Hats

Here's how long Mets owner Fred Wilpon conversation should have been with Bud Selig regarding September 11th first responder hats on the 10th anniversary.

WILPON: Mr. Commissioner. We want to wear hats honoring the NYPD, fire department and Port Authority on September 11th.

SELIG: During the game?

WILPON: Yes.

SELIG: Well all the teams are wearing special September 11th hats that day already. We don't like having teams wearing unofficial uniforms during a game.

WILPON: I understand, but we are a New York team and there will no doubt be fire fighters, police officers, rescue workers who were at the Towers that day at CitiField. And also relatives and friends of those who didn't make it. And we'd like to show a sign of solidarity on this 10th anniversary.

SELIG: What if we had every team change their hats on a whim?

WILPON: What other city had a September 11th? If the Nationals wanted to do something, they should. That's up to them. But September 11th was unique and this is the 10th anniversary and we are the only team playing in New York. I think an exception can be made.

SELIG: You aren't going to sell the hats or try any September 11th merchandise, are you?

WILPON: No. Certainly not.

SELIG: And it is JUST for September 11th, not the whole weekend?

WILPON: Just the Sunday night game.

SELIG: Well, I can't see how that's a problem. It's a nice gesture. Go ahead.

WILPON: Thank you Mr. Commissioner.


Boom!

All the bases covered.
That conversation would last, what? A minute? 90 seconds?

The fact that it WASN'T that simple and it has turned into a "He Said... She Said" spat involving rules that may or may not have been enforced, fines the Mets were worried they had to pay and Bud Selig was mad that it became public shows how incompetent the two parties.

Those parties of course being the Mets organization, who took every baseball advantage in the world and ran the team into the ground... and Bud Selig who every day finds new reasons to want to throw him out of office. How could Selig not see this was the right thing to do?

And of course Joe Torre was thrown into the middle of this, trying to destroy whatever good will is left for him in New York.

A simple thoughtful act of wearing a hat to honor the memories of brave men and women instead became a nice barometer of people who have lost perspective.

And frankly it is kind of fascinating.

It was hat day today at PetCo Park

I was in San Diego today, making the latest Sully Baseball video with my wife. It was Padres hat day and I got to fulfill one of my life long dreams of having a San Diego hat.

I wear it in one of the videos we shot.
Like all adjustable hats, it is too small for my melon.

I have a 7 3/4 - 7 7/8 head. Even on their last notch, adjustable hats look like a yarmulke on my head. But hey! It was free... and that fit in our budget.

As always San Diego, one of our favorite cities, was great, hospitable and the ballpark was tragically empty.

But it helped make for some cool shots.

New videos will be out this week.

Watch the previous videos on my ShortForm TV channel.

Can the Angels work something out with Anaheim?

I really like the old fashioned L.A. hats on the Angels. They look cooler to me than the all red hat with the A on it.

To be fair, I liked the hat with C-A on it, but seeing that they are never going to go back to being the CALIFORNIA Angels, I guess the point is moot on that hat.

Now I know they have to include "Of Anaheim" in their team name, but can't they sneak "LA" back onto the hat?

Just a thought.

Hey Padres... wear these hats instead of the camouflage

I think it is good to honor the military after taking down Osama Bin Laden.
And the Padres are doing so by wearing their military camouflage uniforms, which I have already made clear that I am not a fan.

Why not the Red White and Blue hats?
It is a day for all Americans to feel at least a sense of justice and closure regarding that awful day. There will no doubt be flag waving, so why not have the flag waving on the field?

Just a thought.

A suggestion for MASN and the Hagerstown Suns

The Washington Nationals announced that they will be sending potential star Bryce Harper to the Class A Hagerstown Suns. And with this turn of events, let me make two big suggestions, first to MASN, the sports cable network that covers the Nats and to Harper's new team in Hagerstown MD.

MASN... forget the Nats and only broadcast Suns games this year.

Seriously, the Nationals aren't going to win much this year. They have an outside shot at .500, but even if the Phillies disappoint, the Braves and the Marlins are also looking good.

So if you are a die hard Nationals fan, you are more interested in the progress of two players: Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper. Now watching Strasburg rehab isn't good TV... but watching Harper with the Suns would be.

The Suns are only an hour and a half outside of Washington DC. They can send Bob Carpenter, F. P. Santangelo et al to cover the Suns.

Let's face it, during a Nationals game, it will be much more interesting to see Harper hit a homer than see the Nationals play out the string.

So reverse it! During a Suns game, occasionally break in and say "Let's get an update from the parent club."

Hagerstown Suns... get your souvenir store on line! NOW!

When I saw Harper was heading to Hagerstown, I went to the Suns website to see what souvenirs they had at their on line store.

I wasn't going to buy anything, but I am guessing that Harper's arrival will be the best thing to ever happen to Suns merchandise. Harper will no doubt be the biggest player to ever play as a member of the Suns.

Now of course I know some big time major leaguers played for the Suns at one point or another (including Hall of Famer Jim Palmer) but nobody with the hype and the preseason anticipation as Harper.

So I clicked on it wondering if they already had their Harper replica uniforms ready to sell.
After all, the Nationals weren't going to send the 18 year old Harper to AA Harrisburg. And the GCL team and the Auburn Doubledays don't start until June.

So the only two places where Harper would wind up would be either Hagerstown or Potomac. So they would be prepared for the big day, right?

Here's what was on the Hagerstown Suns official website under "Store" as of this writing.

An e mail address and a phone number.
That's it.

A player getting national attention (pun intended) will be making his grand entrance to pro baseball (Arizonal Fall League doesn't count) with the Suns and the team doesn't have an on line store?

No place for people to click on to buy a hat, a jersey, a t shirt?

This is 2011! And Hagerstown isn't an obscure village off the coast of El Salvador. It is a city that is an and hour and a half from Washington DC and Baltimore and less than 3 hours from Penn State University.

I am going to go out on a limb here and say they may be one person in any of those places who could set up a web page to sell merchandise.

How long will Harper even be a Sun? If he tears up the Sally League then he will be off to Potomac before you can say "Bobble Head Night."

And how many times will the Hagerstown Suns be in the NATIONAL news?
Today and when he makes his debut.

So the Suns have blown 50% of the best chances to sell the most merchandise in the history of the team.

Good job.

Here's a tip for any member of the Hagerstown Suns reading this.
Stop reading blogs and go find someone to fix your damn website!

I am not an MBA, but I think you just blew a shot to make some serious cash.

Get to work.

I can't be the only person who liked the trident Mariners hat

I have a soft spot in my heart for the Mariners and part of me will always love the trident hat. There is something so simple and perfect about it.

The trident brings about the image of the sea and they didn't take the obvious route of putting an S on the hat. It is totally a 1970s look without being 1970s outrageous.

It was such a cool hat and one that could have survived the test of time, but they ruined it after the 1979 All Star Game.

After hosting the 1979 All Star Game, the Mariners put the stupid star around the trident and changed the angle. Now it didn't even look like a trident anymore. Just a weird ass M with points on it.

No more simplicity.

No more coolness.

This didn't even scream single A Florida State League.

This looked like the official logo of a Continental Basketball League team.

And let's face it... they looked stupid on the uniform.

This batting practice jersey worn by "Mr. Mariner" Alvin Davis looks like he has a makeshift Sheriff's badge on.

There's nothing cool about this look. And the Mariners stunk year in and year out.

When Davis wore these duds in 1986, if someone asked "Why is there a sat around the trident M?" the correct answer would be "because 7 years ago they hosted an All Star Game.

That's kind of sort of sad.

Now to be fair, the "star trident" hat is not the worst hat in Seattle major league history. That honor would belong to the grotesquely busy Seattle Pilots hat. In their lone year of big league existence, the Pilots had the block "S", the strange yellow line underneath it and the piece de ugly resistance: The yellow leaves on the brim of the cap.

Jim Bouton went from wearing the proud Yankee pinstripes to this laughably ugly cap. It was worth it to have Ball Four.

But back to the Mariners and the awful "Star Trident" hat.

I remember going into Twins Enterprises in Boston around 1982. I used to love wandering around Twins Enterprises because they had replicas of all the jerseys and old time hats everywhere. Today you could simply browse on line and see all of that merchandise, but in the early 80s you needed to go in person. And it was just an awesome place.

But I remember some poor schmuck working there whose job it was to take a giant stack of Mariners hats with the simple awesome trident on it, rip off the trident and replace it with the star trident.

Even then, I knew it was wrong. They were taking something cool and making it lame.

Eventually the star trident needed to be replaced and the Golden S.

It was a step up from the "star trident" but they should have gone back to the original awesome trident.

And worse yet was the attempt to call the the "M's."

Just because it is written on the practice jersey doesn't mean anyone will actually use the nickname of the nickname.

A great opportunity was lost to keep the trident.

Eventually the team adopted a different color scheme and the winning began with an S hat, no more bright yellow, and no more "M's" on the uniform.

The Mariners have found their look and they are sticking to it.

It's a good look.

I'm not saying they should change back.

I just think it is sad that we never got to see the Mariners in the playoffs ONCE with the trident hat.

I know these are going to be popular in San Francisco but...

Why are World Champion hats always so cluttered and ugly?
I was toying with the idea of getting of one these for my son... but look at it.
Half of it is in 5 point Helvetica Font.

Hey Giant fans... wouldn't it have been nice to clinch in those hats?

For old time's sake... seeing the San Francisco Giants finally clinch a World Series title while wearing the orange brim John Montefusco special hats would have been a nice nostalgic touch.

Ah well... I suppose you can't pick how to win it.
As a Red Sox fan, I can tell you that you will attach some nostalgic value to the unis your team wears while clinching.

Part of me wouldn't have mind seeing the Sox win in a red 1970s cap.
But that is just me.

Can't Evan Longoria afford a new cap?

Seriously... if he lost his hat, buy a new one! He signed a $17 million contract. Go on line and get a new one.

Why chase down that poor schmuck to a helicopter?

And why is some yahoo going to Rays games (and taking public transportation) getting on a private helicopter?

Sorry, but these things bother me.

Hey Indians! How about picking a cap?

Look, I understand that marketing is king.
I understand the powers that be in MLB want to have baseball fans buying merchandise left and right... and if they bought a hat, they need to buy the alternate hat.

If they bought the jersey, they should by an away jersey... or the batting practice jersey... or the Turn Back The Clock jersey... or the St. Patrick's Day jersey... or the team name in Spanish jersey.

But could there be a LITTLE uniformity in the uniform?

It's mid April and the Indians have already worn 5 different hats in regular season games. And with three different logos.

I wouldn't be surprised if they changed hats midway through the game.

Couldn't they make their hat variations around a single logo?

And frankly I have issues with each logo.

There's
THE CURSIVE UPPER CASE I

They seem to love this one as it also appears on some of their 48 different uniforms.

But I don't like it because when I see a letter on a hat, I think it means the name of the city.

And the I could mean the Indianapolis Indians. And in fact there IS a minor league team called the Indianapolis Indians. And guess what team they are affiliated with?

The Pirates, not the Indians. It's all very confusing. I'd rather they dump this hat.

There's
THE KIND OF RACIST CHIEF WAHOO HAT

A reader named PJ commented on an earlier post I did on uniforms that my calling the Chief Wahoo logo racist meant that I had some white guilt. Later he questioned if I thought the University of North Dakota's mascot was racist.

And he so very lovely wrote "Stop being ignorant and get educated."

Thanks for the tip, PJ.

First of all, no. I don't think the University of North Dakota's Fighting Sioux nickname is racist. It is a regional name and those Sioux could fight. And the logo is a depiction of a warrior. So no... I don't find that to be racist.

I don't necessarily have a problem with the name "Indians" either. Supposedly they were called the Indians to honor former Cleveland star Louis Sockalexis.

The logo itself is a grotesque stereotype. It is a cartoony depiction of the Native American race... not a warrior picture like UND.

But let's give a better example of why I don't like this logo.
Let's say there was a team called the Ninjas or the Samurai and its logo was either a Ninja or a Samurai swinging a bat. That would be cool.

Let's say there was another team called The Orientals and THIS was their logo.
I can safely call that logo kinda sorta offensive.

I'm sorry. It's 2010. I'm not the most PC guy in the world, but Chief Wahoo has to go.


There's
THE COMPLETELY UNOFFENSIVE AND BLAND BLOCK CAPITAL C

That's one way to deal with a politically incorrect hat. Take it down the route of a simple traditional cap.

It is kind of a dull hat. It could be any college baseball team's hat.

And it would be fine if it were an accurate representation of one of the Indian hats of their glory years... but I couldn't find an era of Indians history where they wore those caps.

They kind of resemble the hats from the 1920s, but not exactly. The hats they wore in the 40s, 50s and 60s resembled the Cincinnati Reds hats. So it seems unnecessarily dull.


There is a solution... one that can take Chief Wahoo off the cap, make people know it isn't an Indianapolis hat and harken back to an earlier day in Indians history.

Bring back the Tomahawk C hat!

That was the coolest hat the Indians ever had!

It kind of had that hard Tomahawk edge to it... had the Indians colors... wasn't boring... wasn't racist... and clearly was for Cleveland!

Man, this post took an odd turn.

I wanted the Indians to cut back on their cap logos... and here I am demanding a 4th one.