The Ballcap Blog

Cap Stories will focus on interesting ways that you acquired a cap you own and/or the history behind it. You may email me at insomniac186@yahoo.com if you have a story you would like to share. Photos are not necessary but are a plus. We will kick it off with a story with photos from yours truly. The summer of 2011 started rough. I was going through a bad breakup (a six-year relationship) and my band of eight years was breaking up. I needed something that could keep my mind off of things. I turned to my favorite sport. As a resident of San Jose, California, I had been attending games of San Francisco Giants A-Advanced Affiliate San Jose Giants since I was nine years-old. As some of you know, 2011 was not exactly great for the San Francisco Giants club. However, the San Jose Giants were teeming with young talented prospects. Seven players from  the Giants current "Top 20 Prospects" list were on the team, including #1 prospect Gary Brown. I began to attend several games a week...

I'm kicking off the return of the Ballcap Blog early. Right now, we'll look at the Taco Bell caps of 2012. On May 18th, the Padres donned the 70s taco bell caps in a 1978 Turn Back The Clock game vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (the Angels did not participate). The caps had the shape that has been used for the past several turn back the clock games, with a flat logo, green underside, brown batterman logo with yellow interior, and again with the brown squatchee instead of yellow. Luckily, there was no new Era flag on the side. Like the 1983/84 caps of 2011, the caps were not available in retail. However, where in 2011 there were no taco bell caps of any variation available, there were some variants available this year. There were now 70s and 80s versions available, made with 100% polyester fabric and manufactured in China. I discussed them in a previous blog. While they did have cut front panels, they were nowhere near the proper shape. They were (and still are) available...

After New Era's "production issues" with the Padres taco bell cap remakes in 2011, two have surfaced in retail in the past month. The first is a 1978-style Padres, featuring an all-star game patch on the side. It's being sold on myfitteds.com. Notice the drastic improvement in the shape of the bell! It's the closest that they've ever gotten to the original since...well... the original. However, there are many flaws. Look at the logo. The "D" is overlapping the "S" instead of being interlocked. Not to mention the underside is gray, and there is a New Era flag and MLB batterman on the back. I hope that they come out with one of these with the problems corrected. With the shape of the bell being so near-perfect, my hopes were high when I found out that HatClub.com would be receiving early 80s taco bell caps. However, when they arrived, I wondered what the hell went wrong! What happened to the shape!?!?! This is worse than the American Needle ...

Another elusive cap this past season was the Padres Taco Bell caps worn for the 1983 & 1984 Turn Back The Clock games. These were not available in retail, including the team store. In fact, you could not buy any newly made New Era taco bell caps ANYWHERE in 2011. Why? I have heard two things from a few different sources. One is that New Era's seamstresses dislike making them, which is likely why they were team store exclusives in 2010. I heard that last year there were "production issues". Whatever the case may be, only the players and coaches got them in 2011. I went to the Padres fan fest on Saturday, February 11th and by the time I got to the Padres garage sale, the 2011 taco bell caps were gone. Luckily, an acquaintance of mine that got in early grabbed me ONE team issued cap. So without further adieu, here is an up-close look at the 2011 Taco Bell cap. The front looks the same as the 2010 version, only now the outline is done differently. Instead of the orange ...

It's that time of year for MLB "fan fests", events where teams open their ball parks to the fans, players sign autographs, and game used items (for most teams) are sold off for pennies on the dollar. The Chicago Cubs held their event called the "Cubs Convention". During the 2011 season, the Cubs wore two caps that were not sold in retail. They were for sale at the Cubs Convention. The first cap is the 1947 style worn on May 4th against the Dodgers. The caps were provided by Bobcat Athletic (who made the uniforms), but it is most likely that the cap was actually made by California Custom Caps since the construction is identical to their caps, which is also the same as Ebbets Field Flannels. Strangely, they went with gray under the visor, and the cap is "unstructured", as in there is no buckram behind the front panels. Luckily, someone sold me one that was worn by Blake Dewitt. The second cap, made by New Era, was worn on May 21st against the Boston Red...

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...

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 vi...