July 1- New York Yankees

If you haven’t noticed by now, I’m a huge fan of talking about the stories from a team’s past that don’t quite get remembered except in passing moments and at the countertop during a bar room discussion by the most avid of baseball fans and historians. In the case of the New York Yankees, most long-lasting tales focus heavily upon the dominant teams featuring yesteryear’s stars like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Roger Maris and Whitey Ford all the way up through the 1970s with Thurman Munson, Chris Chambliss and Reggie Jackson and on into the 1990s and 2000s with Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams and Paul O’Neill. These are the teams of our grandfathers, fathers, brothers, sisters, mothers and extended relatives that we all laugh and smile about. But like any fairy tale story, there is always that moment of struggle and conflict that we can’t look beyond.

Unlike most of my other posts I have elected to start with a bit of history about the cap first so that I can wind up and lead into the heart of the story. Despite what most of you have seen through film and photos of the last 80 years or so on Yankees baseball, the team has actually gone through a surprising number of uniform and logo changes in their 113-year history. So far I’ve touched on one of the former caps that the Yankees reintroduced in 2012 in my post from February 9^th when they were still known as the Highlanders. It wouldn’t be until 1913 that the team would officially become the Yankees and begin play with the navy blue cap with the white “NY” logo that we’ve all become familiar with. Over the years the “NY” went through a few style modifications (all of which I’ll detail with individual posts) until they finally settled down on this particular style in 1992, right around the time that this scrappy no-namer was taken with the sixth overall pick in that year’s amateur draft.  

Now, some of you might be saying, “Hey Benjamin! Are you high? The Yankees have been using the same logo since the 1960s at least.” My response to that is, “WRONG!!!” It’s very close, and I used to think the same thing; however, years of baseball card collecting and a vested interest in authentic baseball caps has certainly made me the wiser man in this category. If you look closely in the Jeter photo above you’ll notice that the tips on the “N” and the “Y” curve up and outward and are almost sanded down to a fine 45 degree edge. Here’s a closer look.

Now, if you take a look at the logo on the cap used through the 1991 season, you’ll see that the tips of the “N” and the “Y” shoot out at the tips a little bit more, plus the shape of the “N” has a bit more of an off-kilter curve to it, making the “Y” appear to be a little bit tighter in closeness to the left arm of the “N.” 

I know this all sounds crazy, but it’s true. The main reason I bring all of this up is because at some point in time down the road when I write about the fraternal doppelganger of this cap, I don’t want any of you to think I’m cheating you by writing about the exact same cap. Even weirder, now that I have time stamped this cap that I’m wearing as a 1992-present cap, I’m now about to spin you a story or two from Yankees’ history from the era of the second cap. Yes, I realize none of this makes sense as I try to stay within the era of the cap and its use. The only problem is that I am saving an even better story for the second cap for October, and since this one straddles the end date of the second cap, I figure what the hell? Almost all of us witnessed the Yankees of the 1990s and 2000s so there’s really no sense in dragging anyone down that road again. Nothing personal against the Yankees or their fans; I just feel that there’s no sense in trying to rehash upon what so many others have all ready talked about for the last decade. That would be kind of like going out an making a film about World War II, hoping that your interpretation was somehow better than the dozens that have come before it. Once again, as well all should know by now, Quentin Tarantino pretty much put that baby to bed.

7/1/90: On the morning of July 1, 1990 the Yankees found themselves dead last (seventh place) in the American League Eastern Division with a record of 28-44. The Yankees had been in that position since May 26^th after a loss to the Kansas City Royals by the score of 4-9. Then-manager Bucky Dent, who I’ll be writing about down the road, was relieved of his managerial duties on June 5^th and replaced by Stump Merrill for the remainder of the season. Even with Merrill at the helm, the Yankees struggled to register a number in the win column despite the level of talent on the team which included Don Mattingly, Steve Balboni, Steve Sax, Jesse Barfield and a fresh-faced rookie by the name of Jim Leyritz. Andy Hawkins was on the mound for the Yankees that sunny afternoon in Chicago along with his 1-4 record in 13 starts on the season. Hawkins’s win came on May 6^th against the California Angels, but it was up to him to do battle against the White Sox in old Comiskey Park this day.

Through the first four innings Hawkins and White Sox pitcher Greg Hibbard had themselves a little bit of a pitchers’ duel at hand. Each had 12 batters come to the plate, and in each case both men sent the batters back to the dugout with their tail between their legs. In the top of the fifth inning Hibbard continued his pace, getting Balboni, Barfield and Leyritz out consecutively. Now, it was time to switch sides. Hawkins made short work of both Dan Pasqua and Ron Kittle with a flyout and popout respectively; however, he walked catcher Ron Karkovice after running him up to a full count. Hawkins then had a passed ball get by against second baseman Scott Fletcher, allowing Karkovice advance to second base. Hawkins then proceeded to walk Fletcher before getting Sammy Sosa to flyout to left field.

Hibbard’s perfect game was broken up by Yankees catcher and former-Oakland Athletics skipper Bob Geren in the top of the sixth inning with one out on a single to third baseman and current White Sox manager Robin Ventura. Hibbard would go seven innings and only allow four hits while striking out four throughout the game. As for Hawkins, his day was just getting started. Hawkins got through the sixth on three straight batters, but once again allowed a walk in the top of the seventh inning to designated hitter Ivan Calderon. Hawkins then took down Pasqua again, Calderon got caught stealing by Geren and Kittle went down watching the strikes go by.

If you couldn’t tell by now, the Yankees offense was pretty much non-existent. Hawkins was a lone-man on the mound with a no-hitter in tact through seven innings. In the eight, the wheels came off. Actually, that’s a poor analogy. It’s more like, the wheels came off, rolled down the street along with the car and somehow found themselves back on the hubs. Karkovice and Fletcher both succumbed to popflys to second baseman Sax, but on the next play third baseman Mike Blowers botched a routine ground ball hit by Sosa which allowed a baserunner via error on behalf of Blowers. Sosa then stole second as Ozzie Guillen was in the process of walking, which ultimately led to Lance Johnson receiving a free pass to first base himself, thus loading the bases with two outs for Ventura. At this point I should probably remind you that Hawkins’s no-hitter was still in tact. On the first pitch from Hawkins, Ventura swung for the fences but got under it, sending a deep fly ball to an eagerly awaiting Leyritz out in left field. On most days, this play would have been routine, but on a day like today with a non-no in tact and the wind blowing like crazy in the outfield, Leyritz made a rookie mistake and lost the ball at the last second as it careened off of his glove and onto the grass, allowing all three runner on base to score as Ventura pulled into second. Leyritz was charged with an error, but the White Sox now held a 3-0 lead despite the fact that they were still getting no-hit by Hawkins. Calderon was up next for the Sox, getting himself into a bit of a jam as Hawkins quickly developed a 1-2 count on him. With nothing really to lose, Calderon lifted a ball into deep right field where the sun and the wind played havoc with a slightly careless Barfield waiting under it. Like Leyritz, the ball was being acted upon by the elements, and the same result occurred. Barfield lost the ball in the sun which allowed Ventura to score from second, kicking the score up to 4-0 in favor of the South Siders. Pasqua came to the plate again, working himself into a full count before popping it up to Yankees shortstop Alvaro Espinosa to end the inning.

In the ninth, the Yankees offense didn’t stray too far from their original game plan. That plan being that they weren’t intending on scoring any runs. After getting closed out by Scott Radinsky, the Yankees lost the game by the final score of 0-4 and Hawkins’s no-hitter was still in tact. Well, for a year and two months it was recognized as such. As it would later come to pass, on September 4, 1991 the Committee for Statistical Accuracy, appointed by Major League Baseball commissioner Fay Vincent, changed the definition of a no-hitter to require that a pitcher throw at least nine full innings and a complete game. Since Hawkins (who never gave up a hit during a game against Chicago, despite the Sox winning the game 4-0) played for the visiting team, the Sox never batted in the ninth inning and Hawkins lost the credit for a no-hitter. Pretty stupid, eh? One could argue that this is one of Vincent’s stupider moves during his reign as commissioner; however, this same committee also ruled that Roger Maris is the one and only single season home run record holder, overturning the 1961 decision of former commissioner Ford Frick that Maris and Ruth's home run totals should be listed side-by-side for 154 and 162 game seasons (contrary to popular belief, Frick never mentioned using an asterisk). Sooooooooo… he redeemed himself significantly on that one.

Despite only being commissioner for four years (1989-1992), Vincent’s legacy will forever be tied to directly with the Yankees. Aside from the aforementioned tidbits above, it was Vincent who expelled Yankees’ owner George Steinbrenner III just 29 days after Hawkins’s no-hitter after “The Boss” paid Howie Spira, a small-time gambler, $40,000 for "dirt" on his outfielder Dave Winfield after Winfield sued Steinbrenner for failing to pay his foundation the $300,000 guaranteed in his contract. Steinbrenner was eventually reinstated in 1993 (one year after Vincent left office).

Per Fay Vincent's interview on WFAN (NY) on July 14, 2010 (the day after Steinbrenner died), Vincent had wanted to suspend Steinbrenner for only two years. It was Steinbrenner who asked for a lifetime ban as he was tired of baseball and wanted to help run the US Olympic effort. Steinbrenner knew he could not run the Olympic effort if he was suspended, so he asked for a lifetime ban, which he received. Steinbrenner then applied for (and received) reinstatement after two years.

Other highlights in Vincent’s career include the indefinite suspension of World Series champion, and repeated drug offended Steve Howe in 1992, who became the second player to be given a lifetime ban for drug-related issues. The first player was Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins in case you were wondering. Vincent was also the only man who had the balls to slap the MLB owners with a $280 million bill after the orchestration of collusion to prevent any free agents to be signed from 1985-1987, a topic I will get to later in the year as well. All in all, not too shabby of a four-year stretch for a guy who was paralyzed from the waist down after falling from a four story ledge in college.

#19- Going back to my earlier statement about bar room conversation, there is probably one topic that comes up more often than most people would think when it comes to sports banter. That topic; worst #1 draft picks of all-time. This conversation is usually relegated to NBA or NFL conversation, as they’re the only two leagues truly at the forefront of polarizing the draft; however, there are some analysts and critics who carry out this same discussion with MLB picks. If you ever find yourself deep in the midst of this conversation, always remember to bring up Brien Taylor.

Taylor was born in Beaufort, North Carolina, to parents Willie Ray, who worked as a mason, and Bettie, who was a crab picker at the local seafood plant. He was the second of four children, named for the lead character in the movie Brian's Song. Taylor attended East Carteret High School. In his senior season, Taylor threw 88 innings, striking out 213 hitters while walking 28. His fastball often hit 98 and 99 mph. In 2006, MLB super agent Scott Boras claimed that Taylor was the best high school pitcher he had seen in his life.

The Yankees selected Taylor with the first overall selection in the 1991 Major League Baseball Draft, and offered him $300,000 to sign a minor league contract, the typical amount given to the first overall draft choice at that time. However, Boras, acting as an advisor, advised the Taylor family that the previous year's top-rated high school pitcher, Todd Van Poppel, was given more than $1.2 million to sign with the Oakland Athletics, giving up a scholarship to the University of Miami in the process. The Taylors held out for a three-year $1.2 million contract, "Van Poppel money," even though they had less leverage because Brien's poor grades in high school prevented him from getting a major college scholarship offer. They threatened the Yankees that Taylor would not sign and instead attend Louisburg College, a local junior college, as leverage to get the Yankees to agree to their terms. The Yankees were without the official services of owner George Steinbrenner, who was serving his lifetime banishment at the time, but through the media, Steinbrenner said that if the Yankees let Taylor get away, they should be "shot." Taylor signed for $1.55 million the day before his classes were set to begin. Further delay would have meant the deal could not be signed until after the school year ended, which coincided with the following year's draft.

Initially, the Yankees had hoped that like Dwight Gooden, Taylor would be ready for the big leagues at the age of 19. However they found he needed a better move to first base to hold base runners. In 1992 he was 6-8 for the Class-A Advanced Fort Lauderdale Yankees, but with a 2.57 ERA and with 187 strikeouts in 161 innings. The next year as a 21-year-old with the AA Albany-Colonie Yankees, Taylor went 13-7 with a 3.48 ERA and with 150 strikeouts in 163 innings. He also led the Eastern League with 102 walks. Nonetheless, Baseball America named him the game's best prospect and he was expected to pitch for the AAA Columbus Clippers of the International League in 1994, and start for the Yankees in 1995. The Yankees had asked Taylor to report to an instructional league so he could spend the winter of 1993-94 working on fundamentals. However Taylor declined the Yankees' request, claiming he was tired from the pressure of the season. He said he needed the rest and chose to remain near his North Carolina home.

On December 18, 1993 the normally mild-mannered Taylor suffered a dislocated left shoulder and torn labrum while defending his brother Brenden in a fistfight. The New York Times reported that Brenden confronted a man named Ron Wilson, who he had fought with in Harlowe, North Carolina. Brenden suffered head lacerations. Once Brien found out his brother had been hurt, he and a cousin went to Wilson's trailer home to confront him. There, Taylor got into an altercation with Jamie Morris, Wilson's friend, and Taylor fell on his shoulder. According to Wilson, Taylor attempted to throw a “haymaker” at Morris, and missed, which caused the injury.

In the hours following the altercation Boras told reporters the injury was a bruise. However when the Yankees had Taylor visit Dr. Frank Jobe, a well-known orthopedic surgeon, who called the injury one of the worst he'd seen. Jobe repaired a torn capsule and a torn labrum in Taylor's shoulder. Initially Jobe told Taylor that he would throw again with similar velocity and that his shoulder might even be more durable. However, he was never the same pitcher again. When he returned after surgery, he had lost 8 mph off his fastball and was unable to throw a curveball for a strike. He was at AA before the incident but spent the bulk of the remainder of his professional baseball career struggling in A-ball.

Taylor was able to get his fastball back into the low to mid 90's, and he had also filled out, gaining 35 pounds from when he first signed. However, he had control problems. In 1995 he pitched for the Yankees Gulf Coast League team, and walked 54 batters in 40 innings. In 1996 he pitched for the single-A Greensboro Bats, and walked 43 batters in 16 ¹⁄₃ innings, going 0-5 with an 18.73 ERA. At Greensboro again in 1997, he walked 52 batters in 27 innings, going 1-4 with a 14.33 ERA. He was released by the Yankees at the end of the 1998 season, and pitched for minor league affiliates of the Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Indians until retiring in 2000. In his final stint with the Indians' Columbus affiliate in 2000, he gave up 5 hits, 9 walks, and 11 runs (8 earned) in 2 ²⁄₃ innings.

After baseball, Taylor moved back to North Carolina and picked up a job with UPS as a package handler and later a beer distributor. His life never mirrored his potential as he bounced around from job to job, fathering five daughters and having brushes with the law. In March 2012, Taylor was charged with cocaine trafficking after undercover narcotics agents purchased a large quantity of cocaine and crack cocaine from him over a period of several months. He was federally indicted on cocaine trafficking charges in June 2012. Taylor plead guilty in August 2012 and was sentenced to 38 months in prison, followed by three years' supervised release. Taylor, inmate #56437-056, is currently serving his sentence at Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Dix. 

So much talent gone to waste as a result of a bad decision to some, but the definition of a protector of his family to others. It’s hard to watch sometimes, but it’s all part of the cycle of fame and fortune. Hopefully more kids trying to reach stardom latch onto and learn from this story.

June 6- New York Giants

It’s funny how much the game has evolved in a little over a century. Pitchers can top out at a little over 100-MPH, home runs are hit on a near game-after-game basis and no one has managed to hit or top the .400 batting average mark since Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox bested that mark during the campaign of 1941. But with all of the records that have come to be shattered over the last 15 to 20 years or so very few people have any idea how or when a lot of the more obscure stats came to be. Yes, we have ESPN and the Elias Sports Bureau to help out on occasion with literally the most random of stats that we all secretly enjoy reading in our heads using Tim Kurkjian’s voice, but very few of us really know anything about those particular games. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if most of you read the rest of this pot with Kurkjian’s voice providing the narration.

I should first point out that I received a heavy amount of bad intel about this cap, which, in the end, is really my fault for not double-checking my sources. I bought this New York Giants cap off of the Lids Web site a few months through their Cooperstown Collection line as I have been trying to build up my collection of older caps as they tend to have better stories that have proven the test of time. Based on the colors alone I knew that it was a cap used before the 1950s as the cap worn in their later years pretty much resembled an all black version of the current home New York Mets cap. Basically it’s the most iconic of all New York era Giants caps. What every few people outside of the New York era seem to remember is that there was a vast time period in which the Giants’ team colors where blue, white and orange, the colors that the Mets wear today. If you read my post from June 5^th you’d know that the two sources I use the most are Sportslogos.net and BaseballHallOfFame.org. Now, when researching this cap I did in fact use both of those sources and in both cases they said that this cap was used from 1936-1939, which is perfect for the story and my marking below. However, upon further review from various other hat Web sites including Mickey’s Place, I have come to find out that the cap used from 1936-1939 resembles the modern day Mets cap but with a white “NY.” I verified this through five Web sites, all of which are shops based out of Cooperstown. What’s even more unusual is that the logo on this cap was in fact used on the jersey for a much longer time from, but in an array of colors. For instance, this shape of the “NY” logo with a blue border and white interior was used from 1936-1939. The version currently shown on this cap was used on the jerseys from 1940-1946. This exact hat was only used for one year in 1948. After finding all of this out I about had a cow. If there’s one thing I hate it’s having all of the wrong facts because the last thing I want to do is mislead all of you, the readers. Rather than be frustrated I continued my search to figure out why the intel I had received from such reliable sources in the past could be so wrong, especially considering the fact that after scanning through several photos on the Hall of Fame Web site my original findings appear to be correct. So, I did one more search to figure out what the problem was. This time I typed in “1948 New York Giants cap,” and much to my approval, I found out that I was only off by one year. The all black with an orange “NY” logo was first used in 1947. This particular cap was used from 1940-1946. I could have been a lot worse I suppose. Granted, I did have a few posts earlier in the year where I made a mistake or two in my research, which I really hoped wasn’t going to happen again.

When it came to marking this cap up I came across a stat from 1939 which trigged this whole research and hat purchase mess. And while it started with one particular game I soon came to find out that it has become a pleasant surprise for some teams and a truly nightmarish reality for one team.

6/6/39- Hall of Fame manager John McGraw’s final year as manager of the Giants came about a quarter of the way through the 1932 season. He had gone 17-23 that season and decided to hang it up for good. McGraw only managed one more professional game in his lifetime, the 1933 All-Star game as an honorary manager. In 1934 McGraw died at the age of 60 due to uremic poisoning, a condition caused by poor kidney functioning which causes urine to contaminate the blood.

After McGraw had stepped down in 1932 the Bill Terry era begun as he finished the season with a 55-59 record. In his first full season in 1933, Terry and the Giants finished the season with a record of 91-61, the best in the National League. The Giants then squared off against a Joe Cronin managed Washington Senators team who had gone 99-53 in the World Series. The Giants won handily four games to one. Despite four consecutive 90+ win seasons following their World Series victory the Giants only made to one more Series in that stretch in 1937 in which they lost to the New York Yankees in five games. After that loss, the dark years came for Terry as he was replaced by Hall of Famer Mel Ott at the end of the 1941 season.

In 1939 the Giants went 77-74 on the season, good enough for a fifth place finish out of the eight teams that made up the National League. Despite how tenacious the Giants teams of yesteryear were, only three players from this squad ended up making the Hall of Fame: Mel Ott, who I mentioned a moment ago, Carl Hubbell, one of the greatest pitchers of his era and Tony Lazzeri, a player who was voted in by the Veterans Committee and probably wouldn’t have been given a second glance in today’s era. There was one other player on the team this season who should be in the Hall of Fame based on his name alone and that’s Johnny “Ugly” Dickshot, whose only year with the Giants came in ’39.

When June 6, 1939 came around it was pretty much just another day at the ball yard. The 19-24 Giants were playing host to the 29-14 Cincinnati Reds at the Polo Grounds just on the cusp of Harlem, New York. Right off the bat this story gets interesting. The starting pitcher for the Reds was Johnny Vander Meer. For any baseball historian this name should ring a bell. Almost a full year prior (June 11, 1938) Vander Meer threw a no-hitter against the Boston Bees and four days later he threw another no-hitter against the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the only person in history to throw no-hitters in back-to-back starts (I’ll go into more detail on this feat in a later post). A year later, he was set to make history again, sort of. Vander Meer only lasted two outs as he gave up three quick runs to the Giants. His replacement, a righty named Peaches Davis, closed out the side. Davis then got tagged for a few runs himself through the next nine outs as he got to two outs in the fourth inning with catcher Harry Danning coming up to bat.

With no one on base Danning tagged Davis for the first home run of the game. Next up, Ott… who hit a single. Next up, first baseman Frank Bonura who hit a single as well. Next up, centerfielder Frank Demaree… who took Davis yard with a three-run shot. Giants. Next up, Lazzeri… who hit a single. Next up, second baseman Burgess Whitehead. With a runner on first Whitehead cranked back and swung for the fences, just like his teammates before him. 12-0 Giants. After the third home run Reds’ manager Bill McKechnie had seen enough of Davis and called to the bullpen for righty Wes Livengood. The next batter, pitcher Manny Salvo. Prior to his at-bat Salvo was batting .077 on the season. With numbers like that, Livengood thought he had an easy final out on his hands. Nope! Salvo cranked a solo shot over the left field wall to give the Giants a 13-0 lead. Next up, left fielder Jo-Jo Moore… who hit a solo shot himself. 14-0 Giants. Next up, shortstop Billy Jurgess… who struck out to finally end the fourth inning.

By the end of the game Ott would get himself a home run off of relief pitcher Junior Thompson and Moore would hit his second of the day for a total of seven home runs hit by the Giants in their 17-3 routing. Seven home runs had been hit in a game before; however, this ended up being the first time in MLB history which five home runs would be hit in a single inning, let alone with two outs.

In MLB history there has yet to be a game in which a team has hit more than five home runs in an inning. In fact, only five times, including this game, has a team hit five home runs in an inning. Of the five games in which this has happened the Reds were the losing/pitching team in four of them. That’s ridiculous!

May 28- New York Yankees

It’s a little weird to think that a full year has come and gone since I got kicked out of the MLB Fan Cave. Nothing about my termination surprised me; I had been telling the other Cave Dwellers that I was going to be the first person let go before the end of the first full week of the season. It was a damn shame too. The entire concept of what the Fan Cave is sold as is a fantastic concept; however, the execution has been questionable. Based on my experience, and the experience of others, it has very little to do with interacting with the fans. It’s merely a smoke and mirrors marketing ploy. I realize it makes me sound bitter, but nothing could be further from the truth. With the money I made in the short time I was there I traveled the continent, hitting 27 of 30 Major League stadiums, numerous Minor League facilities and catching an array of concerts. On my journey I made some amazing friends, got to meet some great players, got a few more MLB tattoos and most important, I met the love of my life Angie Kinderman (@sconnieangie). I’ve done my best to not rip on or really say anything negative about the Fan Cave because after all, I have nothing to give but my gratitude as none of this would have happened without my experience. I just really wish there was way more fan involvement with the outside, like I tried to and have been incorporating every day.

This particular hat carries quite a bit of importance behind it as it was involved in one of the last challenges we were assigned before the first elimination. The concept was that we had to take a photo of something having to do with Memorial Day and the person who received the most likes on Facebook would win. Not a prize or anything, just a win. I knew this challenge was going to end with another loss for me due to the fact that anything involving fan voting of Facebook was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I never finished dead last though; usually somewhere in the Top-four. When we had some time off we all went our separate ways, scouring the city for a great photo. Fleet Week happened to be going on in New York City so a few of the other Cave Dwellers made sure to include men and women in uniform in their photos. I really had no idea what I wanted to do so I went over to the New Era Flagship store across the street from the Fan Cave to mull it over.

Now, I’ve been a novice photographer for years. I’ve taken quite a few classes for a number of years on the subject. Hell, I used to be able to develop my own photos. I bring this up because a lot of you who may follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook have probably seen a few of my photos. Actually, if you read my blog you see my photos every time. I need to point out that in almost every case I don’t try to take a Pulitzer Prize worthy photo; however, sometimes I do. As I was walking through the shop I was talking with the store manager Antoine, asking how he had been. You know, being friendly. I had my camera in my hand but I couldn’t find anything in there to shoot. Plus, the camera I was using was a Sony Powershot, not even one of my fancier cameras. As I said my goodbyes to Antoine and the staff I noticed the new Stars and Stripes display they had on the wall in the front of the store. I missed it when I walked it, but I definitely saw it on the way out. It was a block of cubby holes, all of which had New York Mets and New York Yankees hats inside of them. I couldn’t tell you why, but as I really took my time to look over the display and imagine popped into my head from an article I had read in my media ethics class at the University of Oregon. The article, from 2009, talks about the ban that was lifted after 18 years which prevented media organizations from showing photos of caskets containing soldiers who had dies during war. This topic is an interesting paradox because politicians were basically preventing the public from seeing the real casualties of war. The photo shown in the article I linked is a different one than what I saw, but still the same concept. As I looked at the hats on the wall I had an idea of telling a story through a photo, like I always do; however, this contest was strictly photos, no captions. So, with that in mind, I took this.

This photo was not cropped; I had to line it up perfectly without the use of a tripod. As I mentioned above, we were using Sony cameras, and I could have taken a much better photo with my camera. What you’re seeing, or at least my interpretation of it is a casket and the light shining above it Heaven. Upon looking at multiple photos of caskets being transported back from Iraq and Afghanistan there was almost always a common thing shown in all of them; closed in, almost claustrophobic shots with a light coming from above. I thought that this display was a perfect representation, especially with the tie-in with the Memorial Day theme. I took about 22 shots. Yes, 22, and yet with that camera this was the best I could get.

We weren’t allowed to use Photoshop or any doctoring program, so I was a bit out of luck on cleaning this photo up. Maybe I’m being too critical. Anyway, I emailed my photo in and didn’t tell anyone about it except for Tyler Hissey, the guy in charge of the Fan Cave Twitter account and Facebook page. The only reason I brought it up to him was because I was working on an article about the hats, covering their purpose and how the proceeds go to Welcome Back Veterans. You know what, here’s what I wrote…

 For those who know me really well, 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 4^th 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; a 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.

Once again, for what it was, it was pretty good. Now, as soon as I told him this he then told me, “Oh that’s great. It’ll be good to get a second perspective.” The word second confused me, so I asked him to elaborate. This is when he told me that Kyle Thompson, the St. Louis Cardinals fan, had all ready done an article, but Hissey was really happy I did one too. Well, no shit I was going to write one. I don’t mean to get territorial, but in this case everyone who knew me, including the fine folks at New Era, all knew that wearing, writing and talking about New Era Caps was what I loved to do. Almost everyone else in the Fan Cave had at least one New Era Cap. Kyle had two; I was sitting on about 174 at the time. Soooooooo… I was a bit irked that Kyle would go behind my back and do that. This of course was a common theme for me as I assisted (or had other material stolen by) other people (mostly Kyle) throughout the two-and-a-half months I was there, and yet, I was not “contributing creatively” enough. Ummmmmmm… yaaaaaahhhh…

The Yankees have always had a longstanding, solid relationship with our nation’s military. I mean, with a name like Yankees it’s hard to shake. This last week a member of the front office was honored with a tremendous medal from the US Army in gratitude and tribute of all the hard work she had been doing since 1985. Senior Vice President of Marketing Deborah A. Tymon received the "Outstanding Civilian Service Award" from in recognition of her decades of service in support of the military. The award is the third-highest public service honor the U.S. Army can bestow upon a civilian.

Since joining the New York Yankees front office in 1985, Tymon has spearheaded many of the Yankees' initiatives involving the military and veterans. Among her many accomplishments, Tymon has been instrumental in developing the Yankees' close relationship with the Wounded Warrior Project, making injured veterans the focus of hundreds of public and private ceremonies and events. She has also been a regular contributor to the Wounded Warriors' annual Soldier Ride.

Tymon has organized the donation of thousands of tickets to active military members and veterans and was deeply involved in the creation of Military Appreciation Day at Yankee Stadium.

On behalf of the Yankees, Tymon has led the effort to deliver thousands of care packages, including clothing, snacks, books and memorabilia, to active servicemen and servicewomen in Iraq and Afghanistan. Most recently, she worked with the USO to send thousands of gift packages to soldiers in the Middle East last holiday season.

"I'm incredibly honored and overwhelmed," Tymon said. "Over the years, I have had the great privilege of meeting countless members of the armed services. Their stories of sacrifice always leave me breathless. It has been an honor for me to give back to them with the support of the Yankees and show them the appreciation they deserve."

Tymon's father, James Tymon, served in the 6th Marine Division and 29th Regiment during the Battle of Okinawa in World War II. –newyorkyankees.com

Since 1971 the Yankees have gone 23-18 while only missing three games on Memorial Day due to travel or days off. Surprisingly there isn’t really much to say in regard to patterns or teams faced other than the fact that they’re 4-1 against the Boston Red Sox and 0-3 against the Baltimore Orioles on Memorial Day. Sorry. I though I was going to find more.

After combing through record books and biography pages I picked a few solid, “lesser-known” members of the Yankees in which to pay tribute to with my marks. Some of you may not agree with my choices, no matter. I have my reasons and stick to my guns.

#8- He started out as #10 for his first year in the Majors 1929, but changed to #8 in 1930, which he kept until his final game in 1946. No, it’s not Yogi Berra. Prior to a few months ago I really didn’t know too much about this player other than his name, team he played for and a few notable moments throughout his playing career and I really have my friend Vanessa Demske (@vdemske) to thank for sparking my curiosity. See, Vanessa was a Top-30 finalist in this year’s production of the MLB Fan Cave as the representative for the Oakland Athletics, much like myself. We chatted a bit on Twitter and such during her campaign, but we became really good friends when we got together for Opening Day down in Oakland after she, unfortunately, didn’t make the final cut. Now, you’re probably wondering where I’m going with this, well, like myself, Vanessa has a few MLB tattoos herself; two of which I will cover in these blog posts. The first, of which is a full portrait of this particular player, Bill Dickey.

Dickey was Vanessa’s grandmother’s favorite player, and even though we didn’t go into much detail about that, I can confidently assume that Vanessa and her grandmother were really close.

Dickey made his major-league debut at Yankee Stadium on August 15, 1928, subbing for Benny Bengough.   He broke into the hit column nine days later, on August 24, with a triple off George Blaeholder of the St. Louis Browns. Dickey played in ten games to close out the year and was a spectator as the Yankees won their third straight pennant and swept the Cardinals to take their second World Series in a row.

The 1929 season began the transition from the famed Murderers’ Row teams that had dominated the American League in the late 1920s to the Bronx Bombers era of the ’30s.   As great as the Yankees were during the Murderers’ Row period, they were relatively weak at one position, catcher. Benny Bengough, John Grabowski, and Pat Collins shared the catching duties, but none of the three stepped up to take ownership of the position.   Dickey’s arrival changed that; all three were gone from the Yankees roster within two years. “He’s going to be a great one,” Yankees manager Miller Huggins predicted of Dickey. Indeed, starting in 1929, Dickey caught in at least 100 games for the next 13 seasons. –Joseph Wancho SABR Project

Dickey played for 17 seasons from his 10 games in 1928 until the end of the season in 1946. As a catcher he is still one of the greatest hitter of all-time, batting .313 lifetime with 202 home runs and 1969 hits under his belt. While this may not seem like much for 17 years, something you need to take into account is that he did not play every game of each season. During his peak years (1929-1941) Dickey only averaged 119 games a season; the highest point being 140 games in 1937 and the lowest point being 104 games in 1934. From 1933-1946 Dickey made the All-Star team every season except 1935 and 1944-1945. From 1936-1939 he finished in the Top-six for the American League MVP award, the most notable being 1938 when he finished in second place behind Jimmie Foxx of the Red Sox after going .313/27/115. Foxx went .349/50/175 in 14 more games; no argument here. Dickey played in eight World Series, winning seven. He would win seven more as a coach from 1949-1956. In 1,708 games behind the plate, his fielding percentage was .988. His career batting average was .313, and he owned a .382 on-base percentage. In 6,300 career at-bats, Dickey struck out only 289 times.  

Dickey entered the Navy on June 3, 1944, with the rank of lieutenant junior grade. He served as an athletic officer in the Pacific and managed the Navy team that won the 1944 Service World Series in Hawaii. He was honorably discharged in 1945.

He was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America in 1954, his 10^th year on the ballot. Dickey passed away at the age of 86 in 1993.

Perhaps the greatest compliment that can be bestowed on a player is one that comes from a fellow Hall of Famer from a rival team, “Bill Dickey is the best (catcher) I ever saw,” said Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Feller. “He was as good as anyone behind the plate, and better with the bat. There are others I’d include right behind Dickey, but he was the best all-around catcher of them all. I believe I could have won 35 games if Bill Dickey was my catcher.”

#42- No, this is not Mariano Rivera. Lt. Colonel Jerry Coleman was born on September 14, 1924 in San Jose, California.  He joined the United States Marine Corps and began his military career on October 23, 1942, as a naval aviation cadet in the V-5 program in San Francisco, California.  After going through pilot training in Colorado, Texas, and North Carolina, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Marine Corps.  He received his wings of gold, signifying he was a naval aviator, on April 1, 1944 at Naval Air Station, Corpus Christi, Texas.  He was assigned to Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, Florida, where he was trained to fly the Douglas SBD Dauntless Dive Bomber.  He was briefly stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station at Cherry Point, North Carolina, and then was transferred to Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, California.  He then boarded a troop ship and was sent to Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands as a replacement pilot.

He arrived at Guadalcanal in August, 1944, and was assigned to VMSB-341, known as "The Torrid Turtles". He flew 57 combat missions, flying close air support, which VMSB-341 was the first squadron in the Marine Corps specifically designated to do, and flew missions in the Solomon Islands and the Philippines. In July, 1945, his squadron, along with other Marine Corps squadrons, was called back from the Pacific to form carrier-based squadrons in anticipation of the amphibious assault on Japan. With the sudden ending of the war in the Pacific, he remained stationed at Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point, North Carolina. In January, 1946 he was transferred from active duty to the inactive reserve list, and resumed his baseball career, playing second base for the Yankees. –HighIronIllustrations.com

Coleman was originally signed to play for the Yankees back in 1942; however, he didn’t make his Major League debut until April 20, 1949. From ’49 until 1951 he had his best years, finishing third for the AL Rookie of the Year award behind Roy Sievers of the St. Louis Browns and Alex Kellner of the Philadelphia Athletics. Coleman made the All-Star team in 1950, the only time in his career. That season he hit .287, had 150 hits, six home runs, six triple and brought in 69 runs. From 1952-1957 Coleman’s playing time dwindled at the keystone after the Yankees brought up on of their prospects; a kid by the name of Billy Martin.

In 1958, Yankees' General Manager George Weiss named Coleman personnel director, which involved Coleman scouting minor league players. Roy Hamey terminated Coleman from that position, when Harney became the Yankees' General Manager. It was only after Coleman met with Howard Cosell that Coleman considered becoming a broadcaster.

In 1960, Coleman began a broadcasting career with CBS television, conducting pregame interviews on the network's Game of the Week broadcasts. His broadcasting career nearly ended that year; he was in the midst of an interview with Cookie Lavagetto when the national anthem began playing. Coleman kept the interview going through the anthem, prompting an avalanche of angry letters to CBS.

In 1963 he began a seven-year run calling New York Yankees' games on WCBS radio and WPIX television. Coleman's WPIX call of ex-teammate Mickey Mantle's 500th career home run in 1967 was brief and from the heart: Here's the payoff pitch... This is IT! There it goes! It's out of here!

After broadcasting for the California Angels for two years, in 1972 Coleman became lead radio announcer for the San Diego Padres, a position he has held every year since but 1980, when the Padres hired him to manage (predating a trend of broadcasters-turned-managers that started in the late 1990s). He also national regular-season and postseason broadcasts for CBS Radio from the mid-1970s to the 1990s. Coleman is also famous for his pet phrases "Oh Doctor!", "You can hang a star on that baby!", "And the beat goes on", and "The natives are getting restless". During an interview in the height of the steroids scandal in 2005, Coleman stated "if I'm emperor, the first time 50 games, the second time 100 games and the third strike you're out", referring to how baseball should suspend players for being caught taking steroids. After the 2005 World Series, Major League Baseball put a similar policy in effect.

He is known as the "Master of the Malaprop" for making sometimes embarrassing mistakes on the microphone, but he is nonetheless popular. In 2005, he was given the Ford C. Frick Award of the National Baseball Hall of Fame for broadcasting excellence, and is one of five Frick award winners that also played in the Major Leagues (along with Joe Garagiola, Tony Kubek, Tim McCarver, and Bob Uecker).

In the fall of 2007 Jerry was inducted to the National Radio Hall of Fame as a Sports Broadcaster for his years as the play by play voice of the Padres.

#38- This number only represents one year of this Hall of Famer’s career. It’s a lesser-known number he wore, the first of three to be accurate, but the first nonetheless which he wore in 1946. Lawrence Peter Berra, better known as Yogi, was signed as an amateur free agent by the Yankees in 1943; however, he joined the Navy not too long after his 18^th birthday that same year.

"I sit and I thank the good lord I was in the Navy. We ate good, clean clothes, clean bed. You see some of these Army men, what they went through, that's the one I felt for." –Yogi Berra

In February 1944, he sailed for the British Isles on the USS Bayfield, where he was as a gunner's mate on board a rocket-launching landing craft in the D-Day invasion at Omaha Beach, "It was just like a Fourth of July celebration," he later recalled. "Being a young guy, you didn‘t think nothing of it until you got in it. And so we went off 300 yards off beach. We protect the troops." For the next 12 days his boat was ordered to shoot down enemy aircraft. On one occasion they accidentally shot down an American plane, but were able to save the pilot. He served in a second assault on France for which he received a medal from the French government. Berra also served in North Africa and Italy, and was sent home to the United States after suffering a hand wound. He was then stationed at the New London Sub Base until his discharge. Six years after his time in the war he received the Lone Sailor award from the U.S. Navy Memorial, an honor given to sailors who use skills learned in the service to advance their careers. The president and Navy Memorial CEO said, "Our honorees are living examples of how service to country changes lives and helps develop leaders."

On September 22, 1946 Berra made his Major League debut wearing the #38. I’m not going to focus too much on Berra’s career today, as I have some larger slated down the road. The importance of this; however, is that Berra was a budding superstar like a lot of the other guys throughout the history of war; he was still a prospect. Prospect’s weren’t protected and sent to play baseball for their branch of service. At any given time Berra could have been killed, but like the men of his generation, love of one’s country trumps everything else. I honor Berra with his original number because he could have just as easily not have been wearing a number altogether. In my eyes, he’s the greatest player to ever don a Yankees uniform, and one of the few people to ever really live up to that name, a Yankee.

April 25- Texas Rangers

If there’s one person I haven’t given enough praise to for the 2012 Major League Baseball season, and especially for my time in the MLB Fan Cave, it’s my friend Taylor Smith (@Tayloraksmith). Taylor was born in Louisiana, but spent the vast majority of his life in Portland, Oregon. For as long as I’ve known him he’s been one of the few Texas Rangers fans who can dish a great deal of banter. We first met at Max’s Tavern, the bar that another mutual friend of ours, Matthew Alpert, and I both worked at. I had just gotten off of my shift, 4 PM- 9 PM, and was standing on the patio watching the day’s baseball highlights while smoking a cigarette and enjoying a tall, cold glass of Pabst Blue Ribbon to unwind. Matt and Taylor both walked in through the back entrance and Matt introduced the two of us. What I didn’t now at the time is that all three of us were enrolled in the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication, so we always had plenty to talk about outside of jokes, music and baseball. Off-and-on we’d spot each other in the hallways; however, all three of us had a different of focus of journalism: Matt was in video production, Taylor in advertising and I was enrolled in news/editorial and magazine writing. With our powers combined we would have made for a pretty badass team.

For only one day in the three years that we’ve known each other can I recall Taylor not wearing a Rangers cap. That day, our graduation day in 2011…

Taylor is in the sunglasses and Matt is the shorter cat with some decent beard growth. At the time I had finished up two of my degrees, one in English and the other in journalism, but my life got a little sidetracked in 2012 when I moved to New York City to be in the Fan Cave and had to put degree number three on hold for a bit.

Most of his Rangers loyalty came to fruition during the 2010 World Series against the San Francisco Giants. He was able to score tickets to Game 2 at AT&T Park, but regretted every second of it when I saw him in Eugene the next day after the Rangers suffered a 9-0 loss at the hands of the Giants. Based on my Oakland Athletics loyalty, it was a hard one to swallow for the both of us.

After graduation Taylor had gotten on with an advertising firm on the East Coast. Despite seeing photos on a regular basis on Facebook, I had totally forgotten that Taylor was living in New York, literally at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge on the Manhattan side. When I got the call to move to New York for the Fan Cave this important little detail didn’t creep back into my head until a few weeks into our experience. In fact, it was Taylor that reached out to me. During one of the few days in which we had after noon games one of the security guards, Robert, yelled at me from across the room to let me know I had a visitor. I remember just looking back at him, lifting my arms up and saying, “Me?” I didn’t know anyone in New York, let alone get a tip from anyone that they would be coming to town. As I got up out of the couch I lurched about three steps and say the bright red Rangers hat I had been so accustomed to seeing at Max’s Tavern staring right back at me. With a wide grin on my face I opened the door, gave him a hug and invited him inside to give him the grand tour and introduce him to everybody.

As it turned out, Taylor and I only lived about a mile away from one another, so we did our best to meet up two to three times a week for a beer or even for him to just stop by the Fan Cave in the evening to catch a few games with us. It was great to have a familiar face from home around when he could, but since he was busy himself his visits became less frequent as the weeks rolled by. What I later found out toward the end of May was that Taylor’s contract with the advertising firm had expired and he was in a bit of a haste to look for a new gig otherwise he’d have to move back home to Oregon. This bit of news he told me over drinks one night at a regular bar we visited, but he did his best to keep a smile on his face.

Finally, on May 29, 2012 everything came to an end. I was given the axe by the Fan Cave and he had booked his plane ticket home. Neither of us, at the time, knew about each other’s news. It would be five days before we were able to see each other again, and the circumstances behind it were accidental. A few days after I had my last day in the Fan Cave I took in a game at Yankee Stadium as the New York Yankees were hosting the Tampa Bay Rays. This was during the period of time when I had also been kicked out of the apartment and moved to a hotel about a half-mile away, so he and everyone else still associated with the Fan Cave had no idea where I was staying. The game that night was a gift from David Price who had hooked me up with tickets on account of the bad news I had received, a pretty sweet gesture if you ask me. Price wasn’t pitching that night and the Yankees won 7-0 to tie the Rays for the lead in the American League Eastern Division. After the game I took the subway back to around the Fan Cave so I could walk by to see if anyone was still there. They weren’t. Instead, I was greeted by another one of the security guards and we chatted for a good hour about everything that had gone down. After we said our goodbyes I headed back toward the Blue Haven, the bar we frequented, for a night cap before heading back to the hotel. As I walked in I was greeted by Ricardo Marquez, Ashley Chavez and Taylor. Most people would normally be happy to see their friends; however, in this case I was confused to see my friend with the people that I worked with. As I came to found out Taylor had stopped by the Fan Cave to see me, they let him in and for a solid 15 minutes no one told him where I was. I don’t remember who he said finally cracked, but dear lord! 15 minutes? I wasn’t upset with Taylor in the slightest. After all, how could he know? As for everyone else, that was the first day I realized that I didn’t have any friends in the Fan Cave, merely acquaintances.

Taylor and I only got to see each other one more time after that which came on my second to last night in New York. The timeframe on my hotel had expired and I was left with not having anywhere to go. I ran through a few numbers at first, but no one had the room or the availability to let me crash. All of my stuff was at one of the apartments until my final day, so I was good on that. Without anyone else to turn to, I hit up Taylor and he happily took me in. It was late and all of his roommates had gone to bed. Always being the good host he let me sleep in his bed while he took the couch despite all of pleading I did to just let me take the couch. Before we went to bed we went up on his roof with a couple of beers and swapped stories on what exactly happened to us as he and I were slated to head back to Oregon on the same day. I t was one of the few perfect night I had in New York. Both of us knew what was going to happen next, but neither of us cared in that moment. We drank our beers, smoked a few cigarettes, talk and just stared into the night sky as the lights of the Brooklyn Bridge shone down upon us.

Taylor and I continued to text back and forth to one another, but we weren’t able to see each other again until July. I had busied myself with my baseball road trip and he found a temporary gig with a firm in San Francisco. On Wednesday, July 18th he had a short day at the office, which worked out swimmingly considering that was the day I was throwing out first pitch for the A’s. I had hit him up a few days prior to let him know and he told me he would do his best to get there. I made sure to leave a ticket for him at Will Call and all I could do was hope that he would show up. The events went off without a hitch, with the exception of my pitch going a little bit outside. As Josh Reddick, the other participant and I walked back toward the dugout I heard someone yelling my name from a distance. As I looked up, I saw a familiar face. This guy.

Both of my parents, as well as my best friend Laurin Mitchel had come to town, as well as my friends Tim and Stephanie from San Francisco, so I made sure to introduce him to everyone. For the majority of the game he hung out with my mom, Laurin and me and we swapped stories from our time hanging out in New York. The game itself was close throughout. Taylor’s Rangers had built themselves a lead against the A’s, but the A’s chipped away it and tied it up going into the ninth inning. With no runners on manager Bib Melvin elected to pinch hit Brandon Hicks in the leadoff spot. What no one expected, including Hicks, is that one pinch hit would lead to his first career home run as well as yet another walk-off win for the A’s. I was pumped. Taylor, not so much.

After the game we all met up in the parking lot for photos and to say our goodbyes. We’ve talked a few times since that day, but we haven’t seen each other since. Taylor got himself a new job in New York not too long afterward, so it’s been a bit tough. He’s doing pretty well. I can only hope to visit him again in the near future.

My timing was a bit off in regard to the Rangers hats I’ve chosen to rite about thus far. My piece I did on Alex Rodriguez is fine, it’s this one and the one I did on January 6 that are causing problems right now. This cap, the all blue with a white “T” and red outline was first introduced as the Rangers’ road cap during the 2000 season. From 2001-2010 it served as the home cap. Since 2011 it has taken over as the team’s game style, while the red cap from January 6 has served as the alternate cap. The reason this causes issue is because I kind of blew it when I decided to mark up the red cap. If you go back and look, I wrote all about Michael Young’s career stats; however, Young hardly ever played under that cap. One guy in particular that I was left to mark up this cap with did, for many years as that. All three of the numbers I threw on this cap serve a particular meaning to the 2012 season. One of the other funny things about this post is that I really should have used it to write about the team’s all-red game cap as that was the one Taylor primarily wore throughout the time we’ve known one another. So, without further ado, watch me try to bail myself out of this little mess I put myself in.

#5- Ian Kinsler was drafted in the 17^th round of the 2003 amateur draft by the Texas Rangers out of Arizona State University (Go Ducks!!!). On April 3, 2006 he made his Major League debut as the Opening Day starting second baseman where he continues to hold reign to this day. That season he only played in 120 games and finished a respectable seventh place in the Rookie of the Year vote after going .286/14/55 on the year. If you don’t remember, Justin Verlander won it that year with little-to-no problem. In 2008, 2010 and 2012 Kinsler has been named to the AL All-Star team and in 2008, 2009 and 2011 he finished in the Top-26 in the AL MVP vote each of those three years. A perennial power-hitting second baseman, Kinsler has a .272 career average, 148 home runs, 480 RBI and surpassed 1000 hits for his career a few games into the 2013 season. My connection with him takes place in Boston on Tuesday, August 7^th.

I had been staying with my friend Dave Kaufman (@TheKaufmanShow) up in Montreal, Quebec, Canada for a few weeks. Along with two members of the Canadian rock group, The Arkells, we packed up Dave’s car and made the long journey down to Boston for that night’s Boston Red Sox game against the Texas Rangers. Another friend of mine, Neil Beschle, met up with us outside of Fenway Park, as he would be who I was staying with for the next week of my trip. I’ll get to a much more detailed version of the game in October, but all that matters now is that the Rangers won 6-3. Dave and company were crashing the night in Boston, but Neil and I were going to head back to his place in Worchester (pronounced Woostah) that night. Not wanting to leave it on a weird note we all elected to go out for one more beer before moving on. One beer of course meant two pitchers between the five of us, as none of us really wanted to hit the road quite yet. Dave had been to a great bar near Fenway a few years prior and elected that we go there. None of us took issue with that. Apparently the place Dave had been thinking of originally only fit about 150 inside; however, the place expanded into three stories, but we still got our drinks there. The A’s were playing the Los Angeles Angels that night and as long as I had a television on I was in good shape. About 20 minutes into our time there a group of Rangers fans walked into the bar, and quite amused at that. I wasn’t in a bickering mood so I kept to the game I was watching, only moving my head whenever I noticed a large rat scuttle across the floor. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Dave motioning to me so I got off of my chair and walked over to listen to what he had to say. “Isn’t that Ian Kinsler?” he said. I slowly turned my head and made sure to look past the area he motioned to. “Yup,” he retorted. From this point forward I decided to stand, mostly because I was curious to see how this was going to pan out. Kinsler was drinking out of a water bottle and conversing with the group of Rangers fans. I had gone back to watching the A’s game when I overheard a few of them talking about my beard. Nothing bad about it, just talking about it. With that, I knew I had my in. I could tell by his body language that he was ready to bounce, so as soon as one of the members of the group moved out of the picture, I swooped in.

“Hey,” I said. “Do you mind if I snap a photo with you?” This whole exchange was made better by the outfit I was wearing, all Red Sox gear. “Only because you have an awesome beard I’ll say yes,” said Kinsler. With everything in motion I handed my phone off to Neil, lifted up my shirt a little bit and took the photo. Now, the reason I lifted my shirt was to show off the Rangers tattoo I have. Nothing else weird. Upon doing so; however, Kinsler looked down after the photo was taken and said, “Wait a minute, I remember you from Oakland!” He had spotted me showing off my tattoos prior to throwing out first pitch and we ended up chatting for a bit longer while all of his friends got photos of me. Really sweet guy.

#7- This is the guy where I totally blew it and should have reserved the all-red cap for him. Ivan Rodriguez was signed as a free agent out of Lind Padron Rivera High School in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico in 1988. On June 20, 1991 Rodriguez got called up to the Majors where he made him MLB debut and played almost everyday from then until the end of the 2002 season. As for the hat; Rodriguez did wear this cap for three seasons; however, the Rangers wore the all-red cap from 1994-2000 which just so happened to be his best years with the club. That’s my dilemma. Moving on… In 1991 Rodriguez finished in fourth place for the ALL Rookie of the Year award, losing to Chuck Knoblauch. Until 2002, that would be the only year in which he wouldn’t win a single piece of hardware.

Rodriguez made the All-Star team every season from 1992-2001, not to mention every Gold Glove during that time frame too. In 1997 he finished in 16^th place for the AL MVP, in 1996 and 1998 he finished in 10^th place; however, 1999 would be the one year in which he would take home the prestigious award after batting .332 with 35 home runs and 113 RBI. The other thing to take into account is that he led the league in caught stealing percentage (as in him throwing out batters) every year from 1996-2001. After 21 seasons he finally called it quits officially in 2012; however, his final game was on September 28, 2011.

My connection to him came on the day in which he made his announcement to retire, April 21. I was asked to write a Top-five list on the greatest catchers of all-time, something I found to be quite arbitrary considering that and opinionated piece like that was only going to lead to trouble and argument. I’ve always preferred to analyze my articles more deeply, to educate thus negating any mean for argument. For something like this, people were going to argue no matter what. I, as anyone writing the same list should have, put Rodriguez on the list at number 3. Besides being a great backstop, Rodriguez has the most hits all-time for a catcher (2844), not to mention 311 home runs, 1332 RBI and a .296 average. In a nutshell, with one MVP and one World Series ring to boot, he’ll be a first ballot Hall of Famer. You could also contest that he is the greatest catcher of all-time, but I think Yogi Berra will have something to say about that.

#17- Nelson Cruz was originally signed to the New York Mets as a free agent in 1998, but didn’t make his MLB debut until September 17, 2005 with the Milwaukee Brewers. Now, it sounds weird, but it’s not. The Mets kept Cruz playing in the Dominican Republic for three years until trading him to the A’s in 2000. Cruz played in the Minor League system for the A’s until 2004 when they traded him to the Brewers for Justin Lehr and Keith Ginter. In 2006 the Rangers traded Laynce Nix, Kevin Mench, Francisco Cordero and Julian Cordero for Cruz and Carlos Lee.

Throughout his career Cruz has only made one All-Star game appearance (2009), but he has been to two World Series. The most iconic of which was the 2011 Series against the St. Louis Cardinals in which Cruz misplayed a shot from David Freeze, which could have ended the game, but turned into a two-run triple. The Cards were then able to win the game with a Freese home run in extra innings, forcing a decisive Game seven which they won. Blah! Not being one to just let things go away, I did one of the “jerkiest” things I’ve ever done; made a hashtag out of it.

My connection to Cruz came on the first game of the 2012 season for the Rangers when Cruz once again misplayed a ball which allowed for extra bases by the batter. As a result of the Game six of the World Series, and now this moment, I came up with #NellyCruzed while I was in the Fan Cave. It has started as a subtle jab, but I then let it loose up other suspecting players who were guilty of the same defensive misread on the ball. The importance of this hashtag is that it gave a name to something that should have been marked as an error but is actually called a base hit despite it being a defensive mistake. It caught on so much that other Twitter users started using it, and then commentators started using it, and then MLB Network analysts started using it until the point where an actual stat was created (defensive misread), but not actually used… yet. Who could have ever imagined that something so stupid could spiral into something so big? Actually… I could, as it was merely one of many things I created which are still being used well into the 2013 season. All things which I don’t collect a single cent for at that.

I feel a little bad for Cruz, mostly because he's such a pleasant person. He’s a solid hitter, I’ll give him that, but he’s a pretty fragile dude for as big as he is. He’s off to a stellar 2013 thus far, hitting .300 with five home runs and 17 RBI. He’s the kind of guy who can easily hit 30 home runs and knock in 100 or more runs, even though he’s only done the first half once in his career (33 home runs in 2009). Without Mike Napoli and Josh Hamilton around to steal his thunder, I don’t see why he can’t do it. Personally, I hope the best for him. He's great for baseball, great for the Rangers and a whole lotta fun to bust his chops when he comes to Oakland and mixes it up with the right field bleacher crew.

April 3- Cincinnati Reds

Despite all the things I do know about hats worn throughout the history of Major League Baseball and their ties with New Era, there are still a few things that I really have no clue about. This doesn’t happen often as I’m a pretty well-researched guy, but my brain does tend to slip on occasion. Take this cap for example…

I bought this particular Cincinnati Reds cap in downtown Manhattan at a Lids near Union Square. As it turned out, that specific location is one of the biggest in the company, let alone the largest of the dozen or so scattered throughout the island. I had been scouting around for hats at all of the Lids locations I could make myself available to during my time in New York City for the MLB Fan Cave. Due to the fact that we worked roughly 12-16 hours (9:30 AM- 2 AM) every single day, it made it difficult to have free time to check a lot of the old school Cooperstown Collection and Minor League caps in person. As much as I love to shop online, I still prefer to try hats on so there aren’t any issues upon arrival. This Reds hat was one that I had noticed on the Lids Web site and didn’t really give it a second thought when found on that fit. If I can remember correctly, I bought this hat and seven others that day, two of which, including this one, I should have done more research on.

For some strange reason this logo always looked very familiar to me and I assumed that it was a style/logo the Reds had worn in their past. The only problem is that I didn’t know which era it came from… but I obviously bought it anyway. The one thing I wasn’t expecting is that the Reds used this logo in 1869. This of course was about to cause several problems.

So far I’ve all ready written about four hats that are customs and I have a feeling that there will be a few more by the time the year is over. Now, the only thing about this hat that is accurate to the team back in 1869 is the logo. The old English style “C” was only used for this season which is actually the very first season in which anyone was actually paid to play professional baseball. 10 men were paid by Cincinnati businessman, and owner of the team Harry Wright. The team’s original name was the Red Stockings during this time, which led to the naming of the Boston Red Sox through the turn of the 20^th century. The only accurate color from this cap is the wed and white as black was never part of the original team’s uniforms. Even at that the uniforms were all white with a little bit of red trim, red socks and a large red “C” logo on the chest of the jersey, not on the hat. The actual hat looked something more like a newsboy’s cap.

The marking on my cap goes in line with one of the more illustrious records in baseball history.

65-0: 1869 is the only known recorded season of a perfect record for a professional baseball team. At the time I imagine it was a huge deal; however, in retrospect it was essentially the equivalent of Mr. Burns on “The Simpsons” assembling as much Major League talent to fill his softball team to beat the Shelbyville Power Plant’s team repeatedly. The team went 65-0 as they traveled around the country (East Coast), playing other teams which had were comprised of their best players.

One thing that needs to be pointed out in all of this is that baseball had only been around for about 25 years, and it was still a game that was going through small changes. Without the aid of modern technology (and a time machine) there isn’t much of a way to know how these scrimmages went down. Not to mention, there aren’t exactly scorecards on file to even give a rough of idea of how bad the beatings were on these scrappy local ball teams the Red Stockings played.

Today is the first time I’ve ever worn this hat. I don’t know. I’m not really feeling it that much, which might have more to do with the Oakland Athletics sweater I’m wearing as well. It’s a pretty slick hat, and a decent piece to my collection, but I only have myself to blame for not doing my research beforehand.