Missives of a Baseball Milquetoast

This week was a tough one for New York Mets fans but instead of featuring a Mets cap for this week's Fresh Fitted Friday post, I figured it would be best to honor Gingerbread House Day with a tribute to my wife's unrelentless strides toward being the most unbelievably talented baker I've ever known! The inspiration for this post is  Clinker Max Almeida G.'s "Tough Cookie" design for The Clink Room and I decided to feature it here today because tomorrow is our friends' annual cookie party where my wife has historically cleaned up in the honors for many years. Even though I cannot share details on this year's entry, I have no doubt the crowd will adore her cookies. This week's Fresh Fitted Friday  selection is not going on the  Trading Block  however please don't hesitate to reach out if you want any other cap from that list and you are willing to part with any of the hats on my  Wish List . Lastly, if you'd like t check out some of Clinker...

In my last post, I mentioned that I'd be spending Thanksgiving with friends in Baltimore, and as always, it was a fantastic opportunity to catch up with them as well as their son, who is a first-year student at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. I enjoyed hearing about his experience during the semester thus far and decided the first Fresh Fitted Friday selection of December should evoke some holiday cheer as well as be one worn by a team that plays in the Palmetto State. Thankfully, Greenville Drive cap just waiting for the occasion! The Boston Red Sox typeface used here is a nod to the Drive being their High-A affiliate in the South Atlantic League since their inaugural year in 2005. Before setting up shop in Greenville, the team was based in Columbia and played as the Capital City Bombers from 1993 to 2004, and before that was known as the Columbia Mets starting in 1981.  In addition to the red in the cap's front logo, the green on the undervisor as well as in the...

Animal imagery is a prominent theme in many of the cap logos I share here with the most common types lately seeming to be some sort of bird or fish, with the latter being the topic of  last week's Gwinnett Stripers post . As I've mentioned in previous posts around Thanksgiving, a tradition I look forward to each year is spending the holiday with friends in Baltimore and this  Chesapeake Oyster Catchers hat seemed like the fine choice for this week's  Fresh Fitted Friday selection as it has both bird and fish elements! I admit I was unaware there was a bird known as an Oystercatcher before the Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles unveiled their alternate "Oyster Catchers" identity at the beginning of 2025. While the visual element is a clear nod to  the parent team, the name of the bird itself honors oysters which is just a small part of the  legendary seafood for which the region is renowned . This is currently my only cap of the Orioles' Double-A affi...

It was a real treat to attend the RD Vs. PR Showdown  at Citi Field last weekend and the reality is starting to sink in that I won't see another game until April at the earliest. Thankfully I've got Mexican and Dominican league games to keep me distracted. I  can't claim much else in terms of hobbies but food is a big love of mine so I'm very much looking forward to some holiday meals. One food item holiday that is not synonymous with Thanksgiving is seafood but if you've ever been invited to a Feast of the Seven Fishes dinner on Christmas Eve, you are likely extra grateful for World Fisheries Day which is celebrated annually on November 21. For those unaware, the purpose of the holiday is to raise awareness of sustainable fishing practices so that we can ensure future generations will be able to properly enjoy the vast deliciousness of the sea! Since the holiday falls on a Friday this year, I've decided to showcase a Gwinnett Stripers hat for this week's Fr...

It has been less than two weeks since the 2025 World Series wrapped up but thanks to the plentiful slate of highlights and full game broadcasts from the winter baseball leagues as well as  the Arizona Fall League, any withdrawal symptoms I would otherwise experience at this point in the year have been subsided. Even better is despite this weekend's temperatures only looking to get up to the high 40s, the heat will be brought courtesy of the "RD Vs. PR Showdown" as All-Stars from Liga  Dominicana de Béisbol (Dominican Republic) and Liga Beisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente (Puerto Rico) square off in a historic match-up at CitiField tomorrow in Queens. The Dominican roster features former Met (and Yankee) Robinson Cano in his last professional game but I'm most excited for Puerto Rico's squad because I'll get to see  Vimael Machín who was on the Norfolk Tides the last time I saw him play. He signed autographs for my niece after that game so I'll be rooting ...

While the Blue Jays were leading the score throughout most of Game 7, I was collecting my thoughts for this week’s Dodgers-themed post to have a consolatory tone as opposed to a congratulatory one but alas, baseball is weird.  Baseball is also entertaining, as well as thought-provoking, and the unexpected ending  of the 2025 World Series sent me in such a frenzy that I found myself ruminating for days over so many of the seemingly insignificant plays during Game 7 that ultimately led to the Blue Jays losing the series in the 11th inning. It has been almost a week and I’m still stunned. I turned off the TV immediately following the game’s final out. Maybe in my heart it was because I was angry at myself for believing there could really have been any other winner besides the Dodgers. Maybe  I’m still not over witnessing the their on-field celebration after defeating the Yankees in Game 5 of the 2024 World Series. I even attempted to abstain from social media this past week ...