIC, the other says “PERSPIRATION PROOF”. My first instinct was that this had to do with a difference in cap materials, or cloth and leather sweatbands. However, all I can tell you is that this is not the case and I have seen either tag on the same cap with either cloth or leather sweatbands. I never understood the “LOT/PRICE” tags or what they meant, other than having the size on them. Perhaps the caps sent to the teams go marked or written on. Anyone know?

1983 – 1984: Due to Sport Specialties Corp. entering the on-field cap market and becoming the first “licensed” cap company, New Era quickly follows suit and adds the “OFFICIAL LICENSEE MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL” tag to their caps.

1985 – 1987: New Era modifies their manufacturers' tag, basically adding a few words. This would be the last tag to grace a New Era cap with a leather sweatband. Cardboard “Diamond Collection” tags attached to the caps in retail stores make their debut. Sports Specialties gets them as well, as both companies are awarded co-exclusive licensing for making on-field MLB caps (Roman Pro & ANNCO (American Needle) were granted co-exclusive licensing for old-style caps for the "Cooperstown Collection").

1988: The “Diamond Collection” inner tags make their debut; the main tag is modified again, adding a second New Era logo. The “LOT/PRICE” size tags begin to disappear but still show up. This is the last time the sewn-on extra ring of sweat protection around the rim of the sweatband is used.

1989 – 1993: The main tag is dramatically simplified. The “LOT/PRICE” tags show up sparingly but it is the last time they are used.

1994 – 1996: Now the exclusive supplier of MLB ballcaps, New Era drastically revamps all of their tags. The main tag now shows the “5950” logo.

1997 – 1998: The infamous “flag” logo makes its debut. The main tag again undergoes a major overhaul, as well as the size tag, which is now bigger than the main tag, and makes it clearer than ever before that THE 59/50 IS THE ONLY CAP WORN ON THE FIELD OF PLAY YADA, YADA….

1999 – 2001: The manufacturers tag and size tag remain largely unchanged, but the Diamond Collection tag changes to display “Authentic” instead of “Diamond.” New Era slogans begin to appear on the taping. At first they appear on the taping between the front panels, then on all of the taping.

2002 – 2004: All tags again undergo a major overhaul with the manufacturers tag and size tags in odd shades of red and blue. The word “Diamond” is removed altogether from the “Authentic Diamond Collection” tag and thus becomes the “Authentic Collection.” There are a few different variations of logos and slogans on the taping.

2005 – 2007: The New Era “Blue Box” logo makes its debut, further simplifying the manufacturers tag and size tag. These would be the last tags used on a wool on-field cap.

2008 – 2009: Polyester on-field caps make their debut. Now that the sweatband is black, the tags are changed accordingly, except the “Authentic Collection” tag is redesigned.

2009 – Present: The tags get spruced up from their plain polyester debut.

Classic Roman Pro Cap Company Advertisement

2010-08-04T08:46:00.000-07:00

Please enjoy this classic Roman Pro Cap Company advertisement a fellow collector sent to me. It was scanned out of an old catalog. It shows 50 samples of what Roman had to offer. I have a poster version of this ad. I'm sure at one time or another Roman had hundreds of styles to choose from. Just click to enlarge it!

By the way, I made a few updates to the "Holy Grails" blog below, so please check it out again. I already have more blogs written and waiting to be published to stay posted and keep checking back!

Holy Grails

2010-08-01T23:24:00.000-07:00

Updated 8/4/10

Here we will discuss the “holy grails” for baseball cap collectors. These are caps that were prototypes, or only used for spring training, a special occasion, or otherwise anything that was not likely mass-produced or for some reason are very hard to find.

Let’s take a look:

1957 San Francisco Giants Prototype (1): Willie Mays is shown at a late 1957 press conference wearing this cap.

1957 San Francisco Giants Prototype (2): This cap design showed up on baseball cards before the official designs came out. They were never real (the logo was airbrushed onto the cap), and I doubt if any were made.

196? Chicago Cubs “Thin C”: The Cubs used this “thin C” variation at some point during the 60s. It’s not my cup of tea, that’s for sure! It was made by McAuliffe/KM Pro Cap Company. The Cubs rarely used their caps and I’m sure this one didn’t do them any favors. However, I have seen McAuliffe/KM Cubs caps with a correct logo.

1967 Washington Senators White Cap: This cap was worn along with an accompanying uniform to mock the Oakland (Kansas City at the time) A’s and their unconventional uniforms. They wore these once or twice against the A’s during the 1967 season and never again. Or did they? The cap was most likely made by McAuliffe/KM or Wilson.

196? - 197? Washington Senators With A Black Bill: I found this while browsing the closed auctions on www.americanmemorabilia.com. I’ve never heard of it before and can’t find anything on it. Anyone know something about it?

1968 Seattle Pilots Prototype: Previously discussed.

1968 and/or 69 Oakland Athletics (A’s): The A’s wore this at some time in 1968 or 69, anyone have more info? Very nice cap made by McAuliffe/KM.

1970 Milwaukee Pilots: It probably doesn’t exist, but an airbrushed one appeared on a Sports Illustrated cover in 1970. Because it was so small on the cover, I made the mock-up seen above. Yes, the “M” was done this way.

197? San Diego Padres w/ Full Yellow Front Panel: Another mystery from www.americanmemorabilia.com, it was apparently was made by New Era. Spring training experiment, perhaps? But what season?

1972 Padres Sunday Special: Previously discussed.

1974 Washington “Padres”: The team that almost was, but thanks to Ray Kroc they stayed in San Diego. I can’t imagine what the world would have been like without taco bell caps! The team name would have changed, but who knows to what. I’ve heard names that had to do with “Freedom” and other patriotic names. Supposedly these uniforms and caps were destroyed.

1975 Houston Astros Prototype: Designed for the "re-branding" of the Astros, the uniforms stuck but that caps didn’t.

1983 Cincinnati Reds Reverse Colors: These made their debut in spring training 1983 but were unpopular with players and most likely were never used during the regular season. New Era made them and one was for sale on eBay not too long ago and I won the bid. However, a week later the seller emailed me and told me the package was smashed and the cap destroyed while en route to me, and gave me a refund. What I really think is that someone offered him more money.

And finally, a 1983 or 84 San Diego Padres spring training prototype. Can't find anything about it, but I was told one was sold on eBay around the year 2000.

Is there anything I left out? Let me know I’ll add it to the blog!

Poll Results/That 70s Ballcap Blog

2010-07-31T00:31:00.000-07:00

The results of the first Ballcap Blog poll "In what decade was your favorite ballcap used?" are in: We have a tie between the 1960s and 70s. However, because the 70s was in the lead for most of the time the poll was up, I have decided to make this next blog a tribute to the caps of the 70s.

"That 70s Ballcap Blog"

Let’s enjoy some of the more flashy, outlandish, and unforgettable ballcaps from the 1970s, shall we?

Feel free to crank up the volume and enjoy “That 70s Song (In The Street)” by Cheap Trick, which was the theme song for the sitcom “That 70s Show”, and enjoy the blog.

1971 saw the California Angles with this interesting one-year design.

Who could forget the "kelley green" caps of the Oakland A’s, the most dominating team of that decade?

I once saw an MLB commercial a few years back where someone said “If baseball can survive Astros uniforms, baseball can survive anything.” I guess they were right!

This Atlanta Braves cap was immortalized by Hank Aaron when he hit his 715th home run in 1974.

The Milwaukee Brewers added more color to their road uniforms by adding a yellow front panel to their caps.

The San Francisco giants wore more traditional-looking uniforms for most of the 70s and finally gave in to the more flamboyant designs and colors in 1977. By 1983, they had gone back to more plain uniforms.

Who could forget the Seattle Mariners plain, yet striking pitchfork logo?

The San Diego Padres bell caps were my favorites. But you knew that. ‘Nuff said…

In 1976 five National League clubs celebrated the “Senior Circuit’s” 100th anniversary by adopting the “Pillbox” caps. For the Pittsburgh Pirates it stuck, and they kept it for 10 years! It’s easily one of the most popular baseball caps of all time. Willie Stargell would award teammates with "Stargell Stars" on their caps for excellent plays on the field.

I love this Boston Red Sox cap. Who can forget Carlton Fisk’s dramatic home run in the 1975 World Series while wearing the helmet version of this cap?

I don’t have a clue why the White Sox shifted to red as their main color for a few years in the 70s. I have seen many people ignorant of this cap’s history call it a Red Sox cap. Gee, I wonder why?

What was your favorite 70s ballcap? Discuss in the comments!

The Seattle Pilots

2010-07-26T22:39:00.001-07:00

It's time to discuss one of the most infamous caps of all time: the 1969 Seattle Pilots! As most of us know, the team existed for one season and then in 1970 became the Milwaukee Brewers. The Seattle Pilots may have existed for one season, but they had three different caps.

So where do we begin? How about 1968. Joe Schultz is announced as the manager of the Pilots. Here he is wearing a prototype cap, the first time the world saw a Pilots cap. This is the only image I could find, and who knows if any exist out there today. It's probably one of, if not the rarest post-war baseball caps out there. I have no idea what company made it, but my guess would be the KM Pro Cap Company. The cap is royal blue in color with a gold stylized "S", a gold band across the bottom of the front panel, and the "scrambled eggs" on the bill just like a airline pilot's cap.

Were reproductions ever made? Yes! The recently-defunct Cooperstown Ballcap Company made them and I was lucky enough to find an image. Probably not 100% accurate but that's all there is.

So the 1969 spring training rolls around and instead of the fanciness of the prototype that Schultz was wearing, the Pilots show up in plain blue caps with the gold block "S". Again, most likely KM Pro made these caps, and Cooperstown Ballcap Company made reproductions. No photos to be found of those, but here is a nice spring training photo courtesy of "Steve's Baseball Photography Pages".

So now we come to the regular season. Turns out, the Pilots used both KM Pro AND New Era as cap makers. I have found game-used caps of both kinds. One common mistake in remakes today is the scrambled eggs on the bill. They actually resemble stalks of wheat, not actual scrambled eggs.

Let's take a look at New Era's version:

Here is KM Pro's version. I couldn't find an interior picture, but here's the front:

Now onto the reproductions!

The most accurate version ever made by far was the Roman Pro Cap Company. As I mentioned in my last blog, Roman was KM Pro's successor, and their caps were 100% accurate embroidery-wise, as KM Pro had archived all of their embroidery (New Era did NOT archive their embroidery). The cap below is a little out of shape but you can clearly see the accurate embroidery. Unfortunately, these caps disappeared in the mid 90s when Roman went under. Due to the accuracy, they very rarely show up for sale because nobody wants to get rid of them!

Another company competing in remakes of old-time caps (throwbacks) was Twins Enterprise, who offered a half-decent version in the 80s. Around that time, they bought out a company called "Devon Professional Cap" which did make on-field caps at one time. I have no idea if they ever made their own Pilots caps.

Now to the remakes currently available. Here we have the version by good ol' American Needle. The "S" is done well, but that's about it! Look at those scrambled eggs! Not exactly accurate. It is available almost anywhere online.

You think that's bad? New Era joined the throwback market in the mid 90s when Roman went under. Apparently, something went wrong. Way wrong. I can't see how this happened, but take a look:

How did the "S" and the gold band get so small!?!

Are you done laughing? No? Well, pull yourself together so we can wrap this up. New Era finally got their stuff together and actually made a good reproduction, one of the better ones they have made compared to others. This the best on the market today. You can get these at many places online, or just go to mickeysplace.com.

P.S. I am looking to buy a Pilots cap! Original New Era or KM Pro versions or even a Roman will do. Let me know if you have one you're willing to part with!

Company Profile: The Roman Pro Cap Company

2010-07-23T21:24:00.000-07:00

In the days before exclusive licensing, many different companies competed to make various parts of a ball players' uniform. Many different companies made on-field ballcaps before New Era was granted exclusive license for ballcaps in 1994. As time goes by, information on the now-defunct companies that used to make ballcaps gets lost. As a tribute to those companies, I will post profiles full of company information I have gathered from various sources once and a while. First I will begin with the Roman Pro Cap Company.

Roman Manufacturing Corp. was started in 1936 by Larry & Olga Mazzola creating monogramming for fine linens, handkerchiefs, towels, fur coat linings and more.During the early years the company name was changed to The Roman Art Embroidery Corp.

They developed many clients in the sporting goods manufacturing industry and became a major source of embroidered logos for the uniforms of the professional sports teams. The Boston, Mass. based Tim McAuliffe Inc., founded in 1896, used Roman’s embroidery for their caps and uniforms. Later on, McAullife became the KM Pro Cap Company. All teams until expansion in the 1960s used KM Pro caps at one time or another. After expansion Roman did the embroidery for more than half of the new clubs. Roman didn’t just supply embroidery for McAuliffe/KM Pro; they also supplied the embroidery under private label for Wilson (Wilson caps were manufactured by New Era).

In the late 1970s the KM Pro Company closed its doors. Due to the major loss of business, it was decided that Roman should start manufacturing baseball caps. Roman Pro Cap Company was created. Several teams used Roman-made caps in the early 1980s. Soon after, Roman began remaking old style caps, commonly known as "throwbacks." They were advertised in sports magazines and were available via mail order. Roman became the first licensed cap company to make the old style caps, and were the first company to carry the "Cooperstown Collection" label. Roman's caps, embroidery-wise, were 100% accurate as they (and McAullife/KM) archived all of their embroidery (New Era did NOT archive their embroidery).

The Roman Company ceased to exist in the mid-1990s, partly due to the 1994 players strike which shut down the retail business for all MLB-related goods for the year. Roman had made commitments to vendors for new equipment and MLB would not vary from its contract which forced the company into bankruptcy. The company recovered shortly thereafter and was then sold to a venture group who proceeded to lose its business and ultimately shut it down. Roman also made caps under Mitchell & Ness for a time in the 90s. In the late 1990s Roman was resurrected and the company decided to further develop their custom digitizing and embroidery division. The company then became known as Apparel 2000 LLC. They are no longer affiliated with professional sports, including Major League Baseball, and likely never will be again (I was told by a company representative "...unless they are granted exclusive license for 100 years."). Their embroidery patterns are still in their archives but are not available to the public.

Through my research, I have found at least five teams that used Roman caps on-field:

The Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, Montreal Expos, Los Angeles Dodgers, & the Houston Astros.

Roman caps were also used on-field for "turn back the clock games", since that is the only time when exclusive licensing does not apply. However, I have noticed people as well as memorabilia companies trying to sell vintage-style Roman caps as authentic vintage game used caps. Consider yourself warned!

A selection of caps from my Roman cap collection.

BONUS: MYSTERY CAP!!! Please help me ID this cap!!!

I just picked up this vintage cap and I have no idea what team it is! Please help me out! It's made by New Era, and it's adjustable with the "snapback" in the rear. It also appears to be 100% nylon. It is most likely from the 70s or 80s. I know it can't be an MLB team. Any info helps!

The San Diego Padres "Taco Bell" Caps

2010-07-20T00:34:00.000-07:00

Hey baseball fans,

I will begin my first real blog by talking about my favorite caps of all time: the San Diego Padres “taco bell” caps of the 1970s and 80s. Take warning that this will be a long read; however, future blogs most likely won’t be this long. These caps are my favorites. I have tried to find out everything about them, so please bear with me and I promise you will learn lots of interesting facts.

First of all, most people think there are two versions of the Padres “taco bell” caps: the 1974 to 1979 version, and the 1980 to 1984 version which added orange outlines and eyelets. However, there are many different versions and variations made by three different companies and multiple reproductions.

First off, why are they called “taco bell” caps? Well, take a look at the yellow front panel of the cap. Modern-day remakes of these caps make it simply in the shape of a triangle, which is very inaccurate. If you look at the original caps straight on, the front panel is in the shape of a bell.

Why a bell? It has to do with the California Missions. If you don’t know what they are here is what Wikipedia says:

“The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of religious and military outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Christian faith among the local Native Americans. The missions represented the first major effort by Europeans to colonize the Pacific Coast region, and gave Spain a valuable toehold in the frontier land. The settlers introduced European livestock, fruits, vegetables, and industry into the California region; however, the Spanish occupation of California also brought with it serious negative consequences to the Native American populations with whom the missionaries came in contact. In the end, the mission had mixed results in its objective to convert, educate, and "civilize" the indigenous population and transforming the natives into Spanish colonial citizens. Today, the missions are among the state's oldest structures and the most-visited historic monuments.”

Long story short, the Padres team is named after the padres (Spanish for “fathers”) of the missions, and the missions all had bells. The taco bell nickname comes from the Taco Bell restaurant logo of the 80s which had basically the same colors as the Padres.

The Padres actually didn’t start using the “bell” design during the 1974 season like most believe. It actually began in 1972, and they were used for Sunday home games. However, they weren’t exactly identical to the versions that most people know. The “bell” was actually much larger, reaching all the way to the side panels of the cap. Here is a 1972 picture of the Padres then-manager and well-known character of baseball, Don Zimmer, wearing the famous “mustard yellow” uniform.

After experimenting with a couple of different cap designs, the Padres went back to their original brown cap with the yellow interlocked “SD” logo for the 1973 season. The 1974 season saw the debut of the first true “bell” cap which they used through the 1979 season and 1980 spring training (from what I can tell). Both New Era and the now-defunct KM Pro Cap Company made the earlier Padres caps but so far I haven't been able to find out which brand they used on-field. However, I am 100% sure that New Era was the only maker for the taco bell caps in the 1970s. New Era’s caps were unique in the fact that on (almost) all caps, the front panels were made of nylon instead of wool if the front panel was a different color. Teams like the Blue Jays, Expos, Brewers, etc. all had nylon front panels. The Padres bell was no exception. At first, the caps featured the old-school amenities, such as satin taping and horsehair backing under the front panels. By the late 70s they had changed to the black taping and (then) regular style backing. The sweatbands also came in a wide variety. Leather was the standard back then, and the Padres used a couple of different types of leather. Most New Era caps had a smooth type of leather but two of my caps each have different kinds of leather that look more like strips of beef jerky. My one cloth-banded cap uses a more thin kind of cloth band, which must affect the size because mine is a 7 1/4 but fits more like 7 3/8.

Here is my personal collection of 70s caps:

First cap: adjustable spring training style. Second cap: Game used in 1976 by pitcher Alan Foster. Third, Fourth, and Fifth caps are non-game issued, the last two are mint condition.

1976 game used cap by pitcher Alan Foster displaying the early style satin taping and horsehair backing.

Beginning in the 1980 season, the Padres had orange “highlights” added to the caps and thus created the most popular variation of this cap. The top button, the eyelets, and the stitching along the outside of the bell were made orange, and an orange outline was made around the interlocked “SD.” The interlocked “SD” color was also changed to black.

Most people think there is only one version of this cap made for on-field use. Actually, there are two different versions that New Era made. During the 1984 season, the interlocked “SD” was reduced in size, and less stitching was used on the outer area of the bell. I first noticed this while reading an article about former Padres manager Dick Williams and pitcher Goose Gossage, who were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008. Here are the photos of Williams and Gossage that I saw.

See the difference?

While I said that New Era made two different versions, that doesn’t mean that it didn’t stop at two. Remember that back in those days there were other ballcap manufacturers, and they made their own versions of caps for every team regardless of whether that team was using their brand or not. While that wasn’t the case with the 70s taco bell caps (to this day I have not seen any other makers’ version of the cap), at least two other companies made their own versions of the 80s version: the Roman Pro Cap Company (KM Pro Cap Company's successor) and Sports Specialties Corp., both of whom were trying to take business away from New Era.

My personal collection: First cap: Sports Specialties version, Second cap: Roman version, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth caps: New Era 1984 versions.

Roman Pro’s version is strikingly different than the New Era versions. Right away you may notice that the bell is more triangular, and stitching on the outside of the bell is more solid. The bell’s fabric is a different material other than wool but it seems too smooth and shiny to be nylon, but it might be. The interlocked “SD” is more square in shape with sharper edges, is brown instead of black, and hey wait a minute… it’s not even interlocked! The “SD” is overlapped instead. Roman’s version appears to be the prototype for all the poor reproductions made today.

The Sports Specialties version was sold exclusively at the stadium’s fan shop, or so I have been told by a couple of different people. Oddly though, the seller of my cap told me that it was game used. From what I can tell, the Padres always used New Era and didn’t use Sports Specialties until the late 80s. Maybe they tried them out during spring training? Who knows. Anyway, the logo on the Sports Specialties version looks much like the 1984 New Era version, only it is brown like the Roman version. Another difference is the “D” on the “SD”, the outline where it interlocks with the bottom of the “S” is done in a different way. The stitching on the outside of the bell is solid like the Roman version as well, just thinner. The bell itself is more of the correct shape and is made of wool like the rest of the cap. All in all, the Sports Specialties version is almost a combination of the New Era and Roman versions.

Unfortunately, after Padres owner Ray Kroc died in 1984 and the Padres got creamed by the Detroit Tigers in that year’s World Series, the team made a drastic change in appearance, and one of the most interesting (THE most interesting in my mind) baseball caps of all time became a part of baseball’s past.

Today, we are left with inaccurate knockoffs. Not even New Era can accurately remake them (they blame it on the fact that they “make their caps in a different way now”). The flaws are numerous, including a bell that is way too big. However, New Era has fixed the interlocked “SD” on newer versions to become more accurate, and it is what the Padres use for their “turn back the clock” games. A New Era remake of the 70s version exists but is very hard to find these days. New Era will probably make more available the next time the Padres have a 70s “turn back the clock” game. The only place you can really get the 80s version is at a website called http://www.mickeysplace.com.

1970s version

1984 Version

The only other remake of the 80s version on the market today is made by American Needle, and is apparently based on the Roman version. American Needle did make 70s taco bell caps at one time but no longer does. You can find the 80s version pretty much anywhere online.

The most accurate remake ever made was by Mitchell & Ness, who no longer has the license to make MLB caps. They were made for a brief time when Mitchell & Ness tried to take over the bankrupt Roman Pro Cap Company in the mid 90s. I never knew they even existed until recently. Mitchell & Ness modified Roman’s version to look more like the original New Era version. Although Roman’s “overlapped SD” is still used, the inside color was changed to the correct black. Also, the stitching on the outside of the bell was made more like New Era’s stitching. Unfortunately, these caps are very hard to find. I’ve had better luck finding the originals. I only have found one of these. After Mitchell & Ness changed their cap manufacturing, they made a version identical to the American Needle version. Below is a picture of one of the rare accurate versions (mine is just slightly out of shape, by the way):

Another company that made reproductions was the Cooperstown Ballcap Company, which just recently closed its doors. While I was able to get a 70s taco bell cap, I wasn’t able to get the 80s style. As you can see, it’s not exactly accurate. Turn of the century-style caps were more of Cooperstown Ballcap’s forte.

So there you have it. The full history of the famous Padres “taco bell” caps, which I have been obsessed with since childhood. I hope you enjoyed it! Any suggestions for the next cap I write about are welcome!

Thanks,
Paul Carr

Hello baseball fans!

2010-07-14T19:29:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to the ballcap blog. In my blogs I will be discussing on-field pro model baseball caps made for on field use, commonly known today as "fitteds." In Major League Baseball today, the New Era Cap Company is the lone company that produces caps for on-field use, and it’s been that way since the 1994 season. Before then, back to the mid-1980s, there were two; New Era and Sports Specialties Corp., which was bought out by Nike later in the 1990s. Before the mid 80s, there were several more. Baseball caps were made by all of the major sporting goods companies: Wilson, Rawlings, MacGregor, Spalding, and more. There were also many other companies no longer with us, such as Tim McAuliffe, Inc, and their successor company, the KM Pro Cap Company, which then shut down in the mid 1970s. Their embroiderer, the Roman Art Embroidery Co., began making caps in KM’s place and started making reproductions of old-style caps, now commonly known as “throwbacks.” The Roman Pro Cap Company then became the first baseball apparel maker to carry the “Cooperstown Collection” label. There were many smaller companies that made on-field caps at one time or another. Companies that went by names such as Crosby, Leslie, and Devon just to name a few.

This blog is a celebration of those companies of the past as well as New Era’s latest ballcaps of today. I will share, analyze, and compare ballcaps from all eras of baseball, most of, if not all, are from my personal collection of over 100 caps and counting. This will include high-quality and detailed pictures. I will post as often as possible, but if a large amount of time goes by without a post please have patience.

Now a little about myself. I live in San Jose, California, the "capital of the Silicon Valley." I currently am the drummer for an indie hard rock band called "Undergone." I have been wearing fitted pro-model caps since the 90s, my first was a Chicago Cubs "road" cap I got when I was 9 years old in 1995. I always collected fitted caps here and there growing up, never too seriously until recently. Now I have started this blog to share my love of these baseball caps. Like I said, I will be sharing photos of my personal collection, but if anyone has any vintage MLB fitted caps they would like to share or have featured please let me know!

My first real post will be coming in the next few days, so keep posted!