August 14- Baltimore Orioles

I don’t know how to start this post, so I’m just going to get into it. I’m very lucky and very happy to be alive and I'm sorry for the families who were affected by the shooting at the Clackamas Town Center Mall. I know the heading date doesn't correspond, but the real time does. Please forgive that error.

Each of my 350 New Era Caps tells a specific story, but only a small handful of them have become synonymous with specific life-changing moments. Prior to today I had only worn this cap once on December 12, 2012, even though I bought it from the Lids in Eugene, Oregon about eight or nine months prior. I really don’t have a specific reason as the why I never wore it. To be honest, when you have as many caps as I do, you tend to forget about wearing a lot of them. This cap in particular carries the story of one of the most intense, depressing days of my life, and I couldn’t be happier to still be able to tell the tale. As I look back on the way my day started, I have to attribute this accessory decision to Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones.

I was living at my parents’ house in Portland, Oregon at the time since my final term at the University of Oregon didn’t start until the first week of January. Rather than be bored and jobless after the baseball season had ended, I went back to work at Just Sports (@JustSportsPDX) at the Clackamas Town Center Mall in southeastern Portland to help out my friend/boss Jason Cobb (@JasonMCobb) and to put some extra cash into my pocket. This day in particular I was set to work the closing shift of the higher-volume store downstairs as Jason used it as one of his days off and I always preferred to close rather than open since I’m usually livelier in the evening. This day in particular was especially gloomy and cold, but thankfully not raining. My dog Tuaca, a Rottweiler, woke me up around 9:30 AM by jumping on the bed to lick my face, just like she did every morning before the last. My parents had already left for work, but what I remember most is that my mother didn’t come into my room to wake me up as she likes to do around 7 AM, well before I have any desire to see the light of day. With dog slobber running down my face I made my way to the bathroom to wash up before I headed into the kitchen to destroy a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. It was tasty.

I still had plenty of time to get ready as the drive to the mall was only about 40 minutes away (holiday traffic) so I did my usual Twittering. At this time I was still posting photos from my time in the MLB Fan Cave and my tour across the country to my Instagram account and for some reason I had decided to chat about when Jones and then-Oriole Robert Andino had dropped in to shoot the “Put Some Birds on it” sketch. Andino didn’t say much, but Jones was certainly the life of the party, all smiles and willing to do whatever. Due to the fact that nobody in the Fan Cave was an Orioles fan I opted to rock the home style cap along with a Nike shirt that my friend Samuel had designed for the occasion. Besides my apparel, Jones had taken a shine to me because of my MLB tattoos, most notably the Billy Ripken homage and my “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” piece. When the time came for Jones, Andino and the production crew to hit the streets to continue filming, Jones told me to come along too.

I didn’t say or do much while we were out and about except snap pictures and occasionally swap jokes, but just being there and being wanted to be there was really all the prize unto itself. Jones and Andino made me feel appreciated, even if I wasn’t an Orioles fan. I think deep down they both knew that I didn’t take all of the glitz and glamour serious, and that I just wanted to have fun. So, when I posted the photos of before…

and after…

 And tagged him in them, we had a bit to talk about seven months removed from that day. To give clarification, the top photo was from the two of them walking the streets with the big Orioles logo and the bottom one was a photo I personally wanted to send to my friend Scott Landis (@ScottCLandis), an actual Orioles fan, for his birthday that was a month away at the time. Not too long after I posted them Jones hit me up, started following on Twitter and we gabbed for a bit about Andino going to Seattle to play for the Mariners. After we wrapped things up I hit the shower, got dressed and picked out my cap.

Despite the number of Orioles caps I own I had yet to dedicate any of my markings from the current caps to anyone except Andino, which I’ll get into in a later post. With the 2012 to present road cap still available I marked it up with the two guys who I knew would be superstars in Baltimore when their careers came to an end..

 #10- Adam Jones

#13- Manny Machado

In retrospect I realize how amusing it is for me of all people to give Machado this accolade, especially after all the guff I got from Orioles fans all season after I said Josh Donaldson was better, but none of that means that I don’t think Machado is going to be a star. He most definitely is.

This majority of this  portion I wrote around 2:00 AM on December 13, 2012. I have added a few pieces since.

I arrived about 15 minutes early and checked my online activity on my phone at the Starbucks at the southwestern side of the mall, as that was the best spot for me to get internet access. Before I left my house I had posted (above) my 4-step New Era photo of me taking off the stickers, creasing the bill and marking the hat with jersey numbers for one of my newer Orioles hats. I had gotten a few likes, which I was satisfied with and headed in a little early to see if any new freight had come in. There had, but only about 4 new boxes, nothing terrible. I clocked in and dove in to try and get caught up on the previous freight. We had gotten in a load of NFL, Oregon Ducks and NBA jersey restock as well as a lot of popular sweatshirts. My co-assistant manager Clayton and I stuck to the freight whilst the other employees: Adam, Connor, Justin and Kevin helped the customers. Every now-and-then I popped out onto the floor to help someone, but for the most part I stuck to getting the product out. I had quickly knocked out one of the boxes. Since a lot of the product required sensor tags, I first put out all of the stuff that didn’t need them: Portland Timbers gear. We had about 5 adult and youth jersey to throw on our 50% off rounder so I finessed them in, along with about 7 hooded sweatshirts. I walked back to grab the last two shirts when I heard a loud bang.

I have heard in moments like this that time stands still. A few of the customers around me and I exchanged glances and all had puzzled looks. Somewhere in a matter of a fraction of a second we all came to the conclusion, mentally at least, that the sound was probably a large box that had fallen to the ground and made the commotion. As I turn to hang up the last two shirts it started… BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!!! Having fired off an array of hand guns, assault rifles and sniper ripples with my stepfather, I knew what I was hearing. Everyone in the store, roughly 12 people including myself, had stopped in their tracks. I on the other hand sprinted to the door to close and lock them. I remember yelling, “Get out!” to everyone as I ran, but still no one moved. I saw dozens of people running eastward as I got to the door and told and grabbed as many people as I could into the store before no one else was within my grasp. I closed the doors, hit the deck and locked the massive glass doors as quickly as I could. One kid in particular was standing next to me doing nothing. I yelled, “Get the fuck to the back of the store!” He froze. I then pushed and yelled at everyone else to go out the back door. Clayton and the rest of my co-workers to notice and began rushing everyone out. I had never been in a situation like this before, by a sense of leadership overcame me. As soon as I saw everyone clear out the back I quickly closed the door completely and ducked behind the sales counter, waiting to see if anyone would walk by. After a few moments I walked toward the front to see if there was anyone else out there. Sure enough there were patrons casually walking through the mall on their cell phones. I unlocked one of the doors and called for them to come in. Once they cleared the threshold I locked it again, explained what had happened and got them out. I then moved back to the counter area and got on twitter to post that there had been a shooting. I’m still not sure why, but I momentarily went back about my business as the phone rang from other stores in our company looking for product. I told them all that there had been a shooting and their attitude quickly changed, making sure I was OK. I said yes, asked what they were looking for and gave them an answer. In between calls I continued to tweet what I was seeing.

Clayton and Adam had started texting me, asking if I was still inside. I told them yes and that I was waiting. At this time they informed that the police had arrived and surrounded the building. When I read that I knew I couldn’t just walk out into safety. Looking the way I do, with my beard and all, I would be greeted by local law enforcement with all guns on me, ready to be taken into custody to be questioned. Obviously I had no involvement, but they don’t know that. I continued to stay behind the counter and kept tweeting. For some reason I took to trying to be a bit more humorous for a few. I remembered reading about Brett Lawrie being in a mall when a shooting had broken out and so I sent out a tweet to the tune of, “I feel a lot like Brett Lawrie right now.” After that I sent, “I'm glad I have shoes on. Last thing I need is broken glass and bare feet like John MacLaine,” an obvious Die Hard reference. Almost immediately after that tweet SWAT had taken siege. I saw three teams of three stroll by the front of the store, all armed with AR-15 rifles and full body gear. After they passed I hit the floor and crept my way across to the front to snap some photos. 

 I finally saw a sheriff’s deputy across the way and signaled to him that I was trapped inside. He motioned for me to get back, so I did. Ben Lacy, a producer at KGW in Portland, and fellow Oregon alum, hit me up on Twitter and asked if they could do a live interview. I sent him a DM with my number and said yes. Five minutes later I was live on the air, taking the reporter step by step as to what had happened. A few minutes in, the police had arrived at the door and motioned for me. The glass isn’t soundproof, so they told me to unlock the door and be ready to stay low and move out. I had forgotten my Galaxy Note and jacket, but didn’t care. I wanted to get out. As soon as I got the green light, I cleared out. I looked back and noticed that there were six totally officers, all armed to the teeth with .45s, shotguns and rifles. I booked a sharp right and headed out.

Now, at the time when I made my exit I thought I had an officer tailing behind me as an escort. I didn’t. As soon as I cleared the threshold of the door I was “greeted” by five officers with shotguns and assault rifles all pointed at me.

“Get your hands up!” I heard someone yell.

I complied.

“Get on your knees and drop the phone!” I heard.

I did

“Slowly lay down and cross your legs!”

As soon as I did I felt my Orioles hat slip down over my face, but I remained motionless. The last thing I wanted was a bullet entering any part of my body. All I could think about was the first two seasons of the TV show “The Wire” that I had been going through whenever I had free time. More than likely you can chalk that up to the fact that the show takes place in Baltimore and I happened to be wearing an Orioles cap. One of the deputies came around and slapped handcuffs on me, pulled me up and walked me to the left for questioning. I stood up straight and answered everything he asked: Name, business at the mall, etc. He then got on his intercom and asked for a description of the suspect, which luckily I didn’t fit. As I stood there shivering in khaki and pants and a polo shirt in the cold more people began exiting… all of which glared at me as they passed as if I was the shooter. I didn’t let it bother me. I turned my head to the left to get a look at the deputy and listen in on the responses he was getting. He was almost a foot shorter than me with short grey hair and an amazing salt and pepper mustache and glasses. He then slipped his business card into my pocket and told me to call if I had any information to give as he unlocked the steel bracelets. He pointed me toward the left of the parking lot and told me to get out that way. I did what he asked and walked away… for a bit. Around this time I was getting texts and calls from a lot of people making sure I was safe. Since my Note was still inside the store I couldn’t get on Twitter to let everyone know I had made it out. I texted everyone I knew who had Twitter to let them know and to let others know I was fine. Unfortunately, most of the people that I knew who had large followings on Twitter are all on the East Coast. Not until the end of the night did it dawn on me that they had no idea what was going on. Therefore, I got a lot of confused texts back. My friend Kat in Boston, who works for NECN, called me up; made sure I was doing fine and asked if I would do an interview.

Kat and I went to the University of Oregon together and I crashed at her place in Boston during my second trip there over the summer during my MLB stadium tour. She is also one of the few reporters to be on the scene as the bomb went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. I said I’d be more than happy to. As we chatted on the phone I noticed more people leaving the mall… I then hatched a plan. I really wanted my Note back so I could get back on Twitter to give updates so I asked the deputy at the door if he could escort me back to the store so I could lock it up, which is actually true. He said yes and took me back. About halfway there he asked another deputy, the one who handcuffed and questioned me, to take me the rest of the way. He jokingly said yes and followed me in. I quickly ran in and grabbed my jacket, cigarettes, Note and locked the door on my way out. It was during this time that I noticed tables, chairs and product from stores strewn about the walkway of the mall.

It was a rather eerie feeling, but for some reason I was still calm. I half sprinted back to the original doorway I had exited the mall and passed by a girl crying hysterically and talking to two officers as she had witnessed the shooting. I didn’t gather much as I wanted to get back outside. Once again, as I cleared the door way the same officer was about to yell at me to get down, but realized I was the same guy as before. A slight moment passed and he told me to be on my way. I called Kat back and did the interview with one of their reports and walked across the road where I knew there was a Starbucks with Wi-Fi. I sat down and typed away. Giving updates on Facebook and Twitter what I knew, and what I had overheard. It also gave me time to call my parents and assure everyone that I was safe.

Over the next hour or so I did interviews with KATU in Portland, NECN live in air, the Jeff Sammut Show (@JeffSammut590) in Toronto and even Good Morning America. I posted photos and got hit up by FOX and CNN for permission to run the photos and do more interviews. It was a weird feeling. Despite going to the U of O for journalism, I had always wanted to do sports. This was way more important and I gave my clearance on everything as it is my responsibility to relay the information.

Around 5:45 PM PST, over two hours since the shooting had started; I finally got in my car and headed home. Mentally I was burnt out and just wanted to get back into the familiar. Traffic was pretty ridiculous and I called ahead to my mom to let her know. With nothing but the steering in my hands and my thoughts, my brain drifted back to when I was 14-years-old, living in Bakersfield, California. (This part of the story I have never told anyone)

I can’t really remember the date, but I do remember it was spring. I was with a few of my friends at his parents’ house, a few blocks from Centennial High School where we all attended. We had been sitting around, watching TV and gabbing about usual high schooler things. Around 4:30 his older brother walked into the house and sat down with us. As he sat down he pulled out a bad of marijuana and his .45 from the waistband of the back of his pants. What I didn’t know and everyone else did was that he was a drug dealer. At that time I really didn’t like guns too much so I sat away from everyone else as they talked about it and wanted to see it. After about five minutes of that nonsense I had to pee so I got up and went down the hall and around a left turn corner to go. I finished, washed my hands and walked out. As I was about to bank right back into their living room the gun fired. I didn’t realize it at first until I turned my head to the right and noticed the gun pointing at my face. I then turned me head quickly left and noticed a bullet hole in the wall. The bullet had whizzed about 7 inches from my face and by the grace of God had missed. Everyone in the living room froze, except for my friend’s brother who quickly snatched the gun out of the hand of the kid who had fired it. Despite the clip being out of the gun, my friend’s brother forgot to take the one in the chamber out before he handed it off to let the younglings play with it. The last thing I remember was yelling at everyone, crying and running home. I didn’t tell my parents and I stopped talking to the kid who had pulled the trigger for years. That, realistically, is the closest I had ever come to dying as a result of gun-related means.

Throughout my day I had been calm and collective. The shooting at the mall took place about 200 yards away from me, yet I still went into protective mode over everyone else. Perhaps the trauma from my youth made me less scared? I’ll never really know. After seeing my parents, having dinner with them and watching “North by Northwest” with them, the gravity of today’s events didn’t hit me until they went to bed.

What happened when I was a kid was in isolated incident, but what happened today took place on a much larger scale. Three people are dead, including the shooter. Thousands of people will be affected by this for the rest of their lives. As terrible as things got, I am forever grateful that I was there to have a clear head and to help people get to safety. Hero is a word I’ve heard a few times since. Thrown around casually as we do with our sports icons, but I certainly don’t feel like one. I just did what needed to be done. I can only hope that others do the same in a similar situation.

Back to today

Over the last year I have spoken to a few people about it, but for the most part I don’t really bring it up unless somebody else does. In the time shortly after that night our country was dealt with another vicious blow as 26 kids and a teacher were gunned down in a similar fashion at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Dealing with the death of adults via shooting has been something I’ve been able to deal with; however, the death of kids, in any fashion, is an unfortunate blight that is truly hard to shake. The one thing from that day that I haven’t been able to shake is the information that came to light when my co-worker/friend Adam Weaver and I went back to work to clean up the store right before the mall re-opened their doors, we had in fact met the shooter a few days prior.

Adam was the one who had helped and rung him up for a Pittsburgh Pirates Cooperstown Collection New Era Cap, but the three us, along with his friend he had with him, all chatted it out for a bit afterward. Nothing from that moment would have indicated that he would come back and do the horrible thing that he did. But then again, what really are the warning signs for these kinds of things? I’m not going to spin this into a philosophical piece, but I do want to conclude by saying that every person I’ve met in my life, even for just five seconds, has some bearing on my shaping of who I am today. The same can really be said for all of us. Over the last year I had my ups and downs, but the most significant of downs came as my time in the Fan Cave came to an end and the way my relationships with those I worked with crumbled in the months to follow. Lindsay Guentzel, Ricky Mast and Shaun Kippins were the only three from my time to contact me after the shooting and Mike O’Hara and Ryan Wagner from the first season were on top of things with me as the information unfolded. As for the rest, nothing.

A lot of my turmoil between the rest of the group I had covered back on my July 16th post about the National League All-Star cap and how things went sour during the 2012 All-Star Game. One thing I may have left out in that was how, even in my later apologies, I had tried to get a hold of Ricardo Marquez as soon as I got home that night, but didn’t receive a reply. I’m not trying to make him look like a jerk, nor anybody else, but in the weeks that followed the shooting I really felt wrongfully neglected by the group even though I was doing my damndest to patch things up. To each their own, I suppose.

What I want to leave you all with is some insight. It’s very unhealthy to bottle things up. This is something I’ve learned and continue to learn when I write these blog posts. Not everyone will be your friend, but it’s almost important to put forth a good effort and let others know that you’ll be there for them. Who knows what kind of tragedies can be prevented down the road, but even if they can’t be prevented, at least you’ll have a clear conscience on knowing that you did everything you could. This could go for anyone really. It doesn’t matter how big or small or close the person is to you, resolving your issues, helping out others and showing someone that you care goes a lot farther than anyone can think. Not a day goes by that I wish I didn’t do more or could take back all the harsh things that happened between the people I care about and myself. For the rest of my life I’ll be living with these things, and for the rest of my life this hat will be a symbol to remind me of how to make it better.

August 4- Baltimore Orioles

There’s a particular topic that I was bound to write about for one of my New Era Cap posts and it definitely appears that today is the day. The topic: performance enhancing drugs. For those of you who don’t know, I actually tackled this subject in a rather thorough manner back in July for one of the Web sites I write for, eDraft Sports. In it I detailed the history of steroids, the political links, where PEDs are today and pretty much why Major League Baseball turning a blind eye got us to where we are today. My overall opinion on the matter is that I frankly don’t care if anyone is taking anything to help their game, but I’ll go into more detail on that throughout this piece. Sadly though, most people do care, the most important of which are the baseball writers who have affiliation with the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA).

Since I was a kid, first honing my writing chops, I had always dreamed of being a member of this exclusive club of writers. Why? Because these are the folks that determine who is to be awarded the cache of season-based accomplishments (Cy Young, MVP, Rookie of the Year and Manager of the Year), but more important, this is the group who determines who gets into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. As an avid fan of the game some of the best conversations (arguments) I’ve had with other writers and fans is who should have gotten into the Hall of Fame, who is the best Hall of Famer, who should get in of the folks still eligible, etc. Of course in all of this mess the question of “should anyone for the 1990s on (steroid era) even be considered?” is always a favorite of mine when mixed with a fresh pizza and about a bakers dozen of beers… per person in the discussion. The best part of these moments always comes up about six to eight beers in when the discussion has somehow become a pissing contest and a bevy name-calling has entered the mix along with the occasional sack tap. In the end, no one really wins. All levels of emotion and opinion have been thrown onto the table and all parties involved have either strengthened their original viewpoint or, in some cases, had light shed on a perspective they may nit have though about before. While I don’t doubt that members of the BBWAA have found themselves in similar situations, in my personal dealings I have yet to walk away with the feeling of being above anyone and their stance. Based on what I have witnessed for quite a while on Twitter, I don’t feel that any member of the BBWAA (who use Twitter) can say the same thing.

I will be the first to admit that I’m not the greatest writer in the world, nor will I probably ever be. I am more than skilled in the art of being able to string words together to form sentences which inevitably form sentences displaying my views, opinions and sides of the story, but I’m certainly not the greatest at it. Do it I do it with a little more heart than others, perhaps. At the end of the day I can walk away after putting down the pen or closing my laptop and feel good about what I crafted because I am a man of convictions and I stand by my principles. Can my opinion be swayed or altered, of course, I am human. Free thought is one of many traits that separate us from other members of the animal kingdom, just as accountability and reason are as well. By now you’re all probably wondering what any of this has to do with this Baltimore Orioles cap on my head. Well, it has everything to do with it.

Back in December of 2011 my cap collection was respectable, but still significantly small. I think I was sitting on roughly 18 hats, which is a slight fraction of the roughly 330 I have in my possession today. Yah, two years goes by pretty fast. Anyway, I was visiting my best friend/high school girlfriend Laurin Mitchell in San Luis Obispo, California along with my good friend/college roommate Jared Clark in the days leading up to the 2012 Rose Bowl which featured the Wisconsin Badgers and the Oregon Ducks. We hadn’t seen Laurin since the middle of June when the three of us all took in an Oakland Athletics game at the Coliseum when they played the Kansas City Royals. During one of our days of drinking and touring around SLO we happened to walk past a sports store called The Sports Forum which inevitably peaked my interest as they quite possibly could have had a few caps that I wanted to add to my collection. What I didn’t know at the time was that every baseball item in their store was 40% off for the end of the season closeout special. The only reason I ended up finding out about the sale was because Jared and I went to Pismo Beach on our final day at the coast where one of the store’s other locations are. I of course broke the bank buying hats then, but the location in SLO had a lot more that I really wanted to get my hands on. The one hat that they did have, which happened to be 50% off was this Orioles cap as they were discontinuing it for the 2012 season. Just so you know, this particular cap was used from 2009-2011 for both home and road games, and no, I’m not mistaken when I say this. The Orioles had quite a few caps that featured an oriole that looks similar to this, but I assure you, they’re not the same. For this cap the oriole’s head is lower and the appearance of any kind of a neck is nearly non-existent. The placement of the feet is also another indicator as this logo features the curdled up toes. From 1989-2008 the Orioles went through three previous changes to the logo, all of which I will write about in the future just as soon as I can track any of them down. I have a few leads, but they are incredibly hard (expensive) to find. Getting back to the story, The Sports Forum in SLO happened to have one left in my size so of course I had no objection to paying $17.50 plus an 8.25% sales tax to purchase it. Boom! This cap, for some crazy reason, became one of my favorite caps to wear. I’ve always enjoyed the paring of black and orange, but my loyalty to the Athletics always steered me away from wearing a San Francisco Giants cap. Even though it’s one of the newer caps used by the Orioles, there’s something about the design of the logo that gives it an old-timey kind of feel that I wish was incorporated into more caps.

When I marked this cap, pretty much a few days after I purchased it, I already had firm intentions of what was to be showing, which ultimately leads me back to my rant at the beginning of this piece. 

3020/569: If these numbers are unfamiliar to you, don’t worry; it’s only the fourth time in Major League Baseball history they’ve been paired together. These are the hits (3020) and home runs (569) that Rafael Palmeiro tallied throughout his 20-years career. I’m sure by now everything is starting to make a little bit more sense. Rather than just dive in it’s probably best to start back at the beginning. Back before everything went straight to Hell.

Palmeiro was born in Havana, Cuba, but is not considered a defector due to the age in which he came over the United States, and the label is only used for those who leave willingly due to political-based reasons. His family moved to Miami, Florida where he was raised and graduated from Miami Jackson High School and was drafted by the New York Mets in the eighth round of the 1982 draft, but he didn’t sign. Instead, Palmieiro enrolled at Mississippi State University, where he played college baseball for the MSU Bulldogs in the Southeastern Conference. He is the only SEC player to have ever won the triple crown. On June 11, 1985, Palmeiro signed with the Chicago Cubs as the 22nd pick in the 1st round of the 1985 draft, the year after Seattle Mariners star Jamie Moyer.

Palmeiro debuted on September 8, 1986 in a game between the Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field as a left fielder. During his tenure with the Cubs, he normally played left field, though occasionally he would play other outfield positions or first base. Palmeiro was the runner up to National League batting champion Tony Gwynn in 1988 with a .307 batting average, only six points below Gwynn's. He also made his first of four All-Star Game appearances in his career. After the 1988 season, Paleiro was traded by the Cubs to the Texas Rangers along with Moyer and Drew Hall in exchange for Mitch Williams, Paul Kilgus, Steve Wilson, Curtis Wilkerson, Luis Benitez, and Pablo Delgado.

Upon moving to the American League, Palmieiro was primarily used as a first baseman or designated hitter. Palmeiro blossomed as a hitter while with the Rangers, leading the league in hits in 1990 and doubles in 1991, the same year in which he made his second All-Star Game appearance. Palmeiro would stay with the Rangers until the end of the 1993 season, his first of two stints with the team. During his time he finished in the top-20 three times for the AL MVP (1990, 1991 and 1993). He also had time to star in this priceless Coca-Cola advertisement. After he was granted free agency in 1993 he signed with the Orioles for his first of two stints in Baltimore. From 1994-1998 he proved to be one of the team’s most consistent power hitters. Prior to the 1995 season, he had hit more than 30 home runs only once (37 in 1993). Starting in 1995, Palmeiro began a streak of 38+ home run years that continued through the 2003 season. He hit 373 home runs during this nine-season span, while also driving in over 100 runs in each of these seasons. However, Palmeiro never led the league in home runs, and is history's most prolific home run hitter to have never won the home run crown. Palmeiro finished in the top-18 for the AL MVP every year he was with the Orioles, locking up his third All-Star Game appearance as well as two consecutive Gold Gloves at first base in 1997 and 1998. Despite the numbers he was banging out, he was once again allowed free agency and was signed by the Rangers.

In 1999 Palmeiro posted the best season of his career: he hit a career-high .324, career-high 47 home runs, career-high 148 RBI, career-high 1.050 on-base plus slugging percentage, won his third-straight Gold Glove, his second consecutive Silver Slugger Awards, fourth and final All-Star Game appearance and finished in fifth place for the AL MVP as his teammate Ivan Rodriguez took home the prize. Palmeiro’s averaged dipped a bit through the end of his time with the Rangers, but his home runs and RBI production hardly slowed down. On May 11, 2003, his final year with the Rangers, Palmeiro hit his 500th home run off David Elder in a game against the Cleveland Indians, becoming only the 19^th player in MLB history to do so at the time. The feat came roughly a month after Sammy Sosa knocked his 500^th home run of his career with the Cubs.

Granted free agency once again, Palmeiro signed again with the Orioles and posted decent numbers in 2004, .258/23/88. The most important thing to take from that season is that he was only 78 hits away from 3,000 for his career at the age of 40. Palmeiro had a rough 2005 season, but still got the job done. On July 15^th my best friend Samuel Spencer sent me a text around 6:30 PM saying that he was at that night’s Mariners game in which they were facing off against the Orioles. The significance of this night is that Palmeiro was sitting on 2,999 hits and Joel Pińeiro was on the mound for the Mariners. For those who remember Pińeiro’s time with the Mariners in 2005, history was pretty much guaranteed to happen. After walking in his first at-bat and grounding out in his second, Palmeiro walked up to the plate for his third at-bat in the fifth inning. With third baseman Melvin Mora on second base, Palmeiro clubbed a screamer down the left field line, scoring Mora and logging the 3,000^th hit of his career. I was watching the game from home on Fox Sports Northwest and Samuel made sure to take plenty of photos as the Safeco Field crowd gave him a standing ovation. With a quick swing of the bat Palmeiro joined Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Eddie Murray as the only players in MLB history to record 3,000 hits and 500 home runs for their career. No matter what the rest of Palmeiro’s career had in store for him, there was no doubt that he was a lock for the Hall of Fame. Well…

Back on March 17, 2005, Palmeiro appeared at a Congressional hearing about steroids in baseball and, while under oath, denied ever using steroids and stated, "Let me start by telling you this: I have never used steroids, period. I don't know how to say it any more clearly than that. Never." Here’s the full video in case you forgot. The main reason why Palmeiro was put in front of Congress in the first place was because former Rangers teammate José Canseco identified Palmiero as a fellow steroid user in his 2005 book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big, and claimed he personally injected Palmeiro with steroids. Needless to say, Palmeiro was a bit vehement about the situation and willingly denied any wrongdoing. 

After Palmeiro recorded his 3,000^th hit things went back to normal... for two weeks later. On August 1, 2005, Palmeiro was suspended for ten days after testing positive for a steroid. The Washington Post reported that the steroid detected in Palmeiro's system was a "serious" one. According to The New York Times, Palmeiro tested positive for the potent anabolic steroid stanozolol. In a public statement, Palmeiro disclosed that an appeal of the suspension had already been denied. He released a statement saying, "I have never intentionally used steroids. Never. Ever. Period. Ultimately, although I never intentionally put a banned substance into my body, the independent arbitrator ruled that I had to be suspended under the terms of the program." According to Palmeiro, all of his previous tests over the two years including the 2003 sealed test were negative, and a test he took just three weeks after his positive test was also negative. While a representative from MLB couldn’t confirm or deny Palmeiro’s words, it’s a bit surprising that they didn’t, especially since they were “doing their damnedest” to clean the game up. The House Government Reform Committee would not seek perjury charges against Palmeiro, although they were not clearing him.

Palmeiro returned to Camden Yards following his 10-day suspension; that’s right, 10-day suspension on August 11, 2005, although he did not play in the lineup until August 14. Coincidentally, this was the date that had been planned as "Rafael Palmeiro Appreciation Day" in celebration of his 500-home run, 3,000-hit milestone. It was canceled after Palmeiro’s suspension. The Baltimore Sun reported that Palmeiro never offered an explanation for his positive test to the MLB arbitration panel, which ran contrary to his public statements. ESPN later reported that Palmeiro implicated Miguel Tejada to baseball's arbitration panel, suggesting a supplement provided to him by Tejada was responsible for his positive test. This supplement was supposedly vitamin B₁₂, though it could have been tainted. Tejada and two unnamed teammates provided B₁₂ samples to the panel, which did not contain stanozolol. However, the committee did say they found "substantial inconsistencies between Mr. Tejada's accounts and the accounts of players A and B." Tejada, who said he received shipments of B₁₂ from the Dominican Republic, was later implicated for steroid use in the Mitchell Report.

Palmeiro continues to strongly deny ever having used steroids intentionally, telling The Baltimore Sun in June 2006, "Yes sir, that's what happened. It's not a story; it's the reality of what happened", and "I said what I said before Congress because I meant every word of it." Palmeiro passed a polygraph test in which he was not asked if he ever used steroids, but in which he did state that he unknowingly ingested them via a B₁₂ injection. A 2005 New York Times article expressed one writer's belief that Palmeiro’s story could perhaps be the truth.

In December 2007, Palmeiro was included in the Mitchell Report in which it was alleged that he used performance-enhancing drugs during his career. The report did not provide any new evidence and only recapped allegations made by José Canseco, Palmeiro’s appearance before Congress, and his subsequent failed drug test. The report also details a conversation Larry Bigbie alleges he had with Palmeiro where he claims "Palmeiro asked him about his source of steroids and human growth hormone (the source was Kirk Radomski) and how the substances made him feel." Bigbie also stated that "Palmeiro denied in those conversations that he had ever used performance enhancing substances himself."

Palmeiro finished out the 2005 season, filed for free agency for the final time and was never signed again. The cloud of suspicion, the failed drug test and the fact that he was about to turn 41-years-old proved to be too much for teams to roll the dice to sign him. With his career now over he went back to his family in Texas and loved out the rest of his days, waiting the five-year window until he would become eligible for the Hall of Fame. Palmeiro played in 2,831 major league games, the most by any player who never played in the World Series. When 2011 came around, the first year of his Hall of Fame eligibility, his numbers signified a slam dunk for a first ballot entrance; however, the BBWAA felt the exact opposite. Needing at least 75% of the vote to get in, Palmeiro received a shocking 11.0% of the vote. In case you forgot, Palmeiro is one of four guys to get at least 3,000 hits and crush at least 500 home runs. The other three guys were already in the Hall of Fame. And yet, Palmeiro received a massive slap in the face. In 2012 his vote went up to 12.6% and then took a drop to 8.8% this last January. If the number dips below 5%, he will no longer be eligible.

Palmeiro played 19 seasons without any bit of speculation of being on PEDs. Hell, the man even starred in a series of commercials for Viagra; however, after achieving baseball immortality, Palmeiro’s star took an immediate tumble to Earth. The last two months of Palmeiro’s career was the only time in which he had been called a cheater. The last two months. Really think about that. A kid could have been born, graduated from high school and been in the middle of their second year of college before a problem arose. I fully understand that going before Congress, wagging his finger and ardently denying being on the juice really didn’t help his cause when he failed his drug test, but how can a group of people become some cynical after such a long period of time without any issue. Palmeiro had already locked his Hall of Fame career up and had never failed a drug test, nor did he ever fail another one after the incident occurred after he served one of the shortest suspensions in MLB history, just to show you how much of a non-issue the incident was to an unprepared MLB.

I realize that “rules are rules,” but one cannot be so dismissive as to completely wipe away the career of one of the greatest players in the history of the game after a small mistake near the end of it. Yes, the anabolic steroid (stanozolol) was banned under the MLB’s drug policy, bust it was also one that easy to snuff out. Palmeiro never struck me as a careless guy, not to mention, how is it that he can go 19 ½ years of taking an easily-detected substance without getting pinched especially after having taken multiple drug test in the past, all of which came up clean? Logic has been lost in crucifixion that has become Palmeiro’s career, a truly sad one at that.

I can only hope that some time down the road the BBWAA will come to their senses and have a 12 Angry Men-style discussion over this case. There are way too many holes to simply ignore. Palmeiro is a Hall of Famer in my eyes, the numbers and the talent surely proves that he is worthy. As for the players on PEDs as a whole, I really don’t care. The evolution of what a person can take has changed so dramatically over the years that until everything is banned, there is no sure-fire way of saying who is breaking the rules and who isn’t. As for my role in this and my dream of joining the BBWAA, if it happens, it happens. If it does, I can only hope that I can bring a fresh perspective to the discussion, and not just wave the privilege around like some cool kids club membership. I'm looking at you Jon Heyman!!!

June 22- Baltimore Orioles

In the long history of Baltimore Orioles caps, and believe me, there are a lot of them, I had just to get my hands on this one. Like a lot of my hats, I picked this one up during the summer of 2010 when I was flush with cash and in between getting a grip of tattoos. I was rolling through the Lids Web site one day in July, I think it was, and immediately threw this one in my cart along with a Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Cedar Rapids Kernels cap. If you’re putting a time stamp on things that would mean I’ve had this cap in my possession for almost three years. The weird thing about it is that I’ve actually never worn it in public. In fact, I literally marked it up and took the stickers off of it a week ago as I threw it on the waiting list to be written about. I can’t really explain why I haven’t worn it up until now, nor can I give a clear answer as to why today I decided to write about it. Let’s just chalk it up as a mistake on my part.

The Orioles wore it for two season from 1963-1965, a fitting bit of irony coinciding with the fact that I’ve had this on the wall for three years before taking it on its maiden voyage. In 1963 the Orioles only used it for their road games. Their home hat from that season is one I still need to purchase and will be a post later in the year. As for 1964-1965, the Orioles made in their official game cap, going 97-65 and 94-68 respectively under then-first-year manager Hank Bauer, one of the most impressive starts by a manager with a new team. In fact, he was such a great manager that the Orioles won their first World Series title in franchise history the following year in 1966 when they switched things up to this now infamous cap. Oddly enough with the amazing records they posted in 1964 and 1965 the Orioles failed to make the postseason as the playoffs only consisted of two teams total, the teams with the best records in the American League and National League. When it came to marking it up I did it with only one guy in mind…

#5-16GG- Brooks Robinson was born in Little Rock, Arkansas to Brooks Calbert and Ethel Mae Robinson. His father worked for a large bakery in Little Rock, Colonial Bakery, and then went to work for the Little Rock Fire Department (rising to the rank of captain), while his mother at first worked for Sears Roebuck & Company, and then in the controller's office at the state capitol. His father played second base for a semi-pro team. Young Brooks Robinson, Jr., delivered the Arkansas Gazette on his bike, and also operated the scoreboard and sold soft drinks at Lamar Porter Field. After he graduated from Little Rock High School on May 27, 1955, where he was scouted for the Arkansas Razorbacks baseball program in Fayetteville, he played in South America in 1955 and in Cuba in 1957. In the off season of 1956-1957, and then again in 1958, he attended two winter semesters at Little Rock University, majoring in business. He went into the army in 1959, joining the Arkansas National Guard right before he was to be drafted into the United States Army.

Robinson was drafted and signed by the Orioles in 1955 after a scout saw him playing in a church league game in Little Rock. He would spend the majority of the 1955 season with the York White Roses of the Piedmont League, hitting .311 with 11 home runs before getting called up to the Majors. He made his debut on September 17^th and hit .091 with two singles and one RBI in six games to finish out his season. For the next two seasons Robinson split his time between the AA Texas League San Antonio Missions and a total of 65 more games in the Majors before getting called up for good to start the 1958 season.

He met his future wife, Constance Louise "Connie" Butcher, on an Orioles team flight from Kansas City to Boston in July 1959, where she was working as a flight attendant for United Air Lines. He was so smitten with her that he kept ordering iced teas for her. Some of his teammates encouraged him to go talk to her. After drinking his third glass, he returned it to her in the galley. There he told her: "I want to tell you something. If any of these guys, the Baltimore Orioles, ask you for a date, tell 'em you don't date married men. Understand? I'm the only single guy on the team." Before the plane landed in Boston the two had made a date to go out. He was not the only bachelor on the flight, something he lied about to keep her from talking to them. Brooks and Constance were married in her hometown of Windsor, Ontario, Canada on October 8, 1960.Originally raised a Methodist, Robinson eventually converted in 1970 to the Catholic Church, his wife's faith.

In 1960 the man who would forever be known as “The Human Vacuum Cleaner” was born. Contrary to the legend that has developed around his name, Robinson did still commit a few errors throughout his 23-year career; 263 to be exact. Which means he average a little over 11 errors per season, putting his career fielding percentage at .971, one of the greatest of all-time. Why is this important to know? I’ll get to that in a bit.

As I was saying, in 1960 it all came together. Robinson batted .294 with 14 home runs and 88 RBI. That season gave him a third place finish for the AL MVP award as well as the first Gold Glove of his career and his first All-Star Game appearance. 1961 and 1962 were incredibly productive offensive years as well as he went .287/7/61 with a Gold Glove and All-Star Game appearance (19^th in AL MVP voting) and .303/23/86 with a Gold Glove and All-Star Game appearance (ninth in AL MVP voting) respectively. Robinson’s numbers took a little bit of a dip in 1963, but he still won another Gold Glove and made yet another All-Star Game appearance that season.

With almost all of my other caps I do my best to keep the stats, dates and jersey numbers within the real of whichever years the cap was used, in this case 1963-1965. Well, here’s the payoff. In 1964, Robinson had his best season offensively; hitting for a .318 batting average with 28 home runs and led the league with 118 runs batted in, winning the AL MVP for the only time in his career. In the voting, he received 18 of the 20 first-place votes, with Mickey Mantle finishing second. In 1966, he was voted the All-Star Game Most Valuable Player, and finished second to team mate Frank Robinson in the American League Most Valuable Player Award voting, as the Orioles went on to win the 1966 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In the 1970 post-season, Robinson hit for a .583 batting average in the 1970 AL Championship Series against the Minnesota Twins. In the 1970 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds, Robinson had a .429 batting average with 2 home runs; however, it was his defensive prowess at third base that stood out, making several impressive plays during the series that robbed the Reds of apparent base hits. His performance won him the World Series MVP Award as well as the Hickok Belt as top professional athlete of the year. After the 1970 World Series, Reds’ manager Sparky Anderson quipped, "I'm beginning to see Brooks in my sleep. If I dropped this paper plate, he'd pick it up on one hop and throw me out at first."

In his playing career, Robinson was selected for the All-Star team in 15 consecutive years (1960-74), and played in four World Series, won two. He compiled a .267 career batting average with 2,848 hits, 268 home runs and 1357 runs batted in. Robinson led the AL  in fielding percentage a record 11 times, and at the time of his retirement, his .971 career fielding average was the highest ever for a third baseman and helped win him 16 consecutive Gold Gloves from 1960-1975 (16GG). His totals of 2870 games played at third base, 2697 career putouts, 6205 career assists, 8902 career total chances and 618 double plays, were records for third basemen at the time of his retirement. Robinson's 23 seasons with one team set a new major league record, since tied by Carl Yastrzemski. Only Yastrzemski (3308), Hank Aaron (3076) and Stan Musial (3026) played more games for one franchise. Robinson also hit into four triple plays during his career, a major league record. He commented, "I wouldn't mind seeing someone erase my record of hitting into four triple plays."

At the conclusion of his final season in 1977, his jersey number 5 was retired by the Orioles. Robinson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983, one of only 16 players to have been honored on the first ballot (not including the five charter members chosen in the first election in 1936). Considered among the greatest all-time Orioles, Robinson and the man usually considered the greatest Baltimore Colt football player, Johnny Unitas, had plaques in their honor in the lobby of Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. When the Orioles played their last game there on October 6, 1991, Robinson and Unitas were invited to throw out the ceremonial first balls. (Unitas threw a football.) After the conclusion of the game, several Oriole players took the field in the uniforms of their time and stood at their old positions on the field, Robinson was chosen to be the first player to come out (Cal Ripken, Jr. was chosen to be the last). In 1999, he ranked Number 80 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

A longtime supporter of Scouting, Robinson served for many years on the executive board of the Baltimore Area Council, Boy Scouts of America and is a recipient of the Silver Beaver Award. On December 5, 2006 he was recognized for his accomplishments on and off of the field when he received the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. On May 16, 2007, Radio Tower Drive, a road in Pikesville, Maryland was renamed "Brooks Robinson Drive" in honor of Robinson's 70th birthday.

On July 2, 2008, the minor league team in York, Pennsylvania, where Robinson got his start, held a ceremony honoring him for being voted as a member on the All-Time Rawlings Gold Glove Team. The award was created by Rawlings and voted by fans to celebrate the golden anniversary of the award.

On October 22, 2011, a statue was unveiled on Washington Boulevard in downtown Baltimore depicting Robinson preparing to throw out a runner at first base. Robinson was present for the unveiling of the statue and commented that it "gave him more hair than he deserved". The statue weighs more than 1,500 pounds, is dark gray in color with the exception of a gold colored fielders’ baseball glove, and is located about 300 yards away from the Camden Yards statue of Babe Ruth.

On September 29, 2012, the Orioles unveiled a larger-than-life bronze sculpture of Robinson at Oriole Park at Camden Yards as part of the Orioles Legends Celebration Series during the 20th anniversary of the ballpark. The unveiling had been previously scheduled to be on May 12, 2012, but had to be rescheduled due to Brooks still slowly recovering after falling off a stage on January 27, 2012.

Brooks Robinson currently serves as president of the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association (MLBPAA), an organization that assists players and fans to interact off the field. Major League legends Bob Boone, George Brett, Chuck Hinton, Mike Hegan, Robin Yount, Rusty Staub, Carl Erskine and Al Kaline preside as Vice Presidents. As well as the non-profit missions of the MLBPAA, the organization assists former major-leaguers through its wholly owned for-profit organizations MLAM (Major League Alumni Marketing), and MLAS (Major League Alumni Services). MLAM goals include implementing a player pool and gaining compensation for former players through appearances and endorsements, while protecting the name and likeness of former players from unauthorized uses.

May 16- Baltimore Orioles

If there’s one thing I’ve really gotten a kick out of, and will continue to get a kick out of, over the next year it’s any post that I do featuring the smiling bird logo on my Baltimore Orioles caps. I touched on this reason back March 14th with my Billy Ripken story; the smiling bird has always been one of my favorites since my youth. Hopefully that better explains why I’m always mimicking the head turn and expression in all of my photos for the future.

The Orioles are kind of a peculiar selection today. After combing through books, encyclopedia pages and scores of Web sites I was only able to come up with two really solid names for my cap, but neither of whom have an actual ties to the Orioles. By this I mean they never wore an actual Orioles uniform or cap; however, they were a part of the franchise in the old days.

Before moving to Baltimore the Orioles were known as the St. Louis Browns. We’re not talking about a one-to-five year stretch; we’re talking real embedded roots kind of a baseball franchise. The Browns played in St. Louis from 1902-1953, but prior to St. Louis they played in Milwaukee for one season (1901) as the Brewers. They were never really successful until they moved to Baltimore; however, for one season (1944), they were the best team in the American League. This of course was marred by controversy as critics felt that their only World Series bid was as a result of every other team’s top-tier talent being overseas to fight in World War II. In the case of the Browns they still had all of their best players, but not because any of them tried to duck the war effort. In fact, most of them were classified 4-F: unfit for military service. But even with all of their best players on board they still found a way to lose to their cross-town rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals in six games. One piece of note from that series is that it was the one to take place in one stadium as the Browns and Cardinals shared the facility. When the Browns finally changed over to the Orioles in 1954 the Korean War had just ended and the Vietnam War was just getting started. In either case, no representatives from the team had been drafted or enlisted and forced to fight.

The Orioles have done a great job as a team in showing their support of active military personnel. All non-prime home games on Sundays are now Military Days where active, retired and reserve members of the military can get buy one, get one free tickets and anytime anyone comes in uniform with their military ID can get a free Orioles cap from guest services. This season the Orioles will be taking on the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park for Memorial Day and the following day and bringing the last two games to Camden Yards to finish off the celebration.

As I mentioned above it was a bit of a challenge to find anyone associated with the franchise who served their country and fought overseas; however, I did find two prime figures from the Browns era who more than deserved the recognition.

GS: I had previously written about George Sisler and his time with the Browns back on January 12^th, but I didn’t go into much detail about his military career. In 1918 Sisler joined the Chemical Corps (known at that time as the Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) during World War I. He was commissioned a second lieutenant and assigned to Camp Humphries, Virginia. Also with CWS were Branch Rickey, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, and Perry Haughton (president of the Boston Braves) were sent to France. Just as Sisler was preparing to deploy overseas, the armistice was signed on November 11. Sisler was subsequently discharged from the CWS.

If you ever get a free chance to check it out take a peak at the CWS records available for all of those players. Their jobs were not easy in the slightest, and they certainly didn’t play baseball to spread goodwill during their time in the service.

BV: Bill Veeck (as in wreck) was a native of Chicago, Illinois, and a franchise owner and promoter in Major League Baseball. Veeck was at various times the owner of the Cleveland Indians, Browns and Chicago White Sox. As owner and team president of the Indians in 1947, Veeck signed Larry Doby and thus successfully integrated the American League. Veeck was the last owner to purchase a baseball franchise without an independent fortune, and is responsible for many innovations and contributions to baseball.

His time in the service started at the end of the 1943 season when he joined the Marines at the same time he owned the Milwaukee Brewers, a Minor League team at the time. The next spring he was stationed on the Pacific island of Bougainville when the recoil of an anti-aircraft gun smashed his right leg. He spent the rest of the war in hospitals. Veeck sold the Brewers soon after he returned from military service in 1945. “It was a choice between the club and my marriage,” he wrote later. The marriage had been in trouble even before Veeck joined the Marines. He moved his wife Eleanor and their three children to a dude ranch in Arizona.

After marrying his second wife Mary Frances Ackerman, Veeck bought an 80 percent stake in the St. Louis Browns in 1951. Hoping to force the NL's Cardinals out of town, Veeck hired Cardinal greats Rogers Hornsby and Marty Marion as managers, and Dizzy Dean as an announcer; and he decorated their shared home park, Sportsman's Park, exclusively with Browns memorabilia. Ironically the Cardinals had been the Browns' tenants since 1920, even though they had long since passed the Browns as St. Louis' favorite team. Nonetheless, Veeck made a concerted effort to drive the Cardinals out of town.
Some of Veeck's most memorable publicity stunts occurred during his tenure with the Browns, including the appearance on August 19, 1951, by little person Eddie Gaedel. Veeck sent Gaedel to pinch hit in the bottom of the first of the game. Wearing elf like shoes and "1/8" as his uniform number, Gaedel was walked on four straight pitches and then was pulled for a pinch runner. Shortly afterwards "Grandstand Manager's Day" – involving Veeck, Connie Mack, and thousands of regular fans, enabled the crowd to vote on various in-game strategic decisions by holding up placards: the Browns won, 5–3, snapping a four-game losing streak.
After the 1952 season, Veeck suggested that the American League clubs share radio and television revenue with visiting clubs. Outvoted, he refused to allow the Browns' opponents to broadcast games played against his team on the road. The league responded by eliminating the lucrative Friday night games in St. Louis. A year later Cardinal owner Fred Saigh was convicted of tax evasion. Facing certain banishment from baseball, he was forced to put the Cardinals up for sale. Most of the bids came from out-of-town interests, and it appeared that Veeck would succeed in driving the Cardinals out of town. However Saigh accepted a much lower bid from St. Louis-based brewing giant Anheuser-Busch, who entered the picture with the specific intent of keeping the Cardinals in town. Veeck quickly realized that the Cardinals now had more resources than he could possibly hope to match. Reluctantly, he decided to leave St. Louis and find another place to play. As a preliminary step, he sold Sportsman's Park to the Cardinals. Veeck would have probably had to sell it in any event; the 44-year old park was in a poor state of repair, and even with the rent from the Cardinals he did not have the money to bring it up to code.
At first Veeck considered moving the Browns back to Milwaukee (where they had played their inaugural season in 1901). Milwaukee used recently-built Milwaukee County Stadium in an attempt to entice the Browns. However, the decision was in the hands of the Boston Braves. For the Browns to move, the minor league Brewers would be shut down. The Braves wanted another team with the same talent, and an agreement was not made in time for opening day. Ironically, a few weeks later, the Braves themselves moved to Milwaukee. St. Louis was known to want the team to stay, so some in St. Louis campaigned for the removal of Veeck. He then got in touch with a group that was looking to bring a Major League franchise to Baltimore. After the 1953 season, Veeck agreed in principle to sell half his stock to Baltimore attorney Clarence Miles, the leader of the Baltimore group, and his other partners. He would have remained the principal owner, with approximately a 40 percent interest. Even though league president Will Harridge told him approval was certain, only four owners—two short of the necessary six for passage—supported it. Realizing that the other owners simply wanted him out of the picture (indeed, he was facing threats of having his franchise canceled), Veeck agreed to sell his entire stake to Miles' group, who then moved the Browns to Baltimore as the Orioles.

March 30- Baltimore Orioles

Bird is the word!!!

My night has certainly taken an interesting turn. Tomorrow I will be in the Bay Area with my friends Tom Bentley and Vanessa Demske, ready for the start of the 2013 Major League Baseball season with the Oakland Athletics playing the Seattle Mariners at O.Co Coliseum. But for now, I’m sitting on a wooden chair in a frat house in Eugene, Oregon as a wicked game of beer pong is taking place less than 15 feet from my computer. This wasn’t exactly the way I thought my night was going to turn out, especially after completing my third fantasy baseball draft in the last week. At least for baseball’s sake the San Diego Padres versus Texas Rangers Spring Training game is playing on the TV in between commercials of “Coming to America” on Comedy Central. My life is weird sometimes.

For the last week there has been a meme created by @MLBmeme bouncing around the internet. You’ve probably seen it; the one of Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh after their 27-game win streak was snapped and below it is a picture of Cal Ripken, Jr. when he broke Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games started streak with the caption that says “that’s cute.” A lot of you have liked it and passed it on, but not me. I mean, a win streak and a consecutive games played streak are two different things, but even at that, why would you stop at the game in which Cal broke the record? Why not his final game tallied for the streak? A few people shared the same plight as me, and for all of you people, I thank you.

Cal Ripken, Jr. has been one of mine, as well as most of your favorite players in the history of the game. Like most of the kids from my generation, we got hooked on Cal at a very young age, much like Ryne Sandberg, Ken Griffey, Jr. or Mark McGwire. With Cal there was something more pure and genuine about his dynamic, which is one of the prime reasons why he became one of the faces of MLB in the late 1980s/early 1990s on through the end of his career in 2001. Even today, Cal is still one of the biggest ambassadors of the game, but the biggest shot in the arm for his career, besides his World Series ring in 1983, was the night of September 6, 1995.

If I haven’t stressed it enough over the last 88 days, the players strike of 1994 crippled the image MLB. Tony Gwynn was on pace to hit .400 and the Montreal Expos were on pace to win the World Series that year. With attendance looming after the strike ended and the players got back on the field, MLB, and most importantly the fans, needed something to be happy about. Cue Cal.

When I bought this hat in October of 2011 I got my dates mixed up on when it was used. The Baltimore Orioles used this cap from 1966-1974 and won two World Series titles under it. What I originally thought was that the Orioles wore the white front paneled cap during this era, the one I wrote about on March 14 about the Billy Ripken Fleer card. While I made a slight mistake with this, the message is still the same; Cal did what no other man probably will for some time to come.

#2632- Cal first took the field on August 10, 1981 as a replacement for Len Sakata, the second Asian American to play in the Majors. Cal made 2632 consecutive starts from that date until September 20, 1998 when he let rookie Ryan Minor start at third base in his place again the New York Yankees. After the first out was recorded David Wells was the first to notice that Cal wasn’t playing and stopped to applaud him. Everyone else in the dugouts and in the stands followed suit to give Cal and standing ovation. 17 years of playing every single day ended in an instant, but I suppose that’s the way most things in life really go. Without warning history can be altered, but it’s how people react to it that make all the difference.

While Cal only played 23 games in 1981, 1982 panned out to be a very successful year as he hit .268 with 28 home runs and 93 RBI, which were more than worth the Rookie of the Year award and 30^th place finish in the American League MVP voting. Cal, like most of his accomplishments, took it in stride on into 1983. That year Cal padded his stats to the tune of .318 with 27 home runs and 102 RBI, as well as a League best marks in hits (211), runs (121) and doubles (47), but he did get caught stealing four times with zero stolen bases. I’m pretty sure the AL MVP he won that season helped him sleep through the night… as well as the World Series ring. 1983 was also the first of 19 consecutive All-Star Game appearances he made, the most consecutive AL appearances in MLB history as well as the most overall AL appearances in MLB history.

The rest of Cal’s career reads off like a grocery list: eight Silver Slugger awards, only two Gold Gloves at shortstop (weird), a second AL MVP in 1991 and a modest 3184 career hits. One of the most unusual things that people don’t seem to talk about is that Cal joined the 3000 hit club on April 15, 2000 after a single off of Minnesota Twins reliever Hector Carrasco in the Metrodome.

Cal's final game was originally set to be played at Yankee Stadium; however, the September 11, 2001 attacks led to the postponement of a week's worth of games. The games missed were added on to the end of the season's schedule. Since all the games the Orioles missed were at home, this changed the location of Cal's final game to Oriole Park, much to the delight of Orioles fans. On October 6, Cal ended his career in the on deck circle in the bottom of the ninth inning. Long-time teammate Brady Anderson, also playing in his last game for the Orioles, swung and missed a fastball high and tight on a 3–2 count to end the game. After the game, Cal gave a speech thanking the fans for their support over 20 seasons.

Cal was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on January 9, 2007 with a 98.53% vote, only eight short of a unanimous vote. My only question is, who the hell were the eight geniuses who opted against Cal on the first vote?

March 14- Baltimore Orioles

To start this post off I first have to thank everyone for following me through this journey. These posts are not just about the hats I love to collect and wear, but a celebration of the people who have enriched my life through baseball. Last night’s post was not only the most viewed post in a 24 hour time frame, but the most of any that I have written altogether. Over 1000 views to be exact; in which I mostly have Gio Gonzalez to thank for retweeting it this morning. Every day is a new challenge; but most of all, every day is a new treat to be able to share these stories with everyone. Without your support, this mission wouldn’t mean as much. Thank you all!

For the last five years or so I’ve slowly gotten back into collecting baseball cards on a more regular basis. When I was three-years-old I was for introduced to the hobby by my older brothers Matt and Adam. Adam is four years older than me and Matt is five years older, but even as young as I was, they both hooked me up with a few of their doubles since I wasn’t old enough to have any means of being able to go out and buy any packs on my own. The first card they gave me? 1986 Topps Jose Canseco rookie card. My father and Adam grew up San Francisco Giants fans, but Matt made sure I got a firm education in being an Oakland Athletics fan; hence the card choice. From that day I was hooked; not just on the A’s, but also starting my own extensive baseball card collection. From ’86 until 1993 I bought packs with whatever birthday and Christmas money I garnered. During those days I ran the gamut, buying Donruss, Upper Deck, Topps, etc., but as I got into my teenage years I maintained my focus on Topps. There was always something nostalgic about it, which I think played heavily on the Canseco card my brother gave me. Today I buy a pack or two whenever I have a few extra bucks in my pocket after picking up my monthly necessities at Target. I’m not particularly focused on getting a complete set; hell, I’m not even that psyched on pulling the inserts. I do it because I love the feeling of opening a pack of cards. It brings back the feeling of opening presents on Christmas, even for just a few moments.

As a youngling the highlight of opening a pack was being able to admire all of the logos printed on the front. I knew who a few of the players I was getting were, but for the most part I critiqued whether I had a good pack or a bad pack based on the variety of teams I got, especially the A’s ones. From what I recall I always enjoyed getting Montreal Expos, Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers, and most importantly, Baltimore Orioles cards. Their logos throughout the 1980s are still iconic pieces of art throughout the history of baseball. The Orioles smiling bird logo always made me laugh because it reminded me of something I would find in a comic book. As I got older and started seeing it less and less until it was finally gone, it made me a little sad inside. It felt as if a small piece of the best years of my youth had been temporarily dispatched from the planet and placed in a time capsule, waiting to be unearthed when I was old enough to appreciate it more. That day finally came in July of 2011.

For years I had seen this hat at almost every sports shop I walked through, especially the one I worked at, Just Sports (@JustSportspdx). For some stupid reason I kept putting it off, and off, and off until the wheels in my head finally kicked on and I dropped the cash down fast than you can say Brooks Robinson. Of all the Orioles hats to collect, this one was the most important as it told tales from years past that will forever live in the infamy of baseball.

It served as the Orioles game cap from 1975-1988. Under its awesomeness the Orioles fielded many greats such as Brooks Robinson, Lee May, Reggie Jackson (one season), Eddie Murray and of course, the Ironman, Cal Ripken, Jr. In the 14 years the O’s rocked this cap they only won World Series in 1983, the same year that Cal won his first American league MVP. But to be honest, as great as their accomplishments were, there was only one specific thing that I always come back whenever I wear or see this cap/logo.

#616- Some of you may have all ready known where I was going with this story from the start, but for those of you who don’t, you’re in for a treat. As I mentioned above, I had always been an avid collector of Topps baseball cards, but there was one year of Fleer that will always be #1 in my book. 1989 was a great year for me; the Oakland A’s dominated the Giants in extreme fashion in the World Series, I had a productive first grade year, and most importantly, I got my first Billy Ripken card. What was originally supposed to be a $.05 common card turned out to be one of the most sought after cards in the history of the hobby. Here it is if you haven’t had the honor of gazing upon it…

That’s right! The infamous “Fuck Face” card. When the cards were first released in 1989 very few people gave it much thought. After all, it’s just Billy Rip with a bat on his shoulder, doing the classic profile pose. Not to mention, the writing on the bat is rather small and hardly noticeable at first, but once people took notice, its popularity soared.

What ensued was absolute chaos and—as the "error" card's price rose to nearly $500—there were some amazing stories. A kid, who happened to be a fan of Ripken, had purchased a huge lot of No. 616's from a dealer for $50. When the curse was found, the new worth of the cards was closer to $20,000. There was the story of one kid who sued another kid for convincing him to sell his Billy Ripken for $1, without knowing the curse was on the bat. And the tale of the Geraldo show entitled "Men who write bad things in public places," when an audience member claimed it was he who wrote the obscenity on Ripken's bat. – CNBC December 9, 2008

I was one of the lucky kids who found an original; however, I was also one of the unlucky kids who grew up in a Mormon house where such words were not allowed. Not too long after my father found out that I had the card he gave me two options:

1. Throw the card in the trash. (Wasn’t happening)

2. Trade it. (Damn you Gevon Gardner!!!) <----- The kid I traded it to for Ryne Sandberg.

I feel bad for any other kid who had to go through the same “punishment” as I did, but looking back on it I find the whole ordeal quite hilarious. I mean, can you imagine something like this going down in professional sports? A trade going down after a player’s parents got involved! Oh my garden! That would be SOOOOOOOO ridiculous. Wait a minute…

Sorry. Had to do it. Anyway, if there was ever any piece of Orioles history that I needed back in my life, it was definitely this card… or at least something like it. When I came up with my baseball mascot/logo tattoo designs I made sure every one of them had an important, historical value to them. For the Orioles I probably could have picked out something more “important,” but that’s really all in the eye of the beholder.

I’ll never regret this decision.