The big news in baseball this week was Pete Rose's posthumous removal from Major League Baseball's permanent ineligibility list and while I was just a neophyte fan of the game in 1989 when this lifetime ban was instated on MLB's all-time hits leader, I remember how that ruling left a dark cloud over the game that would not soon be forgotten. Sadly thing things would only get worse a few years later when MLB players went on strike in late summer of 1994. This coincided with a time in my life when my "normal teenager interests" prevailed so my enthusiasm for baseball had waned considerably by the time the following year's strike-shortened season began on April 25, 1995. Time is perceived differently in your younger years. Pete Rose had become a distant memory while the four monster seasons Frank Thomas previously had were recent enough for me to half-heartedly welcome baseball back despite other factors beginning to take more precedent in my life. The Big Hurt w...
I'm not sure of even an approximate year when 5950 Day became such widely heralded holiday among hat collectors but that sort of detail doesn't really matter because May 9 (aka 5/9) falling on a Friday means that I have to bring out a top notch selection for this week's Fresh Fitted Friday post. Not long after I began piecing together my thoughts for this write-up, I asked myself if I had ever honored 5950 Day on a Fresh Fitted Friday to which the answer is, yes and no. According to the archives, the last time May 9 was on a Friday, I wrote about a pretty sweet 1996 Midland Angels hat however the significance of that date was something I totally glossed over! So that was the yes, but also a no because I didn't specifically call out "5950 Day" however just last year I made a post hoc mention of 5950 Day on my 1950 Oakland Oaks retro on May 10 so I suppose that's a no but also a yes? Anyway my head is s...