July 17- Texas Rangers

Well, it’s been a while, but I’ve finally come back around to writing about the Texas Rangers. I’m hoping this post reaches an audience as it will surely be a difficult read for all of my friends who are ardent Oakland Athletics fans. Unlike most of y’all (you know who you are); I don’t harbor ill-will against other teams to the point where I won’t buy their gear, leaving a hole in my collection. Yes, I totally understand rivalries, and yes, I joke a lot about fans of those teams; however, everything I say in do all takes place in the field of play. I don’t make a habit out of letting my sports-related differences spill over into real life. Well, unless it’s my job. Last I looked I wasn’t getting a paycheck for being “Sports Hater of the Year;” although, that would be pretty tight.

Like a lot of these hats that I’ve written about all ready, this is the first time I’ve worn this cap, my apologies. I know it’s an awesome cap, but when you have over 300 you tend to lose a little bit of focus on which ones you have and haven’t worn. More important, sometimes you just have your favorites that you’d prefer to wear more. In either case, I’m glad I’m finally getting around to this one as it bears some importance to my life a year ago today (July 17, 2012).

For those who have been following since my time during the MLB Fan Cave this day may come as a bit of a “moment of note.” For my friends in the right field bleachers, this is the first day we all met in person. Most of the hugs and hand-pounds part of the story I will leave until tomorrow’s post as it pertains to the hat I have chose for then. What I will schmooze about here was how it was great to finally sit down with the great folks of whom I had befriended during my time in New York. More important, I finally got the chance to get back home to where my Athletics fanhood began, spending the whole game passing jokes back-and-forth to one another, cheering on our team and talking mad trash to Nelson Cruz who had the unfortunate duty of playing right field for the Rangers that day.

I’ve never really been one to shout at a player during a game, let alone smack talk with them, but something compels you to break your manners and good habits the second you sit down in the right field bleachers. Every game I had been to prior to this day was spent in the plaza level above or the first or third base side of the field. No matter where I sat year-after-year I could see the gang yelling, holding up signs and having the best time anyone has ever consistently had at the Coliseum. During my time in the Fan Cave the feeling of wanting to get back to the Bay grew with every game I watched in the “baseball fan’s dream world” which really ended up being a glorified hamster cage. What’s funny about this comment is that there is actually a hamster wheel in there this year. At least they’re aware. Anyway, when the time came to finally get back home I made sure not to tell anyone as to not spoil the surprise. The reaction was about what I expected, but I’ll get into that tomorrow. What I was treated to was a spectacle of rhythmic flag waving, drum beats and specifically-timed chants. It’s quite extraordinary. One chant in particular follows an eight-beat drum lick with “[two syllable name of opposing right fielder] SUCKS!!!” In this case it was, “NEL-SON SUCKS!!!” None of us really mean it of course, it’s just good banter. What I WILL NOT join in on is when anything of a steroid, PED or drug variety is brought up. Personally, I think that’s in very poor taste. Anything else is fair game. The only thing we really needed to bust Cruz’s nuts about was the play in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series, something he has since taken in stride.

The thing that I have to admit about Cruz that very few people seem to do is that he is an incredibly generous and wonderful human being. Cruz is one of the few guys who cut it up with us, throwing some smack talk back, but also taking time out to take photos with kids and dish out some autographs. Hell, he even follows quite a few of us on Twitter. How could you not like that? Most important though, the man does a lot of great work in the Dallas/Arlington, Texas community as well as in his native Dominican Republic. No matter what gets tossed around these days that is something that must not go overlooked. Guys like Cruz are a rare commodity. We all make mistakes; some big, some small, but it’s what we do to set things right that show true character. Despite the fact that he plays on a rival team, Nelly Cruz will always be welcome in Oakland. Just be ready to dish some more smack talk out.

As I said before, I can’t believe I haven’t worn this cap before. In the history of Rangers hats it’s definitely one of my favorites. Most of the design I touched on with my Toledo Mud Hens post back on March 11^th, but I’ll give you a quick refresher as it pertains to the Rangers. This cap was first introduced during spring training right before the 1972 season, the inaugural year after the second incarnation of the Washington Senators packed up shop and moved to the Lone Star State at the end of the 1971 season. Even after having enough time to come up with a really creative logo for the team’s caps, the Rangers elected to roll with this. 

Don’t get me wrong, there is something very stylistic about it, but it still doesn’t excuse the fact that it was taken from the Mud Hens. For those who think I’m crazy when I make this claim I merely need to direct you to this photo of Jamie Farr who played Corporal Max Klinger in MASH. 

Farr’s character was from Toledo and wore this outfit quite often on the show. For those who forgot, MASH was on air from 1972-1983, but the show took place during the Korean War which was fought from 1950-1953. The Mud Hens first used this logo throughout the 1950s before their first incarnate left after the 1955 season for Wichita, Kansas. It’s all a bunch of craziness really. The Rangers used this particular cap until the end of the 1985 season; however, the cap logo lived on until the end of 1993 season.

What I don’t understand is why the Rangers never used this as their cap logo.

Not so much the “Texas Rangers” part, but just this logo. I think it’s pretty clever, but it was only a primary logo not actually featured on the uniform.

I suppose I could blame Ted Williams and his one and only year as the Rangers manager for all of these mistakes, especially since he did an equally poor job before the team relocated. His 54-100 in 1972 is still the worst finish in the team’s history.

#20- Back in the old days when it was common for high school kids to sign with a team right after graduation the then-Senators used their first pick (first overall) of the 1969 draft on a kid from Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California named Jeff Burroughs. If you’ve been following my blog over the year, let alone the last week, you might recognize that name. Jeff is in fact the father of Sean, the San Diego Padres prospect who I wrote about on July 14^th. Jeff spent the first year-and-a-half down in the minors between the Wytheville Senators of the Rookie League and the AAA Denver Bears. He made his Major League debut on July 20, 1970 as a part-time replacement player before getting sent back to Denver after a two week furlough in The Show. Burroughs would spend the next two seasons bouncing between the Senators and the Bears and then the Bears and the Rangers until finally making his case to stay at the top in 1973. That season, which also happened to be the first without Ted Williams as the skipper, Burroughs hit .279 with 30 home runs and 85 RBI; however, it would be his next where Burroughs made his presence known.

In 1974 the American League was owned by the AL West, and no two team’s players showed this more than the Athletics and the Rangers. In fact, the top-six finish for the AL MVP was comprised only of A’s and Rangers players with Burroughs taking home the prize behind his .301 average, 25 home runs and league-leading 118 RBI. Granted, the Athletics won the World Series that year and the Rangers finished five games behind them for the divisional crown; however, no one expected the Rangers to do anything that season except continue to stay near the bottom. Burroughs and company had other plans. Burroughs also made an appearance in his first of two All-Star Games he’d play in, but the only one in which he’d be a member of the AL squad.

Burroughs’s next two years in Texas didn’t pan out so well as his average dipped below .230 and his strikeout numbers skyrocketed. At the end of the 1976 season Burroughs was traded to the Atlanta Braves for Adrian Devine, Ken Henderson, Dave May, Carl Morton, Roger Moret (remember this name) AND $250,000. Yah! All of that for one guy! Burroughs would go on to have two fantastic years with the Braves in 1977 and 1978, finishing in the top-20 for the National League MVP both years and making his second All-Star Game appearance in 1978, but after that his power production dipped tremendously and by 1981 he was traded to the Seattle Mariners. At the end of the ’81 season he was signed by the Athletics where he played from 1982-1984 before having the rest of his contract purchased by the Toronto Blue Jays prior to the 1985 season. His one year in Toronto would be his last.

After he retired, Burroughs later coached his Sean's Little League team, the Long Beach All-Stars. With Sean as their star player, these teams won the Little League World Series in both 1992 (they actually lost the championship game, but were later awarded the title by forfeit after their opponents were found to have used no fewer than 14 ineligible players) and 1993.

#31- One of the more interesting figures in MLB history, Ferguson Jenkins is still considered by many as the greatest Canadian in MLB history. With a 284-226 record, 3.192 strikeouts, the 1971 NL Cy Young, three All-Star Game appearances and a National Baseball Hall of Fame induction in 1991 it’s really hard to argue. Jenkins played for 19 years with the Philadelphia Phillies (1965-1966), the Chicago Cubs (1966-1973), the Rangers (1974-1975), the Boston Red Sox (1976-1977), the Rangers again (1978-1981) and the Cubs again (1982-1983). While I only plan to really focus on Jenkins’s time with the Rangers, I can’t help but share this video clip with you. I doubt most of you remember seeing this unless you’re into bonus features on DVDs as much as I am, but it’s a cut out clip from This is Spinal Tap from 1984. Now, the movie was released in 1984; however, this scene was shot in 1983 as you can tell by Spinal Tap drummer Mick Shrimpton’s (played by RJ Parnell) answer to the question about Jenkins during their in-studio interview. Jenkins ended up finishing his career with 49 shutouts, the last of which he obtained on June 10, 1983 against the St. Louis Cardinals.

After the 1973 season Jenkins was traded to the Rangers. In 1974 he achieved a personal best 25 wins during the season, setting a Rangers franchise record which still stands. Jenkins also finished the year with 12 loses, a 2.82 ERA, a league-leading 29 complete games, six shutouts, a 1.008 WHIP and 225 strikeouts. Jenkins finished second for the AL Cy Young behind Athletics’ star pitcher Jim “Catfish” Hunter whose numbers were 25 wins, 12 loses, a 2.82 ERA, 23 complete games, six shutouts, a 0.986 WHIP and 143 strikeouts. Hunter received two more first place votes than Jenkins which tipped it in favor of Hunter despite the fact that collectively Jenkins had the more dominant season. Hunter’s team ended up making the playoffs and won their third-straight World Series title which may have been the difference. Either way, Jenkins got hosed.

During Jenkins’s second run with the Rangers he found success within the first year, 1978, when he finished sixth for the AL Cy Young award. Unfortunately for Jenkins it was also during this time that he found himself in a really bad spot. Jenkins achieved his 250th win against the Athletics on May 23, 1980. Later that year, during a customs search in Toronto, Jenkins was found possessing 3.0 grams cocaine, 2.2 grams hashish, and 1.75 grams marijuana. In response, on September 8, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn suspended him indefinitely. However, Jenkins' suspension lasted only two weeks before, in an unprecedented action, an independent arbiter reinstated him and he returned to the league. Jenkins was not further punished by MLB for the incident, as he remained active until his retirement following the 1983 season. It has been suggested that this incident delayed his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Jenkins was in fact the first player on record to be banned/suspended for a drug-related offense.

#29- Remember when I told you to remember Roger Moret’s name? Well… Moret was born and raised in Guyama, Puerto Rico in 1949 and was later signed by the Red Sox as a free agent in 1968 where he would make his MLB debut on September 13, 1970 just three days before his 21^st birthday. He played for the Red Sox (1970-1975), the Braves (1976) and the Rangers (1977-1978). In 168 games (82 as a starter and 86 as a reliever), he posted a career won-lost record of 47–27 and an ERA of 3.66. Moret led the AL in winning percentage in both 1973 (.867) and 1975 (.824).

His career ended in 1978 in a bizarre fashion. Scheduled to be the starting pitcher against the Detroit Tigers on April 12th, Moret was spotted in the Ranger locker room in a catatonic state, with his arm extended holding a slipper. His teammates first kidded with him but as time went on the gravity of his condition brought the team's medical staff. Attempts to awaken him failed. The Rangers staff sedated him and dispatched him to the Arlington Neuropsychiatric Center. By the 25th of April, Roger's condition had improved and he was scheduled for release within a week. He appeared in only six more games after the bizarre incident. In the film Fever Pitch, the incident was cited as an instance where the Curse of the Bambino struck the Red Sox, but this is an error, as Moret was no longer with that team.

May 2- Oakland Athletics

It’s kind of crazy to think that I’ve been in hot pursuit of this hat for the last three years, but I finally got it. This, in my opinion, is one of the two Holy Grails of Philadelphia/Kansas City/Oakland Athletics caps. It was first brought to my attention almost a decade ago by my friend Jason Cobb (@MrCobbyCobb), an avid collector of sports memorabilia like myself. At the time I wasn’t as into collecting New Era Caps as I’ve become over the last few years. I’ve always been a big of the product, but for some reason I always felt that New Era Caps looked weird on my head so I never really actively pursued it as a hobby; even though deep down I’ve always wanted to buy them.

Back in 2010 when the collection started I had a skimpy beard growth. I could have easily gotten into full “player” status like it is today, but back in those days I was sporting a Mohawk and felt that a bushy beard made me look more like a crystal meth dealer, so I decided against it. When the summer of 2011 came around I kissed the Mohawk goodbye and began actively growing out my hair into the shaggy mess that it is today, much like Athletics players of the 1960s and 1970s like my dad used to watch as he was growing up. This was also the point in time when I was dared to grow my beard out like Brian Wilson for Halloween, and since I never really liked the early stages of my hair growing out I decided to finally show off the New Era collection I had been building. I don’t know what it was, but New Era Caps have never looked better on me than when I look like a hobo. From there, the rest is history as they say.

My original collection consisted primarily of one hat per team; however, the only exception I intended on making was for the Athletics because they’ve been my team for the last 26 years. Anytime I saw a cap from their past I made an effort to scoop it up, including Minor League caps from my youth up through today’s affiliates. This white cap; however, had always eluded me month-after-month, to the point where I had given up hope on it for a solid seven months at the end of the 2012 season through February of this year. In fact, the one person I need to thank the most for reviving my interest in it is my fellow right field bleacher chum Omar Gonzalez (@OmarInTheOF). During a daily perusing of Facebook I came across a post by Majestic Athletic (@MajesticOnField), the suppliers of everything and anything MLB apparel related. If I remember correctly they were asking a question about what uniform from their team’s history would we mostly want to wear. I merely liked the post while Omar commented on it citing the old sleeveless jerseys from the 1970s paired with the white manager/coaches cap. At the moment when I saw that my lust for the cap was reborn.

It would take me another month of daily monitoring through my go to hat Web sites before I had a hit. On March 28, three days before the start of the 2013 season, my quest finally came to an end. One of my favorite sites, MickeyPlace.com, had completely overhauled their display pages and apparently restocked most of their inventory. My eyes lit up and my mouth frothed at its beauty. Yes, I realize I’m talking about a hat here, but there’s no reason to judge me. Anyway, I had been to the actual store in Cooperstown, New York this last August with my friend Dave Kaufman (@TheKaufmanShow) and picked up a score of hats at the time, but didn’t see any sign of this cap. I had always just assumed it wasn’t one they would ever carry. Perhaps this helps better explain my jubilance. There was; however, a bit of hesitation on my part. Mickey’s Place isn’t like Lids or Hat Club, and by that I mean they don’t have a discount card or program set up to aid hat collectors like myself. Every now-and-then they would run 20% off deals; the last of which had come in December of 2012. Being the patient buyer that I am I sat and waited… and waited… and waited for two weeks. Come to think of it, I really didn’t wait that long. That’s right, two weeks into the season Mickey’s Place sent me an email for a 20% off sale which I promptly took advantage of. I texted my girlfriend Angie Kinderman (@sconnieangie) and had it, my 1957 Chicago Cubs and 1940-1955 St. Louis Cardinals hats shipped to her place so that they would arrive the same time I did to her place in Florida. Also, shipping from New York to Florida takes way less time. But alas! After so many years of waiting and shady go-betweens, it’s resting snug on my shaggy dome.

This hat was introduced in 1968, the first year the Athletics took the field in Oakland, and was worn by every manager and coach from then until the end of the 1981 season. What’s most interesting about the hat that I bought is the label of it being a 1982 Athletics manager cap; however, I have yet to come across a photo beyond 1981 of anyone in a coaching role wearing it. I had to consult Paul Lukas’s Web site UniWatch.com and a slew of Topps baseball cards to confirm a few of the bits in pieces of history. But even at that Lukas still has the A’s only wearing this hat through the 1970s, but I’ll get to that later. Longtime A’s owner Charlie Finley originally came up with the concept of having the managers and coaches wear a different cap than the players; one of many innovations Finley brought to the game including the idea of the designated hitter. Obviously in the case of the DH his ideas weren’t all winners. This particular style was worn from 1971-1977, then it was  forgotten for a few years until making a resurgence in 1980-1981, but only for a handful of games. Like the uniforms of today the hat had to match the uniform.

Another interesting facet of this time period is a story I picked up on a few years ago and may be one of the biggest reasons why Finley decided to have the hat made. Back in 1967, the Athletics’ final year in Kansas City, Finley had all ready had his team rocking white shoes, because let’s face it, the A’s are kind of badass like that. That season also marked one of the most questionable of rivalry moves in sports history. Back in the old Philadelphia Athletics days their biggest rival was actually the Washington Senators. The Athletics only played the New York Giants in the World Series and there has never really been any known bitterness toward the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox; however, with the Senators there was, but I’ll go into greater detail in a post down the road. Even though the A’s had moved out of Philly at the end of the 1954 season this did not necessarily mean that old habits died hard. This is baseball after all. Senators general manager George Selkirk hated the white shoes the A’s had been wearing and as a sign of rebellion he had his players wear white socks and white caps on the road in Kansas City as well as during both ends of a doubleheader back in DC and again in Kansas City for another doubleheader. I kid you not, this actually made headlines in the Washington Post.

Now, back to brass tax. As cool as this style was back in the day, I just can’t see Bob Melvin sporting something like this in the dugout, and it really makes me question why a guy like Dick Williams did back in the 70s. Williams and Melvin both had/have a lot of respect for their players, and as much as one would think a change in a uniform accessory would mean much I have to disagree. Williams and Melvin are both managers who defend their players and get the best out of them. In their eyes everyone is equal, down to the coaching staff. A difference in appearance my cause a rift amongst the team. I realize this seems a bit absurd, but you’re also forgetting that baseball players are incredibly superstitious, like myself. Any change in the game plan could spell doom, just like the Senators found out back in the 60s. One of the other reasons why Selkirk opted for the white hats was to serve as a “slumpbuster” of sorts for his constantly losing ball club. It didn’t help. If there’s anything that I’ve learned over time that seems to remain consistent it’s that only the A’s can be successful in making extreme uniform changes.

The numbers were an easy choice; however, I did screw up on one of them. By that I mean I added one extra number by accident, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

#23- From 1971-1973 Dick Williams was THE premier manager in the Majors, and for those three wonderful years he was the skipper for the Athletics in Oakland. During his tenure he amassed a record of 288-190 and won back-to-back World Series in 1972 and 1973. He would have been the manager in 1974 had it not been for Finley’s cheapness when it comes to talent. His shrewdness led to Reggie Jackson moving on to the Baltimore Orioles and Jim “Catfish” Hunter to the New York Yankees. Williams was intolerant of this and tendered his resignation, if you will, and signed on to manage the team’s divisional rival, the California Angels, at the tail end of the 1974 season. Williams was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as manager in 2008 and is actually the only known member of the Hall of Fame to be a registered sex offender. This is an unfortunate, sad truth. I won’t go into much detail, you’ll have to look it up yourself to see how bogus it is.

#5- Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio never looked better in an Athletics uniform. When I wrote his number on my cap I did it without clearly thinking. By that I mean I totally spaced out. I had no intention of adding it on because of the fact that the white cap that he wore was not the same as the one that Williams, the next name and I are wearing. But, since I’m on the subject, here’s how DiMaggio became a member of the A’s.

As I mentioned above the A’s had moved to Oakland at the end of the 1967 season. For a while Finley had been hounding DiMaggio to join the front office, but DiMaggio originally wanted no part of it. Finely knew the name along would be a draw ever though the position Finley wanted to hire him for was Executive Vice President and consultant. Consultant meaning hitting coach. The main reason DiMaggio agreed was…

1.The A’s were close enough to his home in San Francisco.

2. The biggest reason: DiMaggio needed two more full years in baseball to receive the maximum pension. It was a win-win for him.

From 1968-1970 he wore the white cap, shoes and uniform. Classy.

#1- From 1980-1982 the Athletics hired Billy Martin as their skipper in between his second and third stint as manager of the Yankees. E went 215-218 in his three year stint and gave Martin and extra excuse to vent some anger-related issues brought on after his second firing by George Steinbrenner. His best year with the A’s (1981), was stymied by the Yankees in the American League Championship Series as the A’s were swept three games to none. 1981 was an interesting year that was shortened by the fourth players strike since 1972 and divided the season up into two halves, ushering in the first unintentional American League Division Series as the winners of each half of the season squared off against one another to see who would be playing in the ALCS. The Athletics won the first half while the Kansas City Royals won the second half, which then led to a three games to none sweep of the Royals.

The hat now serves as a reminder of the early years in Athletics baseball in Oakland and how a team can go from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. The A's owned the early part of the 1970s, becoming the first, and only West Coast dynasty. After that, the team faded into obscurity for a short period of time before developing more of their draft picks before sending them away. It's a cycle I've never particularly been a fan of, but one I've grown accustomed to. While the current owner and general manager work almost identically to the Finley era, I suppose this is truly what Athletics baseball is all about. The players will give their all year-after-year and a manager will eventually become tired of the system and opt out. I can only hope that the BoMel era is here to stay.

April 14- Washington Senators

I’ve always been fascinated with all of the random activities that take place during a baseball game. As I’ve gotten older I’ve learned to appreciate them on a much deeper level. As much as I want to include the pre-game 40 ouncer of Mickey’s Fine Malt Liquor I usually polish off before every Oakland Athletics game on this list, I’ll spare the historians my one vice. The ceremonial throwing out of the first pitch is mostly the one I’m referring too actually. Throughout the season at 162 guests per team are elected to take part in one of the oldest fan-related traditions of our national pastime. That’s roughly 48600 first pitches thrown out each season (not taking into consideration the rare two or more people throwing out balls). The honor, once reserved for presidents, politicians, military officials, foreign diplomats and former players has evolved into something that we can all at some point in our lives be able to put into our pocket. I was fortunate enough to receive the honor on July 17, 2012, but I’ll spare you the details as I’ve all ready written about in my Athletics Opening Day post from April 1.

My first encounter with this tradition, like a few other nostalgic baseball-related moments in my life, came during my first viewing of the 1988 film “The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad.” While I had been to professional games prior to seeing this film, I can’t honestly say that my little brain at the time was all too keen to remember that moment. The scene in the film is wonderful as Queen Elizabeth II is the guest of honor in a game between the California Angels and the Seattle Mariners during her tour of Los Angeles. Because of her status, the Angels allow her to throw out the first pitch. Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw-ucaDiTME

It’s still one of those goofy moments that still makes me chuckle for multiple reasons:

1. Obviously it’s the greatest screwball ever thrown.

2. The mere fact that the catcher is the only one that seems to be blown away by the throw.

3. Dick Vitale being in the press box during a baseball game.

4. Tim McCarver before he went absolutely insane after being teamed up with Joe Buck.

5. The PA announcer nonchalantly saying, “How about that Queen ladies and gentleman!”

The Zucker Brothers know how to write a damn good comedy, that’s for sure. Anyway, as a five-year-old that pitch blew my mind. My brothers and I worked on it with our wiffle balls for hours, hoping that we would somehow be able to bend the laws of physics. Needless to say, after about three intense summer days of trying and failing, we gave up and played pickle instead.

This Washington Senators hat holds a special place in the history of the ceremonial first pitch, which leads me to the marks I opted for.

4/14/10- I should first point out the hat, as it is not exactly the accurate model for the date, so bear with me. This particular hat was used by the Senators for all of their home and road games from 1916-1925; however, the particular style of “W” featured on the front was used as a patch over the heart of their jersey only in 1910. From 1912-1925 and then again from 1929-1935 the “W” appeared as a patch on the outside sleeves of their jerseys. The Washington Nationals also used this hat for their Turn Back the Clock games in 2012. Now that I have that covered; the date I chose was Opening Day for the Senators against the New York Yankees at National Park, which was later renamed Griffith Stadium in 1920. The larger importance of this date is that it was the first time a United States President ever threw out the first pitch. Therefore, it was the first Ceremonial First Pitch. A lot of first taking place, I know.

William Howard Taft was a huge (no pun intended) baseball fan and started the tradition which took place at some time throughout the season (Opening Day, All-Star Game or World Series) on almost every year. There were a few gaps in time since 1910 on account some very important wars taking place. Another interesting tidbit from this particular day is that April 14, 1910 is also one of the three supposed moments in time when the seventh-inning-stretch first came to pass. The way the story goes is that President Taft while at the game was sore from prolonged sitting and stood up to stretch. Upon seeing the chief executive stand, the rest of the spectators in attendance felt obligated to join the president in his gestures. Whether it’s true or not, it’s still a fun little story to tell fans.

Since the tradition was started every president has thrown out at least one first pitch, and only Richard Nixon and James Sherman were the only two Vice Presidents to fill in for the President while they were occupied. Nixon in 1959 for Dwight Eisenhower and Sherman for Taft in 1912 on account of Taft being at a funeral for a friend who had died in the RMS Titanic sinking only four days prior on April 15. As for how each President stacks up: Franklin D. Roosevelt has the unbeatable record with eight Opening Day first pitches thrown while in office and Jimmy Carter has the fewest at zero as he only threw out one Opening Day first pitch at Petco Park in 2004 when the San Diego Padres first opened the stadium. Lyndon B. Johnson was the “kiss of death” for the Senators as they lost all three games in which he threw out first pitch, while Taft has the best win percentage at 100% having only thrown out first pitches in 1910 and 1911. Bill Clinton and Bush, Sr. tied for second place with a .750 win percentage as the teams won three of four in each case for various teams.

WJ- Only in a few cases do I ever mark the opposite front panel with anything; however, in this case it was very important. Due to the fact that this hat was technically used from 1916-1925 it was very important for me to write about someone who actually played under the hat, and witnessed the majority, including the very first of the Ceremonial First Pitches.

Walter Perry Johnson was born in Humboldt, Kansas in 1887 but moved to Southern California in his teen years where he attended Fullerton Union High School where he struck out 27 batters in a 15-inning game against rival Santa Anita High School. He later moved to Idaho, where he doubled as a telephone company employee and a pitcher for a Weiser-based team in the Idaho State League. Johnson was spotted by a talent scout and signed a contract with the Senators in July 1907 at the age of nineteen. Johnson won renown as the premier power pitcher of his era. Ty Cobb recalled his first encounter with the rookie fastballer:

"On August 2, 1907, I encountered the most threatening sight I ever saw in the ball field. He was a rookie, and we licked our lips as we warmed up for the first game of a doubleheader in Washington. Evidently, manager Pongo Joe Cantillon of the Nats had picked a rube out of the cornfields of the deepest bushes to pitch against us... He was a tall, shambling galoot of about twenty; with arms so long they hung far out of his sleeves, and with a sidearm delivery that looked unimpressive at first glance... One of the Tigers imitated a cow mooing, and we hollered at Cantillon: 'Get the pitchfork ready, Joe-- your hayseed's on his way back to the barn.'”

“...The first time I faced him, I watched him take that easy windup. And then something went past me that made me flinch. The thing just hissed with danger. We couldn't touch him... every one of us knew we'd met the most powerful arm ever turned loose in a ball park."

Although a lack of precision instruments prevented accurate measurement of his fastball, in 1917, a Bridgeport, Connecticut munitions laboratory recorded Johnson's fastball at 134 feet per second, which is equal to 91.36 miles per hour (147.03 km/h), a velocity which was virtually unique in Johnson's day, with the possible exception of Smoky Joe Wood. Johnson, moreover, pitched with a sidearm motion, whereas power pitchers are normally known for pitching with a straight-overhand delivery. Johnson's motion was especially difficult for right-handed batters to follow, as the ball seemed to be coming from third base.

Johnson played his entire career with the Senators from 1907-1927. During his tenure he won two American League MVP awards in 1913 and 1924. He never played in an All-Star Game as the first one wasn’t played until 1933. He also never won a Cy Young Award as the first ones were given out in 1956, a year after his death. He only won one World Series in 1924 against the New York Giants. Johnson does have the distinction of being one of the first five players elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936. The other four: Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner. Shockingly Cobb outlived them all.

Johnson has the second-most wins in MLB history with 417, only 94 behind Young. He has 3.509 strikeouts, which puts him at ninth place all-time. And he has a career ERA of 2.167, which is also the ninth best in MLB history. Throughout his career Johnson led the league in almost every positive category numerous time: Wins a total of six times at which 36 in 1936 was his career-high, ERA five times at which 1.14 in 1913 was his career-best, most innings pitched five times at which he topped out at 371 2/3 in 1914 and most strikeouts 12 times in which 313 was his career-high in 1910.

Walter Johnson retired to Germantown, Maryland. A lifelong Republican and friend of President Calvin Coolidge, Johnson was elected as a Montgomery County commissioner in 1938. His father-in-law was Rep. Edwin Roberts, a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1940 Johnson ran for a congressional seat in Maryland's 6th district, but came up short against the incumbent Democrat, William D. Byron, by a total of 60,037 (53%) to 52,258 (47%).

Joseph W. Martin, Jr., before he was the Speaker of the US House of Representatives from 1947 to 1949 and 1953 to 1955, recruited Johnson to run for Congress. "He was an utterly inexperienced speaker," Martin later said. "I got some of my boys to write two master speeches for him – one for the farmers of his district and the other for the industrial areas. Alas, he got the two confused. He addressed the farmers on industrial problems, and the businessmen on farm problems."

At 11:40 pm, Tuesday, December 10, 1946 Johnson died of a brain tumor in Washington, D.C., five weeks after his 59th birthday, and was interred at Rockville Union Cemetery in Rockville, Maryland.

March 13- Washington Nationals

For several years I shared the same plight as my friend Dave Kaufman, and quite possibly the majority of Montreal, in being overtly depressed over the Montreal Expos relocating to Washington, D.C. We were, and are still extremely saddened by the move at the end of the 2004 season; however, different motives fueled our emotions. For Dave, he had lost the one team he grew up with. For me, I lost the team I grew to love, and even more so, lost the team that quite possibly could have ended up in my backyard in Portland. Regardless of our feelings, the overall feeling of a team moving back to a city which lost two teams previous never made much sense, even if the money was right.

For starters the Washington Nationals played all of their home games at the old Robert F. Kennedy Stadium, the same stadium that was built for the second incarnation of the Washington Senators back in 1961. A stadium, mind you, that they shared with a professional soccer team, DC United of Major League Soccer. From 2005-2007 the Nationals played all of their home games at RFK while a new stadium, Nationals Park was being constructed. Despite the new ownership, the team still performed as mediocre as the Expos had before their move. I’m not trying to dog on the team, but it’s unfortunately the reality of things. The team went 225-261 under then managers Frank Robinson and Manny Acta. In 2008, the team’s first year in nationals Park, the Nats went 59-102, and to cap things off they posted the exact record the following season which prompted Acta’s firing, only to be replaced by Jim Riggleman midway through. Despite their poor finishes, the team was starting to spend money on trying to keep and attract talent like Josh Willingham, Adam Dunn and Ryan Zimmerman.

From 2010-2011 the Nats starting spending a significant amount more, especially after the acquisition of Jayson Werth (WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF!!!) and utilized their draft picks to their utmost potential. By the time 2012 rolled around the Nats were stacked. Analysts saw the heavy-hitting and stellar-pitching lineup as more of a fluke and didn’t expect them to do much. Ha! Try 98-64, the best record in Major League Baseball. On top of which the Nats made the playoffs for the first time in their history, and the second time in the franchise’s history.

The team I saw on the field this last season certainly shook off any bit of the lingering cloud left over from the old Montreal days; a mixed sentiment felt back in the old country. When I visited Montreal over the summer I overheard a few people talking about the Nats every now-and-then. Some was good, a lot was negative; and while I don’t feel that people should let go, the fact of the matter is that the Expos faded out in D.C. at the tail end of the 2010 season, the same time this hat became defunct. From 2009-2010 this cap served as the alternate cap, something I felt was way too short of a time frame. The Nats certainly went through a dark period under this cap; however, it was because of those gloomy times that the team was able to pull some solid draft picks and make some phenomenal trades for the 2012 season. Moves which totally justify the numbers I dropped on this beast.

#47- It was an extremely sad day in Oakland Athletics nation when Gio Gonzalez got traded to the Nats; however, in return the A’s got Derek Norris and Tommy Milone, a move which proved to be extremely beneficial for both sides. On April 16, 2012 Gio, Edwin Jackson and Ross Detwiler made their way to New York and in through the doors of the MLB Fan Cave. Since there wasn’t a Nationals rep in the Cave I had always taken it upon myself to rock the gear of any team whose players paid a visit, but only if none of the other eight were reps of their teams. My mother raised me right, in the sense that as a host I am always obligated to make the guests feel welcome. So sure enough the gang came strolling in, full of life. Detwiler was a bit standoffish on account that he was making his season debut against the New York Mets that night, but Gio and Edwin took to the Cave as if it were a funhouse. I was given the honor of leading the tour, something which felt really cheesy to me considering that these guys were grown men who just wanted to hang out, put their feet up and take a peek on their own time. As the tour came to a close Edwin and Gio were called over by the production crew to shoot their scenes for a video they were making on doing Detwiler’s chores for the day to keep his mind clear for his game. It was also during this time that the cat was let out of the bag on the Jayson Werth (WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF!!!) rule.

A few days before they came in there was a rule established by Ricardo Marquez and Ricky Mast that anytime anyone said the name Jayson Werth (WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF!!!) I had to bark like a dog. No exclusions applied. One of the two had tipped Gio off and in between takes he shouted Jayson Werth (WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF!!!) from across the Cave. This happened somewhere between 15 and 20 times, including his ordering the cab driver to stop and wait for him so he could run back inside and yell it at me one more time. Prior to his visit Gio had gone two games without a decision on the season and with a 3.38 ERA. After he left he went on to win seven of his next eight, dropping his ERA down to 2.04 at the end of May. It was also around this time that I had picked up this cap from the New Era Flagship Store from across the street. As soon as I got it back to the Cave I felt compelled to drop his number on the front for being such a cool dude. Unfortunately for me, I got the axe from the Fan Cave the following day.

Gio and I had been talking sporadically throughout the season on Facebook; however, when I started my road trip we stopped talking for the sake that we were both clearly busy with real life. On August 17 I made my way to D.C. to catch two games versus the Mets. It was during this time I met a longtime Twitter buddy Rachel Wynn (@RachWynn), a die hard Mets fan. Rachel and I hung out during the first game where we proceeded to get “white girl wasted” throughout the night along with one of her friends who came down to the games with her. The one thing I remember most from the first night was ending up at The Bullpen, an outdoor bar across the street from Nationals Park. There, we proceeded to crush a heavy amount of Bud Light with Lime and walk around the joint making fun of all the frat guys we saw. At one point the conversation turned really weird and I started coming up with ways to make a train wreck of a scene. The best idea? Yelling, “Who wants to get fuuuuuuuuuuuucked!?!?” as loud as I could. The rest of the night is a blur, but I had to get back to the game the next day so I slept in the car as to not cause an accident.

Game two came around and I headed in earlier with the hopes that I might be able to go say hey to Gio. Apparently luck was on my side as I stumbled into this sign on my way through the gate…

I’ll admit, I was a bit hesitant to drop in to say hello. I’ve never been much of a “fanboy.” You know, those guys that hound for autographs and photos and such. I literally just wanted to say hello… and maybe get one photo. I got in line pretty early and had to wait about 35 minutes to get inside, which wasn’t a big deal as I had time to kill anyway. I finally got close to the table he was sitting at when I noticed a sign that said “no photographs.” As in no photographs with the player so that more people could file through during the designated time. So, I popped this photo as fast as I could before I got up to the table.

I had promised a friend, Toni Taylor (@condorsfan06) back in Bakersfield, California an autograph of Gio’s. Not having anything else on me I slid my ticket across the table while his head was still down. He signed it and handed it back. In the process of his arm reaching out to his head tilting up he went from chill mode to jumping over the table to give me a hug in less than a nanosecond. “Heeeeeyyyyyy!!!” he yelled as he put me in a bear hug. We chatted for a very quick second as to not hold up the line, at which it ended with his asking, “Are you coming to see me pitch tomorrow?” My original plan was to drive to my friend Tom’s house in South Jersey the next morning; however, when a ball player asks if you’re going to be at their game, you do it.

I met up with Rachel and her friend again after game two somewhere in DC, along with another group of people we had partied with after the previous night’s game. This time around; however, I kept a cool head and kept my drinking light so I could go back to my hotel to shower and sleep. Luckily for us there was a bar we stepped into that had a Nintendo 64 set up with Mario Kart 64 in the console. Needless to say, Rachel and I made it an all out war. Can’t remember who won though. So I’ll claim it.

The next day came and it was pouring rain. Somehow in the two and a half months I had been traveling I had yet to deal with a rain delay. With nothing else to do I decided to grab a few beers and a few smokes to kill time during the three-hour delay. During my tour of the stadium I was spotted by two hardcore Nats fans who had been following me on Twitter since my time in the Cave. What was funny is that when I passed by them I had an apparent scowl on my face, which is common for me whenever I’m in the zone and on a mission. I got back to my seat when Gary (@SperryGary) had hit me up asking if it was me. I immediately remembered who I had passed and went right back to make introductions. Gary, his friend Ryan (@MyGuyRyan) and I hit it off really well, crushed a few more beers before the rain finally let up and Gio got to his warm-up routine. I dropped down, snapped a few photos and sank into my seat. Gio pitched a solid 5 2/3 innings with three strikeouts and I met up with Gary and Ryan front row on the first base side for the last two innings of the game. The Nats won 5-2 and Gio’s record jumped to 16-6 with a 3.23 ERA.

Gio unfortunately finished in third place for the National League Cy Young award, which in all honesty could have gone to Clayton Kershaw easily as well, but it was RA Dickey who took home the treasure. Last night Gio was tapped to make his season debut for the USA Baseball team in the World Baseball Classic. And, in classic Gio form, he dealt five solid innings only giving up three hits, no runs and punching out five batters. Oh, and if I didn’t emphasize this earlier, Gio is clearly one of the Top 10 raddest dudes on the planet.

#34- If you haven’t been following me on Twitter for very long there’s a very specific thing I always refer Bryce Harper as: “some Mormon kid.” Being a fellow Mo-Mo myself I always find it incredibly awesome to see a strong kid of faith following his dreams in the same footsteps as such greats as Wally Joyner, Cory Snyder, Jeff Kent and Harmon Killebrew. Harper was taken with the first overall pick in the 2010 amateur draft; something that really didn’t shock anyone. I mean, the kid is the real deal. Despite being the #1 ranked prospect, Harper started the season in AAA Syracuse for the Chiefs… for 21 games. The Nats promoted him to the Show and he made his MLB debut in Dodger Stadium on April 28, 2012. In that same game he cracked his first Major League hit, a double over the head of Matt Kemp as which he jammed around the bases so fast his helmet flew off, exposing that sweet power Mohawk-rat tail combo he had going. It wasn’t too much later after a game in Toronto that we were given one of Harper’s quotable gems after a reporter asked him what his favorite beer has been since getting to Canada where he can legally drink on account of his age. His response, the priceless, “That’s a clown question bro” that we’ve all said to a friend and/or co-worker at some point in time since that night. While people want to clown the kid for saying that, I have to tip my cap to him for having the foresight to get that quote trademarked and copyrighted for licensing purposes.

Harper churned out a phenomenal season, which merely added to the magic that was the 2012 Nationals, with his NL Rookie of the Year award after posting .270/22/59 and 18 stolen bases. The one thing that I will forever appreciate about this kid; however, is his attitude. He doesn’t fake it, he owns it 100%. I recall an interview he did for a magazine round the time he was drafted at which he commented on why he’s so arrogant on the field. His response, "There are so many people out there who will tell you that you can't. What you've got to do is turn around and say 'Watch Me'” That’s pretty insightful for a 19-year-old.

While I never had the chance to meet Harper when he stopped by the Fan Cave, I hope I get the opportunity to pick his brain sometime down the road. It’s very rare for me to admire someone so much younger than me, but if it was going to be anybody, who better than a person who puts his money where his mouth is?

February 18- Washington Senators

Like a lot of kids I grew up with, we all had dreams of breaking out in Major League Baseball. I recall as a youth always going to Pin Oak Park or Leo B. Hart Elementary School in Bakersfield, California to play ball with my friends almost every day after school. We all had our favorite players that we tried to mimic; mine of course was Mark McGwire. I always made sure to keep my knees bent, and do the slow wag of the bat while taking wide, open-mouthed chomps of my Big League Chew every time I was at the plate. While I didn’t have McGwire’s ropey forearms, I could still muscle a few over the chain-link fence that stood, what seemed like a mile away, 200 feet away from home plate. On the inverse of that, anytime any of my friends teed off on me and gave the Kirk Gibson fist pump while rounding the bases, I made sure to plunk them the next time they were at bat. We fought, we cussed, we spit, we got down and dirty, but most of all, we played until we couldn’t see the ball anymore. Every walk home from the ball field was taken right out of the movie “The Sandlot;” discussions of how to hit the opposite direction and knowing the proper way to play the angles off the wall if we were stuck in the outfield. We were all modern day Sparky Andersons, Tony Larussas and Earl Weavers on and off the field. Baseball was our life.

I bring up this bit of my past because it’s not all the different from any kid growing up in any city, small town or country in which baseball is a national sport. Some of us make it to the Show, while the rest of us move on with our lives; but we still make sure to visit the local stadium for a brief reminder of how precious, endearing and simple life once was when we were young.

One player in baseball history knew this all too well, but very few, and I mean very few, even have the slightest clue who he is. I’ll start with the hat though. From 1952-1960 the Washington Senators donned the navy blue and red in what would be the final nine years of the original incarnation’s existence. At the end of the 1960 season the Senators packed up and moved to greener pastures in Minnesota; a tale I wrote on February 15. Poor attendance and poor showings in the standings year-after-year, not to mention western geographical expansion (Manifest Destiny), helped aid the team in their departure. Not a lot of well-known players came from this era with the exception of Hall of Famers Harmon Killebrew and Whitey Herzog (went in as a manager). But… as I mentioned above, one player in particular popped out and I had to pay tribute to him.

.293/0/2- Pompeyo Antonio "Yo-Yo" Davalillo Romero was born in Cabimas, Venezuela in 1931 and made his Major League debit for the Senators on August 1, 1953. Yo-Yo was the fourth Venezuelan born player to make it to the big leagues at the time, but like the others (Alex Carrasquel, Chucho Ramos and Chico Carrasquel); they only went down in the history books as a name. At 5’3’’ and 140 pounds, Yo-Yo wasn’t expected to do much other than take up space at shortstop; however, he was remarked by some to being a pretty decent defensive player despite six career errors… in only 19 career games. Yo-Yo’s career came to a close on August 23, 1953, and yes, before the season even ended. He had an average on .293, no home runs and two RBI for his career. He is one of the very rare cases of a player leaving the game under their own volition while in the prime of their career. I realize the term prime is a bit arbitrary in this case as his career never really went up or down, but for someone who was still physically able to play, it’s a pretty big deal. Yo-Yo had played Minor League ball for 11 seasons, nine of which came in AAA; however, the one thing that most guys back in those days (as well as today) will tell you is that all travel to games came via the team bus. As it turned out, Yo-Yo was deathly afraid of traveling by airplane. Therefore, he walked away from his shot on the top. Yo-Yo continued to play ball in Mexico from 1962-64, as well as back in Venezuela from 1965-66. He was inducted into the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006 and even managed in the Venezuelan League for several years after his playing career ended.

Going back to my introduction, the case of Yo-Yo Davalillo is a reminder to all of us that we’re all destined for something great, but we don’t necessarily understand what that is until we come face-to-face with our dream once it’s attained. In my case, a series of injuries kept me from playing ball, but it didn’t keep me away from the game. I merely adapted and continued to love the game as I saw fit.