August 11- New York Mets

The New York Mets have been an on-going joke in the New York metropolitan area as well as on social media for the better part of the last 20 years or so. It’s come in the form of subway signs

television shows

and even if the form of logos created by the team which resemble that of Domino’s Pizza.

Nonetheless, a lot of it comes in the form of good fun while other times it appears to be a cyclical internal habit by the Mets themselves. One moment in particular I wrote about on May 4th with now infamous “ice cream” uniforms. At the end of the day though, the Mets should be given a lot more credit. After all, they did win two World Series titles in 1969 and 1986 and they’ve also drafted, brought up, traded for and signed a lot of talent over the years.

And of course there’s also that time Bobby Bonilla became the smartest man to ever sign a Major League contract.

I for one will admit that I haven’t been the most pleasant person to critique the Mets and financial decisions, but I assure you that none of it is done with malice as the intent. The Mets will always have a soft spot in my heart because of Gary Carter and their title run in 1986, my first conscious memory of watching a Major League Baseball game on television. For me, it’s hard to watch a team with so much money and talent come up short every year, even if it is a New York team. Hell, for the last 20 years of my life I’ve had to deal with heartbreak coming from a team who has no money and a vast crop of talent every season, only to see it broken down and rebuilt year after year. That team of course is the Oakland Athletics. The Mets are different though. There are elements of their decisions that are reminiscent of the Athletics teams of the late 1980s and early 1990s in that they have a lot of money, but work with a lot of homegrown talent on top of a few key signings. Unfortunately for the Mets, most of their signings haven’t really panned out. But there is a more specific reason why the current Mets team reminds me so much my beloved A’s teams, their general manager Sandy Alderson. Only time will tell if Alderson can right the slowly sinking ship in Flushing, but his first few major moves are definitely an indication that he’s in it to win.

One deal in particular that is a reflection of the Mets’ willingness to win took place on December 5, 2012 when the team re-signed their 2001 draft pick and multiple All-Star spot-winning third baseman David Wright for an additional eight years on top of his then-current contract. The most interesting aspect of this announcement, for me at least, came during the winter meetings when the Mets took the opportunity to unveil their new All-Star Game uniform patches, a few new jerseys and lastly, this cap.

When I first saw it I didn’t now what to make of it. I either had missed the formal announcement and the unveiling of the cap or the Mets didn’t say anything at all as Wright sat up on the stage to field questions while it sat on his head. The 2013 batting practice cap photos hadn’t been released yet so I just assumed that’s what he was wearing. Not at all. The new Mets hat that Wright was sporting is in fact the Sunday/special event alternate cap that the team has been rocking all season long, and to be honest, I actually dig it.

I was super bummed that the Mets decided to retire their road cap at the end of the 2011 season, but they certainly made a strong effort to make up for it with this cap. The color combo is kind of interesting as it has the same appearance as the Citi Field logo up above, but that’s not exactly a bad thing. Orange is an odd color to work with, especially when it comes to the bill, but it works swimmingly against the royal blue crown. Also, the addition of the orange over the white on the “NY” logo helps keep the focus off of one specific area. Even though it didn’t get much play in 2013 it was still one of the better additions for any team over the last six or seven years.

I’ve written many times about how uniform changes can make or break a team and unfortunately for the Mets this was one of those times where it broke them. They finished with the same record as they did in 2012 under Terry Collins (74-88), but they got a lot of performances out of Wright and a few other up-and-coming stars. I did my best not to pick favorites, but the obvious choices were right in everyone’s face. 

#5- Wright was born in Norfolk, Virginia and raised in Chesapeake where he attended school at Hickory High School and worked extensively with Coach Gregory Friedman of Bellmore JFK. Wright was the 2001 Gatorade Virginia High School Player of the Year and earned All-State honors in 1999, 2000 and 2001. He was also named Virginia All-State Player of the Year in 2001. Over his four-year career at Hickory, Wright hit .438 with 13 home runs and 90 RBIs. Upon graduation Wright planned to attend Georgia Tech and major in engineering, but the opportunity to make the pros stepped into the light.

Wright was chosen 38^th overall by the Mets in the 2001 amateur draft during the supplemental round as compensation for the Mets' loss of Mike Hampton to the Colorado Rockies in free agency. Wright was selected after future teammate Aaron Heilman who had been selected with the 18^th overall pick. Wright progressed steadily in his first three years of minor league play, winning the Sterling award for best player on the class A St. Lucie Mets in 2003. In 2004, he quickly rose from the AA Binghamton Mets, to the AAA Norfolk Tides, to the Majors when he made his short-awaited debut on July 21^st.

I’m still not sure why, but Wright somehow managed to not even receive a vote for the 2004 National League Rookie of the Year Award despite hitting .293, 14 home runs and 40 RBI in 69 games. Granted, the winner, Jason Bay, did have a great season for the Pittsburgh Pirates, but he also played in 120 games. Either way, over the next six years Wright flourished. He made the All-Star team five years in a row from 2005-2010, won back-to-back Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards in 2007 and 2008 and finished in the top-10 for the NL MVP three years in a row from 2006-2008.

Wright had a bit of a down year in 2011, mostly due to injury, but bounced back in 2012 with a sixth place finish for the NL MVP and another nod to the All-Star team. For his career Wright has a .301 average and could potentially be a member of the 3,000 hit club if he’s able to grind out a few 200+ hit seasons along the way. The most impressive thing about Wright is that he holds the franchise record for 11 offensive categories in only 10 seasons of work including hits (1558), runs (853), doubles (345), RBI (876), walks (671) and sacrifice flies (60). He is also a substantially wealthy individual, most of which didn’t come on the baseball field. See, back in 2007 Wright became a spokesman for Vitamin Water which was a product of the Queens, New York based company Glaceau. Rather than receive one paycheck, Wright negotiated a 0.5% ownership of the company. It may not seem like much until Coca-Cola bought Glaceau for $4.1 billion. Athletic AND business savvy!

#28- Just like Wright, Daniel Murphy is a homegrown talent who was plucked from the swamps of Jacksonville University in Florida in the 13^th round of the 2006 amateur draft. Murphy’s time in the minors only lasted two years, the first of which was spent in St. Lucie where hit .285 with 11 home runs and 78 RBI in 135 games in 2007. The following season Murphy played at all three levels but made a jump to the Majors on August 2^nd after an injury to Marlon Anderson made room for him as the most viable replacement. In his first major league at-bat, against three-time All-Star Roy Oswalt, Murphy hit a single. Later in the same game, he made a difficult catch against the left field wall, throwing out Hunter Pence at second base for a double play to end the inning. As of August 9, 2008, Murphy was only the 5th Mets rookie to record 10 hits in his first 20 at-bats. Murphy hit his first home run in the bottom of the 6th inning against the Florida Marlins at Shea Stadium on August 9. According to Major League Baseball rules, players are no longer considered a rookie if they have had more than 130 at-bats in a single season. Murphy had 131 at-bats for the Mets during the 2008 season, thus making 2008 his rookie season by a single at-bat. He finished the season batting .313, with 2 home runs and 17 RBI.

Murphy, a natural third baseman, moved around in the field, getting a few starts in left field and other in the infield. Since 2009 Murphy has been a regular fixture in the Mets lineup with the exception of 2010 when he missed the entire season due to a MCL tear while trying to turn a double play during a rehab game with the then-AAA affiliate the Buffalo Bisons. Murphy had hurt his knee during a Spring Training game. In 2011 Murphy’s season ended after 109 games after injuring the same MCL that had been repaired. In 2012 he came back at full-strength as the full-time second baseman. His .290 career average is one of the best on the team over the last few years including his 2011 campaign in which he was hitting .320 before his injury.

While I didn’t have the opportunity to meet Wright during my time in the MLB Fan Cave (missed it by two days), I was able to meet and have a few words with Murphy. That day in particular was kind of interesting because Murphy inadvertently violated one of the biggest rules of the Fan Cave: no clothing items from any of the other professional leagues allowed… ESPECIALLY THE NFL.

Even though I knew it would cause beef with the executives I just had to snap a photo, which I was told to never post on social media. In the mean time, one of the interns was sent downstairs immediately to grab a jersey for Murphy out of the “supply closet,” a room full of MLB gear including hats, shirts, autographed baseball and other cool trinkets. 

After that, the mood was a bit more relaxed. Murphy kicked it on the couch for a social media interview while we all waited for our second special guest, Arsenio Hall.

If there’s anyone who I have ever met that wasn’t built with an off switch, it’s definitely Arsenio, and I don’t mean that as an insult. With every question asked him he had a fantastic joke. He was genuine and polite with everyone who came up to talk to him, but he was honest and humble anytime someone asked him about coming up in the comedy game. The concept that the production crew had brought the two of them in for was a fishbowl Q&A, where basically there was a fishbowl filled with strip of paper with questions on them that the two asked one another. The responses were pretty natural, which made for a good segment. Unfortunately most of the best footage was left on the cutting room floor due to language and subject matter. Does that surprise you?

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!!!

August 3- Washington Nationals

When it comes to being a collector nothing really beats the feeling of a good score. The definition of “score” is not just any object; rather, it’s something that tugs at the heartstrings a bit. It’s something that will always display more value emotionally than monetarily. In my years of collecting New Era Caps I’ve had many scores. A few of them I’ve already written about (Tucson Padres, Jacksonville Expos and the Oakland Athletics) and quite a few of them I have been saving for special occasions. When it comes down to it, I could realistically argue that every single one of my caps has been a wonderful score. I think I’ve proved that over the last seven months with all of these posts, but the ones that have been discontinued, the ones that I’ve had to search high and low for and the ones that makes other collectors or even just fans of the team swoon are hands down my favorite of them all. As crazy as it may sound, especially for as new as the Washington Nationals are, this is one of those caps.

It hasn’t even been 10 years since the Montreal Expos packed up shop and relocated to Washington, D.C., but the Nationals have gone through six on-field caps and they are currently on their fourth batting practice cap. This really wouldn't be that big of a deal had it not been for the fact that the Expos only had two on-field caps in their 35-year existence, one of which I’ve already written about, and yet somehow I’ve already knocked out four of the Nationals caps (February 8, March 13th, April 17th and June 27th). Well, here’s number five. This is one that I had completely forgotten about until I randomly came across it on Ebay back in December of 2012. Like most days when I get bored I combed through every inch of Ebay using the most random of search criteria in the hopes that a lister would misspell a word or put in a lack of a description so that other hat enthusiasts would pass over rare gems and not drive the bidding price up. Not only did the lister of this “DC” cap spell Nationals “Natonals,” but they also started the bid at $4.99 with a $6.00 shipping cost. I threw in a bid of $11.27 a week before it expired and waited. When you wait for something special like this it feels like a month, especially when it comes down to the final minute of bidding. For all of you who are not savvy on Ebay, the last minute of an auction is a cyber-death match as all the other collectors come out of the woodwork and throw down bids at the only time that really matters. Somehow I escaped this process and made off with the cap for $10.99 including shipping. Hazah!!!

I know it doesn’t seem like much, but this cap has been extinct since the end of the 2008 season. It made its debut in 2006 and was paired with the alternate red “DC” jerseys the Nationals typically wore on Sundays. The cap itself was retired but the “DC” was tweaked with an added stars and stripes motif from 2009-2010. After that, the “DC” was fazed out of the Nationals uniform sets altogether. Pretty depressing when you think about it.

It bums me out way more than it should when hats vanish into legend like this cap. I realize that I sound a little overdramatic when I say that, but if you sincerely feel that way you have clearly missed the point of all of these posts. Every one of these caps tells a story about the players, the team and especially the fans who wear them. These aren’t just clothing accessories or sun shields; they’re relics of baseball history that can evoke a sense of camaraderie or rivalry in the minds of those who pass by. As much as much collecting New Era caps may seem like a “gotta catch ‘em all” game of Pokémon, the reality is that I care about preserving history in my own way. It’s nothing different than someone who collects coins, stamps or even vintage porn magazines; there’s a bond that forged ethereally and the thrill of the hunt or the telling of the stories will always keep us going… well, except for the porn magazine collection. I don’t know of many people who would have crowd pleasing stories about that. So with that I of course dropped some pretty recognizable numbers on this cap, both of which played key roles in the history/time frame of this cap. Enjoy!

#12- Soriano began his professional baseball career in Japan with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, training at their Carp Academy for Dominican players. In 1997, he was promoted to the varsity team, and, wearing number 74, he appeared in nine games, batting .118 (2 for 17) with two walks. Soriano disliked the intense Japanese practice schedule (shocker), and the Carp denied him a salary increase from $45,000 to $180,000 per year. Like Hideo Nomo and Hideki Irabu, who had previously left Japan to play in the United States, Soriano hired Don Nomura to help his situation. After first attempting to void Soriano's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) contract by unsuccessfully arguing that the player was legally a minor when he signed it, Nomura advised him, like Nomo, to retire from NPB and pursue a career in Major League Baseball. This prompted Carp executives to file an injunction against Soriano, and to send letters to MLB teams demanding that they cease all negotiations with him. After the Nomo case, NPB officials had amended the Working Agreement without consulting any MLB officials in an attempt to prevent the situation from recurring. Since MLB had not agreed to any changes to the agreement, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig declared that MLB would recognize Soriano as a free agent on July 13, 1998, and the Carp backed down.

I’m going to skip Soriano’s first run with the New York Yankees and time with the Texas Rangers and move right into the Nationals. On December 7, 2005, Soriano was traded to the Nationals in exchange for Brad Wilkerson, Terrmel Sledge, and minor league pitcher Armando Galarraga. On February 10, 2006, Soriano set a record for the highest salary ever awarded in arbitration, receiving $10 million, even though he lost his request of $12 million. The previous high had been set in 2001 by Andruw Jones of the Atlanta Braves when he earned $8.2 million. The Nationals offered Soriano a five-year, $50-million extension, but Soriano rejected the offer. Soriano and his agent Diego Bentz instead opted to open contract negotiations during the off-season, so that he would become a free agent.

On March 20, 2006, Nationals manager Frank Robinson inserted Soriano in the lineup as the left fielder. Soriano, who since 2001 had played exclusively at second base, refused to take the field, and the Nationals organization threatened him with disqualification, which would have meant forfeiture of his salary, and he would not have received credit for service time in fulfillment of the obligations of his contract. With his contract's service terms officially still unfulfilled, he would then have been ineligible for free agency at season's end. Two days later, Soriano relented and played in left field for the Nationals in their exhibition game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Robinson indicated that he considered Soriano's move to left field to be permanent and would not consider moving Soriano back to second base at any point during the season. In his comments following that game, Soriano indicated that he would accept his new position without further argument. As the season got underway, however, Soriano began to enjoy his new position, and by the All-Star break, he led the league in outfield assists and became one of the few players ever to start the All-Star game at two different positions. Soriano set a new career high in walks with 67 (previously 38). He also reached a career high in home runs with 46 (previously 39). On August 25, a week after reaching 30–30, he became the fastest man in baseball history to reach 200 home runs and 200 stolen bases, reaching the mark in 929 games (breaking the previous record of 1,053 games held by Eric Davis).

In September, he completed his 20th outfield assist, becoming the only player in baseball history with 40 home runs, 40 stolen bases, and 20 assists. On September 16, 2006, Soriano stole second base in the first inning to become the fourth player to join the 40–40 club, after José Canseco, Barry Bonds, and Alex Rodriguez. Six days later he became the first player to reach 40 home runs, 40 stolen bases and 40 doubles in one season.

Soriano only played one season with the Nationals, his best on a whole scale throughout his time playing in the National League. Soriano is a seven-time All-Star, all of which came consecutively from 2002-2008. He is also a four-time Silver Slugger winner and a two-time World Series Champion (1999 and 2000). Five times in his career Soriano has finished in the top-20 for the MVP award for either league with his best finish coming in third place in 2002 with the Yankees.

#11- If there was ever a face of the franchise for the Nationals; it’s hard to look beyond third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. Zimmerman grew up in Washington, North Carolina and played his college ball at the University of Virginia where he was an All-American and made First Team All-Athletic Cost Conference. He also started at third base for the 2004 USA Baseball National Team that won the gold medal in the FISU II World University Baseball Championship where he was also named the 2004 Dick Case (real name) Athlete of the Year by USA Baseball.

Zimmerman was drafted in the first round as the fourth overall pick by the Nationals in the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft. After being signed on the day he was drafted, he was sent to the Savannah Sand Gnats, the Nationals' minor league A-level affiliate and then quickly moved up to the Harrisburg Senators, the AA affiliate. Zimmerman was called up to the majors when rosters expanded in September 2005, and shared third base duties with Vinny Castilla, taking over the position on a more permanent basis between the time the Nationals were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention and the end of the season. In his first major league at bat at RFK Stadium he muscled a double to right center. Over the course of 20 games, he posted a .397 batting average, 10 doubles, and six RBI in 58 at-bats. He was the only member of the 2005 team to hit over .300 in at least 50 at-bats all while wearing #25. He remained with the Major League club to start the 2006 campaign, taking over third base duties from Castilla, who was traded to the San Diego Padres. Prior to 2006 Spring Training, Zimmerman changed his jersey number from #25 (2005) to #11, his former college number.

Zimmerman started his first full-season with a bang in 2006, hitting .287 with 20 home runs and 110 RBI. He probably would have won the Rookie of the Year Award that year had Hanley Ramirez not stolen 51 bases and scored 119 runs for the Florida Marlins. Nonetheless, Zimmerman pressed on with his career and has only taken a brief injury timeout in 2008 and 2011 where he still played in at least 101 games in each of those seasons and at least 142 games in the other six.

Zimmerman has only made one All-Star Game appearance (2009) in his nine-year career, the same year that he won his only Gold Glove Award thus far and his first of two Silver Slugger Awards. He’s a fan-favorite, a walk-off artist and a Lou Gehrig Memorial Award winner (2012). The man is Nationals baseball.

July 8- Cincinnati Reds

If there has ever been a moment of a “complete lapse of judgment” in any of these New Era Cap posts today has certainly become the day to show it. Actually, I really shouldn’t be so hard on myself. After all, this is actually the first Cincinnati Reds cap I purchased. 

It was some time during the summer of 2010 when I strolled into the Lids at Valley River Center in Eugene, Oregon to buy this and a few other caps merely off of a whim. See, I hadn’t quite hatched the plan to purchase all of the game-worn Major League Baseball caps just yet. At this point in time I was still in the “one cap for every team” phase. With the Reds I wasn’t particularly picky. The Lids store in question happened to have all three styles from the last few years available and I simply picked out the one that looked the best on my noggin. The winner of the mix? This lucky fella which served as the Reds’ home and road alternate cap from 1999-2000, served full-time as the home cap from 1999-2006 and the team’s road and alternate cap from 2003-present. Actually, it’s a really complicated mess of years and uniform combos which make it really difficult to give a straight answer; so, for the sake of argument, this cap has been used by the Reds since 1999 and is still being used today.

What’s really interesting about this cap is that it ushered in one of the more dramatic changes in any teams’ cap design. Yes, I realize that to most the cap looks virtually identical to their other caps since the 1970s, but I say you’re not looking hard enough. For example, this cap introduced the black bill, which is a pretty significant change when considering that the Reds’ hats were completely red with the exception of their 1993-1998 pinstripe home caps, which I can’t find anywhere. But the most important feature, the one that has caused bits of grief for some Reds fans, is the shadow added to the “C” logo.

Personally, I don’t mind it. From an art perspective it gives the logo a bit more depth; however, from a fan perspective I can how this could be considered frivolous.

Now, keeping in mind with what I said earlier about only making this my one Reds cap purchase it will help explain why I chose the numbers I did for this cap. With almost all of my other caps I’ve done a great job of keeping the stats, dates and people within the timeframe of when the cap was used on the field; however, based on those standards I totally blew this time around. But, I did it all for the sake of the two most important figures (to me) in Reds history who had the greatest impact on my youth years.

#11- 1990 was a weird year for me. I was seven-years-old, in first grade and playing my second year of T-ball… as a member of the Reds. When the season started I didn’t think much of it, nor did I really know how much getting the jersey with the #11 on the back was going to impact the next decade of my life.

I realize that saying you were one of the best players on your T-ball team is incredibly silly, but it was true. Aside from being able to hit a ball that doesn’t move with ease, I was actually a phenomenal defensive threat. Yes, I am aware of how ridiculous this sounds, but how many seven-year-olds do you know of that were capable of pulling off not one, but TWO unassisted triple plays. Oooooohhhhh you don’t know of any? Exactly, now you do. Granted, in both cases the only reason I was able to pull them off is because the kids on the other team forgot that you’re supposed to go back to the base when a pop fly has been caught, but at the same time I looked pretty good for knowing what I could pull off at such a young age. And like I said, not once, but twice. Only one other time in my life have I been privy to such defensive awareness from someone so young. So yah, the next time you look at that photo of the freckled kid above, just know that behind those eyes is a Gold Glover waiting to embarrass your team.

Enough reminiscing about my “glory days,” Barry Larkin has always been one of my favorite/most hated baseball figures in my life. For those of you who don’t know, I’m a life-long Oakland Athletics fan. That bit of information alone should fill in all the gaps, but I’m not one to leave empty details. Larkin, like Pete Rose, was born and raised in Cincinnati and attended Archbishop Moeller High School where he was a second round draft pick of the Reds as an outfielder. Rather than sign on the dotted line, Larkin passed on their offer and decided to go to college instead. For college, Larkin grew the largest set of balls the state of Ohio had ever seen as he opted to enroll at the University of Michigan. 

He's wearing an extra special cup made of gold.

The funny thing about this move is that Larkin was originally set to play football under Bo Schembechler in 1982. Larkin never saw one play on the field for the Wolverines in football, and it was by chance later that year, Schembechler allowed Larkin to pursue baseball. Good thing he did as Larkin ended up becoming a two-time All-American (1984-1985), led the Wolverines to two College World Series berths, won the 1983 Big-10 Tournament MVP, was the 1984 and 1985 Big-10 Player of the Year and even played on the 1984 US Olympic baseball team. Oh, and he also graduated like a boss. Despite “missing his window” right out of high school the Reds came crawling back and took Larkin with the fourth overall pick in the 1985 Major League Baseball amateur draft.

Larkin played in a total of 175 games in the minor leagues for the AA Vermont Reds (72) and Denver Zephyrs (103) from 1985-1986 before making his MLB debut on August 13, 1986. Larkin only played in 41 games that season but still hit .283 with three home runs, 19 RBI and eight stolen bases. His performance managed to get him one percent of the vote for the National League Rookie of the Year award in what is arguably one of the best campaigns in MLB history as that year also featured the debuts of Will Clark, Kevin Mitchell, Robby Thompson, Todd Worrell (who won), John Kruk and Barry Bonds. Crazy! What many may not remember about Larkin is that he was a platoon shortstop for the first two years of his career as another prospect, Kurt Stillwell, had been called up exactly two months earlier. Luckily for Larkin the Reds front office saw the potential in him and ended up trading Stillwell to the Kansas City Royals at the end of the 1987 season. In 1988 Larkin played in 151 games and had 588 at-bats. Why is this significant? Well, Larkin only struck out 24 times that season, the least in the Majors that season. In fact, the most Larkin ever struck out during a season was 69 times in 1998, a year in which he won the eighth of his nine total Silver Slugger awards.

For 19 years (1986-2004) Larkin was a regular fixture of the Reds lineup. He made 12 All-Star Game appearances, 11 of which came between 1988 and 2000 and won three Gold Gloves from 1994-1996. Keep in mind, Larkin was still battling St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith for these spots and awards most of the time. Larkin maintained a .295 batting average throughout his career, had 2340 hits, 960 RBI, 198 home runs and stole 379 bases. The best statistical season of his career came in 1995 when he went .319/15/66 with 51 stolen bases and his second Gold Glove which were good enough for him to take home the National League MVP award that season. Only five other times in his career would Larkin finish in the top-25 for the NL MVP. What’s even more interesting is that in 1996 Larkin finished 12^th for the award despite hitting .298 and becoming the first shortstop to ever hit 30 or more home runs (33) and steal 30 or more bases (36) in a season.

After his retirement in 2004, Larkin was hired as a special assistant to the general manager in the Washington Nationals organization. In 2008, he signed with the MLB Network as a studio analyst. In 2011 he moved to ESPN to serve as a Baseball Tonight analyst. Larkin received great applause from Reds fans when he helped host Baseball Tonight's on-the-road coverage of Sunday Night Baseball at GABP on July 24, 2011. Crowd chants of "Barry Larkin" and "Hall of Fame" often caused the anchors to have to talk very loud to be heard. Larkin was coincidentally in Cincinnati for Baseball Tonight on the day of the 2011 Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. He was the bench coach for the United States at the 2009 World Baseball Classic and managed the United States' second-round game against Puerto Rico when U.S. manager Davey Johnson left to attend his stepson's wedding. On July 20, 2008, the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum inducted Larkin, César Gerónimo, August "Garry" Herrmann, and Joey Jay. In 2012, he was invited by the Brazilian Baseball Federation to manage their national team in the qualifiers for the World Baseball classic. Surprisingly Brazil beat the home country Panama qualifying for the first time ever for the event and played in Japan. They were originally scheduled to play in Puerto Rico, but because of the huge Japanese baseball influence in Brazil they made the switch and the team played Cuba and China besides the home country. The team went winless in its WBC debut and was eliminated after the first round. One thing to be noted is that Larkin speaks Spanish and Portuguese. Yes, the man is a legend.

In 2010, his first year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame, Larkin was not elected, garnering 51.6 percent of the vote (75 percent is needed for election). In 2011, he received 62.1 percent of the vote, the highest of non-inducted players and third overall. In 2012, his third year of eligibility, Larkin was voted into the Hall of Fame with 86.4 percent of the vote along with Chicago Cubs third baseman Ron Santo. He was the eighth Reds player and 24th shortstop inducted to the Hall of Fame. On August 25, 2012 his number 11 was retired in an official ceremony at Great American Ball Park.

#17- I can’t remember where I heard this story or from whom, but somebody I know once asked former Reds pitcher and “Nasty Boy” Rob Dibble who the craziest person from the early 1990s Reds team was. The person who asked had originally assumed the answer was going to be Dibble or fellow “Nasty Boy” Tom Browning. Nope! “Chris Sabo was the craziest motherf---er I’ve ever met” was the quote I was told via hearsay from Dibble. Either way, growing up he was my brother Adam’s favorite player.

Sabo brew up in Detroit and attended Detroit Central Catholic High School. In 1980 Sabo was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 30^th round of the amateur draft, but elected to go to college as opposed to signing out of high school. His college, the University of Michigan. From 1980-1983 Sabo played baseball for the Wolverines, two of those years alongside his future Reds teammate from above. When his college career came to an end the Reds came calling, selecting him with their second round pick in 1983.

Sabo’s minor league journey started in Class-A with the Cedar Rapids Reds before he spent his next two season with the AA Vermont Reds as he corrected his swing mechanics. Sabo spent 1986 in Denver with the AAA Zephyrs before moving to Nashville with the Sounds in 1987 as the Reds switched their AAA affiliate. That season Sabo was batting .292 with seven home runs, 53 RBI and 23 stolen bases and more than likely would have still been stuck in the minors had it not been for an injury to Reds’ starting third baseman Buddy Bell before the 1988 season started. As a result Sabo was named the starting third baseman for the Reds that season.

Spuds, as he was called by manager Pete Rose because of the Bud Light Spuds MacKenzie advertisements, played in 137 games his first season and hit .271 with 11 home runs, 44 RBI, 146 total hits and 46 stolen bases. His campaign was good enough to land him his first of three trips to the All-Star Game and he even edged out Chicago Cubs legend Mark Grace for the NL Rookie of the Year award that season. Not too shabby of a first year, especially for a guy who looks like the MLB version of Kurt Rambis.

1989 proved to be a pretty rough year for Sabo, but he bounced back in 1990 and 1991 where he made the All-Star team his final two times and cracked the top-20 for the NL MVP each of those years. His best season coming in 1991 where he hit career highs in average (.301), triples (3), hits (175), home runs (26), RBI (88) and OPS (.859). Unfortunately for Sabo, he only managed to produce one more solid year in 1993 before he bounced around to the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, Cardinals and back to the Reds where he retired in 1996 amidst to a bit of controversy. In July of that season, Sabo shattered his bat which was filled with cork. As a result of the incident, Sabo received a seven-game suspension. Sabo maintains that he had never corked a bat in his life. He claimed that the bat in question belonged to another player (whom he would not name). He argued that his performance that season (3 home runs in 52 games) was hardly "an endorsement of the cork industry."

Sabo was inducted in the Cincinnati Reds Hall Of Fame, along with Pedro Borbón and Tony Mullane on July 17, 2010. The Cincinnati Reds gave away Chris Sabo bobblehead dolls to fans in attendance that evening.

Now, you’re probably all wondering why or how I could forget to mention the fact that both Larkin and Sabo were members of the 1990 World Series team. Well, as I mentioned earlier, 1990 was kind of a dark time for me being on the Reds for T-ball and being an A’s fan all-around. Like 1988 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, I tend to just gloss over the fact that those two World Series actually took place. I mean, c’mon!!! The A’s should have won easily like in 1989, but instead got smoked by two of the most rag-tag teams ever assembled. It was hell to watch, even at ages five and seven.

What’s truly remarkable about the 1990 World Series team is that Larkin and Sabo hardly get mentioned for their performances. Most of the talk always comes back around to MVP Jose Rijo, Dibble and Browning; however, even though Rijo did pitch and amazing series with two wins, a 0.913 WHIP and 0.59 ERA, Larkin played in all four games and had the third-best batting average of the Series (.353) along with six hits, a double, a triple, two walks and one RBI. Billy Hatcher and Eric Davis put up great offensive numbers as well, but no one mashed as well as Sabo did with his two home runs in Game 3 along with his .563 average and five RBI for the series. You don’t get pawned off as the star player for the Series only to not get named MVP for coming up huge. Right? 

To make matters worse the Reds sweep ended in Oakland which marked the second time I’ve ever cried at the end of a baseball game. The first time I’ll get to later. You know, after reliving these dark times I’m glad I screwed up on marking up this cap. :P

July 4- USA Olympic/World Baseball Classic

Happy Independence Day everyone!!! Time to drop some knowledge!

When I originally thought about doing this post I was going to focus primarily upon the United States of America’s baseball team; however, upon doing a thorough amount of research I found that “one cannot simply talk about USA Baseball” in a few paragraphs. The main reason for this is because the USA Baseball team has evolved for nearly a century. That’s right, for roughly 101 years there has been some form of a US national team in place. So I’ll do my best to keep all of this succinct and with a point, rather than just constant babbling.

If I didn’t all ready blow your mind with the 101 years part, things are going to get a bit crazy for the next page or so for you then. According to the USA Baseball Web site and Wikipedia (for the sake of argument) the US National team was formed in 1978 and has been the National Governing Body (NGB) for amateur baseball. It represents the sport in the United States as a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) and internationally as a member federation of the International Baseball Federation (IBAF). This is not entirely true. A lot of it is dependent upon wordage used and when other top-tier organizations complied to recognize baseball on an international level. This includes (as stated above): the IBAF, USOC, NGB, International Olympic Committee (previously), the Pan-American Games, etc. Like I said, there is a lot to cover but I’ll leave most of you to your own research as to not bore you with bureaucracy. Anyway, my whole point of the “not entirely true” dates back to 1912, the first time baseball was displayed as a demonstration sport at the Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden.

For those of you who don’t know, the definition of a “demonstration sport” is a game or event which is displayed for promotional purposes as an attempt to encourage interest in other countries. Baseball made its first appearance in the Olympics in 1912 in Sweden as an exhibition sport. A game was played between the US, the nation where the game was developed, and the host nation. The game was held on Monday, 15 July 1912 and started at 10 a.m. on the Ostermalm Athletic Grounds in Stockholm.

The Americans were represented by various members of the American Olympic track & field athletics delegation, while the Swedish team was the Vesterås Baseball Club, which had been formed in 1910 as the first baseball club in Sweden. Four of the Americans played for Sweden, as the Swedish pitchers and catchers were inexperienced. One Swede eventually relieved Adams and Nelson, the American pitchers. Six innings were played, with the Americans not batting in the sixth and allowing the Swedes to have six outs in their half of the inning. The game was umpired by George Wright, a retired American National League baseball player who also happened to be the brother of Harry Wright, the guy who pretty much invented professional sports in the US. One could argue that his Cincinnati Red Stockings of 1871 were the first professional athletes in the world, but that would be an untrue statement. Some dude named Gaius Appuleius Diocles in Rome in 146 A.D. can disprove that.

In 1936 baseball was once again displayed as a demonstration sport, but only two teams actually took the field; the US Olympic team and the World Champion team. Both teams were comprised of all members from the US. But even at that, the US kicked ass in front of Adolf Hitler. The person who pushed for baseball in Olympics was a pro ballplayer named Leslie Mann; no, not the actress whose married to Judd Apatow. Rather, the guy who played for the Boston Braves, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Whales (Federal league), Cincinnati Reds and New York Giants for 16 seasons. Originally Mann had organized a 20-game exhibition in Japan the year before the Olympics. In fact, a team from Japan was supposed to play in the Olympics in Germany, but backed out last minute. Mann later went on to found the International Baseball Federation which played its first international championship in 1938 in England. The English team, composed mainly of Canadian college players, won 4 out of 5 games against an amateur American team. He also organized subsequent championships in Cuba in 1939 and Puerto Rico in 1941. World War II brought Mann's efforts to an end.

Baseball was played at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, but not the kind you’re thinking of.

Traditional baseball wouldn’t rear its head in Olympic competition again until 1956 when the games were held in Melbourne, Australia. What’s interesting about these games is that baseball was considered THE “foreign” demonstration sport of the games; however, baseball had been played throughout the country since 1889 and the Australian team was the first to actually field a legitimate team against the US… with the exception that their top cricket players were not allowed to play due to the fact that they were professionals. At the time, according to IOC rules professionals were not allowed to participate in said competitions. Due to the field being set up between the running tracks, right field was only 225 feet so special ground rules were put in place, stating that a ball hit over the running track on the full will be declared a home run, where one that bounces or rolls on or over the track, shall be declared a ground rule double. This rule was put in place to stop baseball cleats damaging the track for the events after the baseball. The game was played on December 1^st (remember, Australian seasons are the opposite of ours) from 12:30pm. As the visiting team, the Americans batted first, scoring 2 runs off 3 hits. Australia did not strike back until the bottom of the 2nd inning, when Chalky White of South Australia hit a solo home run off Vane Sutton. Sutton made up for his error in the top half on the 3rd, with a grand slam to send the score out to a commanding 6-1. The Americans again put the pressure on Australia in the fifth inning as two errors led to another 2 runs to the US, putting them in a comfortable position. The game was eventually called at 2:40pm, after six completed innings and a final score 11-5, with the US batting first. Very few fans were present at the start of the game, but according to record 114,000 had arrived by the sixth inning. This was due to the finals for the 1500 meters, 4x400 meters relay and finish of the men's marathon.

The Olympics were held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964 and once again only one game would be played between the Japanese and the US national team led by former USC head coach Rod Dedeaux, the greatest college baseball coach in history. Members of the team included pitchers Alan Closter, Dick Joyce, and Chuck Dobson; catchers Jim Hibbs and Ken Suarez; outfielder Shaun Fitzmaurice; first baseman Mike Epstein; and second baseman Gary Sutherland. Fitzmaurice hit a home run on the first pitch of the game and the US won 6-2 in front of 50,000 fans.

Baseball at the 1984 Summer Olympics was a demonstration sport, and the first Olympics in which the USA Baseball Team played as an internationally recognized program since the US boycotted the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, Soviet Union. Although single exhibition games had been played in conjunction with five previous Olympics, it was the first time that the sport was officially included in the program, and also the first time that the sport was played in Olympics held in the United States. Eight teams competed in Los Angeles, California in the tournament. Games were held at Dodger Stadium. Cuba, after winning the gold medal at the 1983 Pan American Games, was to participate, but did not as a result of the Soviet-led boycott (Payback). The US made it all the way to the final game where they lost to the Japanese team by the score of 6-3. Notable names from the ’84 team include Mark McGwire, Will Clark, Cory Snyder, Barry Larkin, Bobby Whitt, B.J. Surhoff and Bill Swift. The Dominican Republicteam that year featured a relatively unknown fastballer named Ramon Martinez. Due to the fact that baseball was a demonstration sport, no actual medal was awarded to the winners.

In 1988 in Seoul, South Korea, the final year as a demonstration sport, the US took home the gold (literally) as the beat Japan in the final game rematch. What’s most unusual about this final game is that actual medals were given out; however, they were not recognized by the IOC. It’s all dumb. Notable players on that year’s team include Andy Benes, Jim Abbott, Charles Nagy, Mike Fiore, Tino Martinez, Robin Ventura, Ed Sprague and Mickey Morandini.

Finally, in 1992 baseball made its debut as an official sport at the Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, which is oddly enough one of the only Olympic cities to actually turn a profit off of the games. The US finished a respectable fourth, having bean beaten by Japan and Cuba in the round robin stage and once again by Cuba in the semi-finals. If it makes you feel any better Cuba won the whole thing. But from 1992-2008 baseball served as an official Olympic event in which the US took home one bronze (1996 in Atlanta, Georgia), one silver (2008 in Beijing, China) and one gold (Sydney, Australia).

I don’t know a terrible amount about the Pan-Am Games, but what I can tell you is that the US have won five bronze medals, seven silver medals and one gold medal. I didn’t go into too much research in the Baseball World Cup either as most people don’t know much about it. However, there is the IBAF-recognized World Baseball Classic which wrapped up its third year in 2013… with the US team failing to medal in all three years.  Not to be one to end things on a downer, I saved the best for last, but first… the hat.

This particular cap was first introduced during the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Prior to those games all headwear consisted of “USA” being stitched across the front panels like this.

Jason Giambi

Kris Benson

So whomever designed the current “US” with a red-outlined silver star logo back in 2000 certainly did a fantastic job as it has been used prevalently ever since in all international baseball games. While the cap has appeared in other bill and panel color schemes, the classic all-nave blue has lasted all 14 years of competition, with the addition of the flag of the USA added to the side in 2006 during the first World Baseball Classic tournament.

Now, despite 101 years to focus on I was able to whittle my marks down to two numbers for one year.

#28- Drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the first round (10th overall) of the 1999 draft, Ben Sheets made his professional debut with the Ogden Raptors of the Pioneer League. In August, against the Idaho Falls Chukars, Sheets struck out eight batters while allowing just one hit through five innings. Later in the month, he was promoted to advanced-A Stockton of the California League. In his seven minor league starts that year, Sheets averaged a strikeout ratio of 10.09 batters per nine innings.

In 2000, Sheets was on the US national team for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. One of the most important things to note from this year’s Olympics is that it was the first time professionals were allowed to be on the team. Granted, none of the talent had made it to the Major League level, but they were still paid players in the minor leagues and no longer technically amateurs. Sheets pitched 22 innings, struck out 11 batters, walked one, and gave up 11 hits during the tournament, and faced off against Cuban ace Pedro Luis Lazo in the gold medal game, giving up three singles and advancing just one runner to second base for the entire game. Sheets gave up no walks and struck out five in a 4–0 complete game shutout. It is still considered one of the finest pitching performances in US international competition.

After helping the US win their first and only gold medal in Olympic competition, Sheets headed back to the minors in 2001 but quickly worked through the ranks of the Brewer farm system until making his Major League debut on April 5^th. In eight seasons with the Brewers, the last few which were hampered by injury, Sheets went 86-83 with a respectable 3.72 ERA and 1325 strikeouts. All four of his All-Star Game appearances were made with the Brewers in 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2008. His best statistical season came in 2004 when he went 12-14 with a 2.70 ERA and 264 strikeouts, which were good enough for an eighth place finish for the National League Cy Young award that season. At the end of the 2008 season Sheets and the Brewers went their separate ways.

Sheets wouldn’t pitch again in the Majors until 2010 when the Oakland Athletics agreed to a one year, $10 million with an additional $2 million in incentives, contract with the Oakland Athletics. Sheets got the Opening Day start, going five innings allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits while striking out 3 and walking 4, receiving a 'no-decision'. The Athletics lost the game in the bottom of the 9th. On July 29, 2010, the Athletics announced Sheets would miss the remainder of the season due to a torn flexor in his right elbow. His season ended with Sheets going 4-9 in 20 starts.

On July 1, 2012, the Atlanta Braves announced that Sheets had signed a minor league contract with the organization in order to attempt a comeback to the major leagues. He made his first minor league start with the Mississippi Braves on July 4, 2012. On July 12, the Braves announced that they had called Sheets up from the minors. Sheets made his first start in nearly two years on July 15th against the New York Mets. He pitched six scoreless innings, giving up two hits and striking out five to earn the win. After his second start also resulted in no runs given up by Sheets, who pitched six innings of five-hit, six-strikeout ball, he stated, "If you asked me if I'm surprised I haven't given up a run, yeah I am. But I'm not surprised I'm getting people out. I wouldn't have come back if I didn't think I could get people out." Sheets made the final start of his career Wednesday, October 3, 2012 against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

#16- Doug Mientkiewicz attended Westminster Christian School in Palmetto Bay, Florida, where he was a teammate of Alex Rodriguez. Upon graduation, he was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the twelfth round of the 1992 Major League Baseball Draft, but chose instead to play at Florida State University. In his third season with the Seminoles, Mientkiewicz led the team with a .371 batting average, 19 home runs and 80 RBI. Florida State earned their first ACC Championship, and Mientkiewicz was named ACC Atlantic I Regional MVP. After the season, Mientkiewicz was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the fifth round of the 1995 Major League Baseball Draft.

In 1998, he batted .323, with a .432 OBP and .508 slugging percentage in 509 at-bats for the New Britain Rock Cats to earn Eastern League (AA) All-Star honors, and a September call-up to the Twins. He batted .200 with two RBIs in 25 at-bats for the Twins. Mientkiewicz earned a roster spot with the Twins the following spring without having previously played in Triple-A, and batted .229 with two home runs and 32 RBIs sharing playing time with Ron Coomer at first base in 1999. After a full season in the majors, Mientkiewicz spent the 2000 season with the Twins' AAA affiliate, the Salt Lake Buzz. He was the Triple-A All-Star first baseman, and Pacific Coast League All-Star designated hitter. He batted .334, with a .446 OBP and .524 slugging percentage, in 485 at-bats for Salt Lake, while both scoring and driving in 96 runs.

After the season wrapped up Mientkiewicz was named to the US team and served as the starting first baseman. Mientkiewicz was counted upon for his leadership as the oldest member of the team. He is best known for his walkoff home run against the South Korean team in the semifinals which helped carry the momentum into the gold medal game against Cuba.

In 2001 Mientkiewicz became the Twins’ full-time first baseman, posting the best numbers of his career on both sides of the ball. He won his first and only Gold Glove of his career that season and finished in 14^th place for the American League MVP award after going .306/15/74 under then-manager Tom Kelly. Mientkiewicz had another solid year with the Twins in 2003, but was traded to the Boston Red Sox near the trading deadline in 2004 where he joined a former Twins teammate David Ortiz as they shattered the “Curse of the Bambino” that season after the Red Sox won their first World Series title since 1918. Not wanting to make the same defensive gaff as in the case of Bill Buckner in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, Mientkiewicz was put in a first base and recorded the final out of the Series.

Since then, Mientkiewicz became a bit of a journeyman, playing a season each with the New York Mets (2005), Kansas City Royals (2006), New York Yankees (2007), Pittsburgh Pirates (2008) and Los Angeles Dodgers (2009). He currently serves as the manager for the Fort Myers Miracle, an advanced-A affiliate of the Twins in the Florida League.