The Ballcap Blog

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 u...

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?

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 t...

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...

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 Lesl...