May 10- Miami Marlins

I really couldn’t think of a decent way to kick this off so I figured, “Why not steal from someone who said it better in the first place?”

It's almost a given that I rarely go anywhere without a New Era MLB cap. Not only is it incredibly stylish, it also serves as a beacon for what I’m most passionate about: baseball. Baseball is more than a game; it’s a symbol of what make our country great. Baseball is fair. Baseball is just. And most importantly, baseball has been a positive token for our brothers and sisters who have fought for our country since the Civil War and served as an icon of goodwill when spreading diplomacy with other nations.
Since 2008 New Era has produced caps for all 30 Major League teams for both players and fans to celebrate our love of the game and our love of our country for Memorial Day and the 4th of July. In each of the past few years New Era released a white front panel with a red or navy back panel, and the logo for each team encapsulating the stars and stripes. In all years the proceeds went to Welcome Back Veterans, a program which addresses the needs of returning American Veterans and their families. For 2012 New Era is releasing a new design.
The panels of the new caps are of the traditional team colors for all 30 clubs; however, the inside of each logo is filled with a digital camouflage appliqué similar to that of the uniforms worm by the men and women who serve. As the son of a veteran, I can’t think of a more fitting tribute to those who give their time and their lives for the values and livelihood we all hold sacred;  fitting tribute to those who watch and play the game as we do, and yearn to come home to watch the games with their friends and family.
This Memorial Day I will be proud to represent my team, but more importantly, I will be proud to give back and represent those who give everything they have. –Benjamin Christensen May 16, 2012

Oh wait… I guess I didn’t steal this after all. This was one of the last few pieces I wrote while I was in the MLB Fan Cave this last year and in my opinion it was one of the better short pieces I wrote. My stepfather, Robert Thomas, served in the military for the better part of 15 years, but I’ll get into his story more once I write about the Los Angeles Dodgers. All 30 teams wore this style of cap, the normal panel and bill colors, but with a slight tweak on the logo featuring a digital camouflage for the interior. While a lot of hat enthusiasts knocked it I thought it was a fantastic concept, and I did my best to collect every team, but as of now I am currently 11 teams short of my goal. Hopefully I can find the remaining teams before the end of the month.

With all of these hats I’m going to do my best to keep it military based, focusing on the men who played or worked for their team, but also served their country in the armed services. Unfortunately for the Florida/Miami Marlins there aren’t any players who qualified for this mission; however, like a lot of teams a few of their players have done visits with active military personnel overseas. For the last four years the Marlins have traveled to Japan, Kuwait, Germany, Guam, Hawaii, Cuba and Southeast Asia to visit the men and women who serve their country. Through this year the players who have taken the time for these goodwill tours include: Gabby Sanchez, Chris Volstad, Chris Coghlan, John Baker, Brett Hayes, Bryan Petersen, Giancarlo Stanton and former manager Fredi Gonzalez. Another promotion that the Marlins have done for the passed few seasons is Military Monday. This season there are eight more dates in which the Marlins are giving complimentary tickets to active and retired military personnel, veterans, first responders and military civilians.

Due to the fact that I couldn’t track down any players or military moments of note within the Marlins franchise history, I decided to focus the attention on Memorial Day in general when marking up this cap. Since it was the first of two days in which these caps were worn I thought it would be a fitting tribute.

5/31/99: In the 20 full years of the franchise’s existence the Marlins have played on Memorial Day only 17 times. So, the numbers I had originally chosen represented their record: 10 wins, seven losses and three times in which they had a day off/travel day. After doing a bit more thorough research I find something that I just couldn’t pass up.

I haven’t calculated how many times in Marlins history they played a game under protest, but this is certainly one of those games that is filled with delicious irony as a result of recent events. On May 31, 1999 the Florida Marlins were hosting the St. Louis Cardinals at Joe Robbie Stadium (or whatever it was called back then) in the first game of a four-game series. The Cardinals had jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning and piled on an insurance run in the third. With the score at 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth the Marlins made their move. Pitcher Brian Meadows had grounded out, Craig Counsell drew a walk and Alex Gonzalez grounded out but moved Counsell to second base. Cliff Floyd came to the plate with two outs and a runner on and tagged a ball to the top of the outfield wall which bounced back in. Counsell scored and Floyd had himself a standup, two-out RBI double… or so he thought. Floyd’s hit was initially ruled a double, then a home run, then was changed back to a double when umpire Frank Pulli decided to review video of the play. In hindsight one would appreciate Pulli’s thought process on this wanting to be sure; however, instant replay wasn’t an option back in 1999. Then Marlins manager John Boles knew this and protested the game. Despite being in the right, and even when the National League office acknowledged that Boles was correct in the sense that replay shouldn’t have been allowed they still declined the protest on the grounds that it was a judgment call… which it clearly wasn’t. Those poor Marlins.

February 23- Florida Marlins

Today has been one of those days that I never wish to have occur again. If you didn’t read my post from last night: 1. Shame on you. 2. I’ll quickly brief you…

My girlfriend Angie Kinderman and I were driving to Portland after the University of Oregon baseball home opener in Eugene. Angie had a flight to catch back to Miami this morning so we decided to head up later last night to crash at my parents’ house. The drive is roughly 110 miles, but we only made it just a little past Salem before more car decided to seize up. We got the car towed to my parents’ house and we fell asleep.

This morning we woke up a little later than we planned, mostly because neither of us wanted to get out of bed knowing that it would be the last time we share that space for a while. Since my car was out of the question I had to come up with an alternate mode of transportation to get here there on time. I called up a cab and we got a ride to the MAX light rail. Not only did it take us there for cheap, it also gave us an extra hour to hold each other and sob (I held it in for as along as I could). We arrived with about an hour and 15 minutes to spare, but the line for security was rather ridiculous so Angie had to get on her way. We kissed and said our “I love yous” and then she disappeared. My heart sank as I trekked back to the MAX. The woes of my day were just getting started however.

Somehow in a little less than two months I had completely pissed away all $3000 of the grant and financial aid I had gotten in early January. I didn’t quite realize it until I stopped at the bank to double check my account to see if I had enough to get my car fixed. Hell, I didn’t even have enough to catch a bus back to my parents’ house in the West Hills of Portland. After a 3 mile hike uphill in the rain I made it back and collapsed on my bed. The unanswered questions of the last year immediately raced through my head: Why didn’t I save any of my Fan Cave money? Why didn’t I fall in line to have stayed longer in New York? Why did I do this to myself? After talking to my parents about my options my mom chimed in, asking what I was going to write about for my blog post in an attempt to get my mind off of things for a bit. My eyes widened and I snapped at her, “What post!? I don’t even have a hat with me to write about!” That was the moment when I really hit bottom. I’m definitely the kind of guy who wears his emotions on his sleeve, but I’m usually not that bad. Needing to get away from things for a bit I decided to retreat back into my room and scan through the photos from my post-Fan Cave MLB road trip to see if I could find something to cheer me up. I finally got to the middle of September when the light turned on.

Angie and I had been talking regularly on Twitter since I had first moved to New York for the Fan Cave. As a Twins fan she gave me a lot of smack talk, which I always enjoy, but never did I think we were going to meet. For starters, I never thought that I would have been one of the first two eliminated from the Fan Cave, so the thought of meeting her during the 2012 season seemed out of the question. That plan kind of blew up in my face. So, we continued to chat as I traveled around. Based on the way the schedules were set up this last season I always did my best to visit a state when every team had a home stand ending around the time the other team(s) was/were just starting one. In the case of Florida those opportunities were few and far between. I had spotted a brief time frame in which the Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins were both going to be around, but I really didn’t know if I was going to be able to pull it off. Back in early August I had kind of blown it off because I didn’t think I was going to have the time to go to Florida and then make it back west to catch games in Houston and Arlington. It wasn’t until I was leaving Pittsburgh, headed for Detroit, that I got convinced to come out, but it wasn’t by Angie (sorry sweetie).  

Collin Balester had been playing in Toledo for the Mud Hens since June after he got designated for assignment by the Detroit Tigers. Collin and I had met in the Fan Cave during the filming of the Miguel Cabrera “Miggy Poco” sketch, but during the time I wasn’t filming Collin, Gar Ryness (Batting Stance Guy) and I got real chatty (mostly about beards).

After the three of them left Collin and I began chatting back and forth regularly on Twitter and developed a bit of a friendship. After he got sent down I was absolutely crushed. It’s one thing when you see a player have that happen to them; it’s a whole other reality when you know the guy. I never knew what to say other than, “I’m sorry,” but I never knew the right way to say it; something I felt really bad about after he had hit me up after my elimination for the Fan Cave to say that he was sorry. When my train left from Pittsburgh we had a brief stop in Toledo to switch over to a bus for the rest of the journey to Detroit. Some time after 1 AM is about the time I had realized where I was going and decided to send him a DM to let him know I’d be nearby. What I wasn’t counting on was that the AAA season had ended the previous day and he had gone home for the year. Collin grew up in Hunting Beach, CA, so I had assumed he went back there. As it turned out he and his family had actually moved to the Tampa area. Some time over the next few days we continued our conversation, which eventually led to him asking if I was going out to Tampa on my trip. Without hesitation I responded back with, “I’m still thinking about it.” His response was something on the lines of, “You should.” Needless to say, when an MLB player asks if you’re going to come out to his home turf, you get your ass there. Around the time all of this was going down I had told Angie that I would be rolling out to Miami and asked if she would want to go to a Marlins game with me. She responded… three days later… with a yes, and she also mentioned that I could crash on her couch.

On September 18 I landed in Tampa and rented a car with about an hour and a half to spare before the Rays played the Boston Red Sox. Collin went out of his way to be a really awesome guy and was able to snag tickets for him, his father-in-law and me. But this story will have to wait for another post.

On September 19 I drove to Fort Lauderdale to meet Angie. I was a bit nervous, as I always am when I met new ladies. We met at her apartment and exchanged hugs and “glad to finally meet yous” and I then boldly asked if I could use her shower. No, this wasn’t a pickup line. If you’ve never been to Florida, you should be aware that it is a very humid state, especially in September. After driving for four hours I was extremely sweaty and feeling like a bucket of yuck. Her being a cool Midwesterner, responded with, “Sure! No problem.” After the shower we both got ready for the game. She got all decked out in some Miami Marlins gear, while I opted for the classic Florida Marlins look. We spent the whole time talking about our lives, getting to know one another better on the way to the ballpark. She was even kind enough to point out the bridge where the dude on bath salts ate the other dude’s face.

We arrived at the stadium about 45 minutes before the gates opened so we grabbed a few beers and walked around, continuing to be a bunch of chatty Kathys. When we got inside the only time we were apart was when one of us went on a beer run. We walked over and checked out the Bobblehead Museum…

The “2001: A Space Odyssey”-looking monolith out in center field (shark sighting!)…

And we even got a batting practice home run ball from an usher hit by Chipper Jones.

The Marlins were playing the Atlanta Braves, which also happened to be the last night Chipper was playing his last game in Miami. About three innings into the game I remembered that I hadn’t marked up my hat, so I pulled out my phone and looked up a few numbers to scribble on. The hat was only used for two years (1993-94), something that I always felt was a bit premature since it's a pretty sweet cap. At the time I wasn't thinking about that, I was merely trying to be clever, and ended up marking it up more personally, rather than historically. Angie then took over my camera to get a shot of me at work.

#25- I had the chance to meet and chat with Al Leiter within the first weeks I was in New York for the Fan Cave. To kick off the 2012 MLB season Leiter, Sean Casey and Kevin Millar did the ceremonial lighting of the Empire State Building because of their work on MLB Network. We got to hang back, watch and take a few photos before we headed up to the top of the floor. It was pretty wild. We got a special tour of the celebrity wing and even bypassed all of the lines because we were special or something. Now, I really hate heights, so I wasn’t exactly having the greatest of times, but I held tough and got through it. When we were headed back down Leiter and his family met up with us in the celebrity wing, where he could tell I was physically uncomfortable. He asked what was wrong and I explained that I was afraid of heights. He then asked if it was all tall buildings or just this one. I then went on to explain that it has mostly to do with being at the tallest point of anything, as in I get uncomfortable when there isn’t another building near me that’s taller than the point I’m at. The two of went on about this and broke down every angle for a solid five minutes, completely forgetting about everyone else in the room. Sweet dude. Anyway, I added him on this hat for that reason, but more importantly for his years with the Marlins from 1996-1997 where he won his third World Series ring (the first two were with the Toronto Blue Jays).

#30- I really should have added #15, but decided to go my own route on this one because of the fact that Cliff Floyd did in fact change his number despite winning a World Series ring with the Marlins in 1997. I mean, it’s not a common thing for a guy to change his number after winning a championship unless they’re traded to another team or something. From ’97-’99 Floyd rocked #15, but from 2000-2002 he donned the #30. It kind of paid off too as he went .317/18/103 in 2001 and made his one and only All-Star team on top of finishing 22^nd in the National League MVP voting.

In retrospect I probably should had added #34, Bryan Harvey, as well. Harvey saved 45 games for the Marlins in their inaugural season and was pretty much the only redeeming quality of that season.

After I marked up my cap Angie asked me why I do that, so I gave her the full elaborate story. She listened intently, something I found totally irresistible about her because I don’t know of any other girl who would. We drank more beers and the Braves dominated the Marlins, but that was the least of our worries. Our conversations went on and on, and we finally made our way to The Clevelander, the bar behind the left field wall, for more boozery.

One of the gems about this place is that they have nude women in body paint dancing on a stage next to a pool. We of course commented on this heavily in between sips of our $11 Bud Lights and our long gazes into each other’s eyes. I’m still not sure why it took so long; perhaps it was the dancers on stage, but I finally leaned in and gave her a smooch. Our chattiness soon died on account of our lips being connected for what seemed like an eternity in drunk time, but what was probably only like 36 seconds in sober time.

I’ll spare you all the rest of the details of the night, but if there’s one guy I have to tip my cap to for inadvertently making it happen, it’s Collin “raddest dude on the planet” Balester. Thank you!

February 17- Florida Marlins

Believe it or not, I tend to be a smartass from time-to-time. I know, I know, shocker, right!? And to be honest, of all the hats I own, this particular Florida Marlins hat brings out the most sinister of qualities buried deep in the recesses of my soul. Mwahahahahaha!!! Want proof? As you’ll learn from all of these New Era Caps, or even my tattoos, I love talking about the lesser-known, oddball stories that have taken place in baseball. 2012 was definitely a prime year for me, and it all started when we went to the head office of Major League Baseball within the first week of being in New York for the MLB Fan Cave. We were told to wear dress-casual attire; however, since I was about to head into the lion’s den I decided to class it up quite a bit and wore a three-piece suit. In keeping with my daily hat habit I opted to roll with a hat that “matched” my outfit… this one.

Now, most people were under the impression that I had chosen this hat because the colors complimented the suit I was wearing. The real story behind why I wore this hat is because 1. I hated that Jeff Loria changed the Marlins logo/colors. 2. It was a silent protest to MLB to let them know that I will stand by my convictions. Oh, and in case you wondering, the suits of MLB made sure to let me know that I couldn’t wear Florida Marlins gear any day that I was in the Fan Cave in order to keep up appearances with Jeff Loria’s wishes.

I declined to adhere to that rule. Like I said, I stand by my convictions.

This hat lasted the entire run of the Florida Marlins from 1993 through its unfortunate demise at the end of the 2011 season. The team saw 11 managers take the helm while only two of them, Jim Leyland and Jack McKeon, took the team to the Promised Land in 1997 and 2003 respectively. A slew of All-Stars and future Hall of Famers came and went, much like hired guns of the Old West, or… in the case of the results of winning both World Series, the owner’s built up a high caliber team, won a championship and auctioned off their players in an attempt to line their pockets with extra cash. Moneyball at its finest.

I think you’ll all agree on all of my choices for marking this beast up. And just so you know, I threw the numbers down in order of relevancy.

#19- It wouldn’t make a lot of sense if I left Jeff Conine off of this, or any of my Marlins caps. Conine is one of THREE guys to be a member of both World Series teams in ’97 and ’03. In 1997 Conine played in 151 games and was the primary first baseman on into the playoffs. What’s most interesting about Conine is that ’97 was his worst career year offensively for the Marlins as he went .242/17/61; however, then manager Jim Leyland opted to keep him in for every day duties. The three best years of his career came during his first three full years in the league (1993-1995). In ’93 Conine finished in third place for the Rookie of the Year Award; however, his first season in the league was in back in 1990 when he took the field for nine games with the Kansas City Royals. ’91 was spent in AAA and ’92 only saw him coming in for 28 games with the Royals. In 1994 and 1995 Conine cracked the Top 25 in MVP voting after hitting at least .304 with at least 18 home runs and 82 RBI in each of those seasons. Conine found himself back in Kansas City for the 1998 season before moving on to the Baltimore Orioles from 1999 though the All-Star break in 2003 when he was sent back to the Marlins. This time; however, he wore #18 as some up-and-comer named Mike Lowell had taken #19 at the start of the 2000 season.

#1- Luis Castillo is the second member of the All-Florida Marlins squad. Castillo’s first year in baseball was with the Marlins in 1996, but wore the #34 in all 41 games he played in. At the start of the 1997 Castillo opted to change his number, hoping for better fortune and more playing time. Castillo platooned at second base with former Oakland Athletic, and current Marin County Sheriff’s Deputy Kurt Abbott. Castillo didn’t see a single second of action in the postseason that year, but still got a ring for his service throughout the season. In 2003 Castillo’s presence became more well-known as the every day second baseman throughout the regular season and playoffs. Besides the two rings, Castillo won three Gold Gloves (all with the Marlins) from 2003-05, made three All-Star appearances (2002-05 and 2005) and finished his Marlins career with a solid .293 average.

#38- I decided to roll with #38, but could have gone with #33 as well as Rick Helling wore each number throughout his career with the Marlins; however, like Castillo is 1997, Helling didn’t see any action in the playoffs, which had more to do with being traded to the Texas Rangers around the trade deadline. But, he still got a ring. In 2003 he found himself back on the Marlins, once again as a trade deadline addition from the Baltimore Orioles. Helling saw action out of the bullpen during the playoffs, but got shelled during every appearance. Either way, he got two rings out of the deal.

February 10- Bradenton Marauders

When I picked this hat up I knew little to nothing about it. I did know that it was a Bradenton Marauders hat, but hadn’t the foggiest about its use on the field, let alone when it came out. Like a lot of Minor League hats I picked it up because I thought it was awesome; you know, one of those hats which should have made its way up to the Major League level. There have been of number of logos that have cycled throughout the history of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise, and this is by far one of the best ones ever created. This particular hat debuted in December of 2011, and served as an alternate hat for the 2012 season. The Marauders have only been around since the 2010 season; however, Bradenton itself has been the home of the Pirates spring training facility since 1969. Kind of an interesting fact when considering that most teams usually have a Minor League affiliate in the state in which they hold spring training.

Today is only the second time I’ve worn this hat, as it was hard to match the rugged manliness that was the first day in which I threw it on.

AMERICA!!!

Since the hat has only been around for one full season it made it extremely difficult to pull some stats or numbers worth talking about, unless of course you’re a die-hard Pirates/Marauders fan. Sadly, I am not. With that I took to the old interwebs for some research. I think the choices I made speak for themselves.

#13- Carlos Garcia has been the manager for the Marauders since 2011, but has been a fixture of the Pirates organization since 1990. Garcia played for the Pirates from 1990-1996 before moving on to the Toronto Blue Jays, Anaheim Angels (not Los Angeles of Anaheim) and San Diego Padres over the last three seasons of his professional career. During his time with the Pirates he went .278/30/174 while finishing ninth in the Rookie of the Year vote in 1993, and made his one and only All-Star appearance in 1994. Garcia wore the #13 from ’93-’96, which were arguably his best years in the bigs. Having not spoken to him directly, I can only assume he kept the #13 when he took over as manager of the Marauders.

#64- Remember the first day of batting practice for the Pirates in 2012? If you don’t, then you totally forgot about AJ Burnett stepping into the cage and fouling, what was supposed to be a bunt, a ball off the bat and into his eye, fracturing his orbital. Burnett was out for almost two months, but made his triumphant return from surgery, and the DL, to make two starts for the Marauders in early April wearing this number. Now, after the New York Yankees shook Burnett loose during the offseason to the Pirates, I had actually projected Burnett to finish in the Top 5 of the Cy Young ballot in 2012… it sadly didn’t happen, but he was certainly on pace. Lame. Anyway, Burnett made two starts for the Marauders and got shelled in both appearances, hard! He went 0-2 with nine strikeouts and an 8.53 ERA in 6.1 innings pitched. Yikes! But, as I’ve learned in my 30 years on this planet, rehab starts in the Minors don’t mean much, as long as you can deal in the Show. But it still makes for a good razzing from your teammates.

February 7- Lakeland Flying Tigers

For the last hour or so of trying to write this post I’ve been constantly distracted by people asking me questions about the University of Oregon football and basketball programs. I guess that’s what I get for coming to a bar to try and crank this out.

I picked this hat up in December of 2011, along with a few other Minor League caps off of the Lids Web site. Like most of the hats I got, I bought it primarily off of the look. I mean, I did know that it was a team within the Detroit Tigers organization, but outside of that, I really didn’t know much. Most of my baseball focus has always been primarily centered around the Majors. Nothing personal against anyone coming up through the Minors, I just don’t have that much time/brain space available for so many names, numbers and dates to memorize; especially since the rosters are drastically different every other year. But, the one thing that Minor League teams have going for them over the Majors is the originality in their logos and colors.

The Tigers class-A squad has been a fixture of Lakeland, Florida since 1963; however, from 1963-2006 they were simply known as the Tigers. In 2007 the team changed its name to the Flying Tigers to pay tribute to the men who were trained at the Lakeland School of Aeronautics and fought for their country during World War II. The name was taken from the 100-plane squad who flew Curtiss P-40 Warhawks in the Pacific during the war. This hat in particular is their alternate logo cap, which features the P-40 as well as the slogan “Tiger Town USA.” I actually visited Lakeland over the summer, but got there well after the season had ended. Joker Marchant Stadium, where the Flying Tigers play, is also the same facility where the Tigers reside during Spring Training.

The biggest bummer about marking this hat up, along with any other newer style cap, is that I have a small window in which to pull anything historic from. I’m not saying that nothing has happened in the last six years, but it is sometimes nice to have to do way more in depth research to find something that even the most ardent of baseball fan didn’t know about. With that, I give you these…

#8- Andy Dirks is probably one of the most promising young talents currently playing at the Major League level, especially after the 2012 season. Dirks was drafted by the Tigers in the eighth round of the 2008 Amateur Draft from Wichita State University. (I’m not sure how many of you know that much about college baseball, but at some point be sure to look up “Benjamin Christensen; Wichita State”) Dirks played Rookie and low level-A ball for all of 2008, but ended up on the Flying Tigers roster for the start of 2009 season. In the 27 games he played, Dirks batted .330 with 18 RBI and no home runs. Not exactly colossal stats for that short of a time period; however, when compared to Brennan Boesch’s stats from 111 games in 2008, it’s quite significant. Plus, it’s just fun to say, “DIRKS!!!”

#41- One of the only pitchers to have to stick it out for two seasons in Lakeland, Charlie Furbush played in 37 games between 2009 and 2010, but only played a small handful of games in the Majors for the Tigers before being dealt to the Seattle Mariners for Doug Fister in 2011. Thus making “Fister for Furbush,” and vice-versa, one of the best sounding trades in MLB history. During his two years in Lakeland Furbush went 10-12 with a 3.73 ERA and 202 strikeouts. Furbush started all but one of the games he played in during this stretch. When he got to the Majors Furbush found himself playing in the same role; however, in 2012 the Mariners opted to move him to the bullpen after several shaky starts. The move proved beneficial for both parties as Furbush proved to be a valuable set-up guy before Tom Wilhelmsen saved 29 games. But most importantly, Charlie Furbush is just an awesome dude! 

January 4- Miami Marlins

I remember when the new Marlins logo and team name was revealed to the public back in November of 2011, I sat and stared at it in the same manner I did when I first gazed upon a Salvador Dali painting. A slight crook of the mouth, and a subtle, “Huh” came out. I was quite perplexed. Even more so when the team changed from Florida to the Miami Marlins. Over the years I had become used to teams changing colors and uniform styles, but with the exception of the Angles, I honestly didn’t think any other team would go so far as changing the location name of their team after they flack that they had, and still receive. With that, there really wasn’t much that I, a fan, could really do about it. After all, how many teams do you know of that truly appreciate and incorporate fan input into their business decisions? Only one really, the Oakland A’s, but that’s beside the point. :)

Having started my mission of obtaining every hat, I knew at some point down the road I would have to acquire the one that is currently affixed to my melon. Much like the Dali reference earlier, over time I grew a keen fascination with the design. It has a futuristic-vintage look to it; by which I mean it looks futuristic as people from the 60s and 70s imagined how things would look 40-50 years from then. The colors work for the area they reside in, but I still think the original colors would have worked wonders for the rest of their existence.

When I picked it up in the middle of December of 2011, the major deals had just begun for the Marlins during the Winter Meetings. Not being one to boast an unproven experiment, I opted to mark my hat with players who were, not only established, but guys who I thought would be faces of the franchise for years to come. It also gave me a chance to pay homage to a favorite expression from high school and the first bar I ever drank at legally when I turned 21: Triple Nickel.

#5- Logan Morrison was interesting dude when I met him this last season in the MLB Fan Cave. The sketch we were working on featured Morrison giving a tour of New York City atop a double-decker bus. If you've had a chance to watch the video, great. If not, I highly recommend it. Not only for the sake of Morrsion's comedy, but it's also one of the few times I'm actually shown on screen.

Morrison was a 22nd round draft pick by the Marlins in the 2005 Amateur draft out of Slidell, Louisiana. He made his debut after the All-Star break in 2010 and was met with modest success. In his first 62 games he went .283/2/18, but also tacked on SEVEN triples. What's amazing about the triples is that Dexter Fowler led the Majors in triples that year with 14. LoMo was able to do half of that in only 1/3 of the time. And one thing that I know is not an easy accomplishment is hitting 20 or more triples in a season. It's only been done five times since 1985.

LoMo was originally #20 for his first two years in the Show, but asked permission to use #5 in honor of his late father whose favorite player was Kansas City Royals Hall of Famer George Brett. The #5 had previously been retired by the team in honor of the Marlins' founding president and COO Carl Barger, whose favorite player was Joe DiMaggio.

#55- Josh Johnson was a fourth round pick by the Marlins in the 2002 draft out of Jenks, Oklahoma. He made his debut in 2005 for a few games, but was thrown immediately into the rotation for the 2006 season. Johnson went 12-7 with a 3.30 ERA and 133 strikeouts; which was good enough for a fourth place finish for National League Rookie of the Year. 2007 was halted by injury, but he bounced back in 2008 going 7-1 with a 3.61 ERA in 14 games. 2009 and 2010 have so far proven to be the most notable years of Johnson's career. Despite making his only two All-Star Game appearances those seasons, he combined for a record of 26-11, a combined ERA of 2.80, 377 strikeouts combined and a fifth place finish for the NL Cy Young award.

Despite how new the hat was I still opted to mark it up with the two guys that I thought would be the faces of the franchise for years to come. In the after math of the fire sale it's rather apparent that my original thought will never come to be. Morrison can obviously still turn his fortune around this next season, but I imagine it'll be rather difficult with only Giancarlo Stanton as the other only other offensive threat, or so it seems. Johnson, on the other hand, will do well in Toronto with the Blue Jays. He still has amazing stuff if he stays healthy, and I honestly feel that he will be a deep threat for the 2013 American League Cy Young award and be the Jays' ace. Mark it!