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?

May 15- New York Mets

I started writing this article earlier in the day, but quickly realized by the third paragraph that I was in fact writing a decent lead for a completely different New York Mets hat. I had a feeling something like this would happen; that I wouldn’t be able to form a strong enough opening to my story. For hours I’ve gone back-and-forth with different methods and ideas of how to kick this off, but none of them worked. The last few days seemed much easier to put together and I really have no idea why this article is so difficult. I guess something like this was bound to happen after 133 articles each and every day. I just want everything to be perfect.

Since 2008 the New York Mets have hosted a Military Appreciation Day every Memorial Day along with the USO. This upcoming Memorial Day will mark the sixth year they’ve done something so grand. Over 1400 active and retired members of the armed forces will be on hand as the Mets host their cross-town rival the New York Yankees. Last season the Mets hosted the Philadelphia Phillies before a packed house at Citi Field, losing the first game of the series. I remember the day vividly as it was the final full day that I was in the MLB Fan Cave. Eddie Mata, the Yankees fan, and I were shown the door the next day. But the one thing that made it all worth while was when Eddie had scored tickets from the owner of the Phillies for the rubber match on Wednesday.

I had never been to Citi Field, let alone Shea Stadium, but I can honestly say that it is in my Top-five of the stadiums I have visited. Our tickets were about 15 rows behind home plate. Both of us just looked in awe at one another with every “private” door that we were given access to. Around us were a few veterans who were still in town enjoying a game before they had to report back to their base over the weekend. Eddie and I chatted them up a bit, asked where they were from, etc. Eddie asked a few questions too many in my opinion, so I sat back and enjoyed the game without getting too involved. I crushed one of the finest pastrami sandwiches I had ever eaten, I drank a few beers, got soft serve ice cream in a helmet (only way to go), but mostly got to enjoy my freedom again after being cooped up in a glass box for two months. As great and as cool as the experience looks on the outside, it’s way more stressful than I could have ever imagined.

I’ll go into more details of that night in a later post. I found it fitting for the time period and as a reflection of how good I have it some times. Life could always be worse, and life certainly was worse a little shy of a hundred years ago when the United States was involved in its first overseas conflict during World War I. The US had gone to war several times in the previous 200 years, but none of them took as many lives as the four-year conflict we encountered, added on with the influenza outbreak of 1919 which killed millions more. Seriously, the flu. Back then it wasn’t a joke, and it was all made worse by the introduction of chemical-based weapons like mustard gas which were introduced during the war, and eventually brought back within the men who fought and later died due to complications. The most notable figure who faced this was Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson, but he’ll come up again in a later post. Only one person with ties to the Mets throughout baseball history was involved with the first Great War, but very little can be found about his time in the military.

#37- The Old Perfessor, Casey Stengel, served as the original Mets manager from 1962 until the middle of the 1965 season. Prior to his time with the Mets Stengel was a Hall of Fame-bound manager of the Yankees. From 1949-1960 he led the Yanks to 10 World Series, but only won seven of them (1949-1953, 1956 and 1958). His time with the Mets went in the exact opposite direction; he posted some of the worst years in Major League history and became the first manager of a team to compile 100 or more losses in three or more straight seasons. His final record with the Mets was 175-404 and he never managed in baseball again after August 30, 1965.

Stengel played professionally from 1912-1925 as a right fielder for the Brooklyn Robins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Giants and Boston Braves. In 1919, when he was with the Pirates he was taunted mercilessly by fans of the Robins, his old team. Somehow Casey got hold of a sparrow and used it to turn the crowd in his favor. With the bird tucked gently beneath his cap, Casey strutted to the plate amidst a chorus of boos and catcalls. He turned to the crowd, tipped his hat and out flew the sparrow. The jeers turned to cheers, and Stengel became an instant favorite. In 1921 and 1922 he won two World Series rings as a member of the Giants, thus bringing his ring total up to nine as a player and a manager.

From what I’ve been able to track down his time in the military is a bit of mystery. This is his draft card from May 28, 1917, two days before Memorial Day.

Everything looks pretty legit; however, where everything goes weird is that I found a site that has Stengel listed as having been in the Navy and served during World War I, but according to his stat sheets he played ball every year from 1917-1918 the last few years and months of the war. So, being the good journalist that I am, I kept digging until I found an answer… and sure enough I did in the form of an article from the St. Petersburg Times from July 28, 1963: Casey Stengel

 Stengel never fought overseas. Hell, he never even left the dock. But that was how things went for professional ballplayers throughout the military campaign.

The one thing that I will always give full credit to the Mets about is that they were classy enough to retire Stengel's #37 by the end of the '65 season. Even though his time there wasn't something to be celebrated, the fans and the front office loved having him in the house. The other important thing to note from this is that it took until 1970 for the Yankees to give Stengel the same amount of love.That's the Amazin' Mets for ya!

May 4- New York Mets

It’s no real surprise to baseball fans that the New York Mets have been an ongoing joke since their first year in 1962. Even though the team won two World Series titles in 1969 and 1986, they’ll always be the punch-line of any joke, tasteful or not, that the sport has to offer. Having not been alive for the season between 1962 and 1982 I really have no basis of comparison to really validate any of the jokes from that time period. I merely have Ken Burns Baseball and almanacs to assist me with that. The jokes that I can vouch for; however, all take place after the 1989 season.

For those of you who don’t know, or don’t remember, the very first game I can recall ever watching is Game six of the 1986 World Series; probably one of the greatest games in baseball history and a fantastic one for an up-and-coming baseball fan to cut his teeth on. Outside of winning the Series the Mets had gone 108-54 on the season under then manager Davey Johnson, a record that still stands as their best in franchise history. In 1988 he led the team to the National League Championship Series behind a 100-62 record, tied for the second best record in Mets history. The Mets lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games; and the Dodgers would move on to with the World Series that year. In 1989 the Mets finished in second place (87-75) and in 1990 Johnson was fired after starting the season 20-22, paving the way for Bud Harrelson who went 71-49 as Johnson’s replacement. Despite producing the two greatest years in Mets history, including a World Series trophy, Johnson was canned for a ridiculous reason; the Mets’ brass wasn’t exactly fond of his coaching methods.  Years later, Johnson summed up his approach to managing by saying, "I treated my players like men. As long as they won for me on the field, I didn't give a flying fuck what they did otherwise."

With a solid finish of the 1990 season in his pocket, Harrelson began his first full season as a manager in the Majors in 1991. He wouldn’t even finish the season. Harrelson would only manage 154 of those games, going 74-80 before getting the axe as Mike Cubbage went 3-4 to finish the season out. The Jeff Torborg era lasted one-and-a-quarter season from 1992-1993, ushering in the Dallas Green era which turned out to be a four-year pile of suck as Green replaced Torborg part-way into the ’93 season to finish 46-78. Green was fired near the end of the 1996 season after going 229-283 during his time. Green’s replacement, Bobby Valentine, finished out the ’96 season with a 12-19 record, but was allowed to keep the job as skipper going into the 1997 season. So let’s break it down for all of you playing at home; Johnson, the most successful manager in Mets history was canned despite his results, three more unsuccessful managers came and went and now we have Bobby V in the ranks. Yah, this all makes perfect sense why the Mets are a laughing stock. But I’m not done yet.

With yet another changing of the guard it only med sense that the Mets would make a few changes to their uniforms as well. I mean why not? The Mets had only been using the same hat for every game since their debut in 1962. Yah, this is kind of a big deal. You would kind of think that the Mets, always competing with their cross-town counter part New York Yankees, would unveil something totally badass. Weeeeellllll… no. They brought out the ice cream hat.

Seriously, that’s what the media called it. What made it even worse is that the Mets introduced new white uniforms as well. And by white, I mean all white. They cut out the pinstripes, thus leaving something that looked like everyone who wore it should be working in a malt shop circa 1955. Might be a good time to run for mayor.

I will say one thing for the Mets; they made a smart move by bringing Valentine on as their skipper. He went 536-467 from the end of 1996-2002 including a trip to the World Series in 2000. But, like every other manager in Mets history, if you have one bad season you’re done… unless you’re Dallas Green.

When I first marked this cap up I had put “’97” on it as a mere reminder to Mets fans of how things could always be worse than it looks. I then looked through a few of the players’ numbers and made an interesting observation as to how this cap and uniform set may have actually helped two players improve their career. So, without further ado, here you go!

#0- Most people won’t remember him as #0; however, that was how Rey Ordonez started his Major League career out. He wore #0 from 1996-1997 and switched it to #10 for the remainder for his stint with the Mets and the one year he played with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.  While many historians and Mets fans would contest that ’97 was nothing to brag about for Ordonez, I say you’re looking at the wrong numbers. Yes, offensively he had the worst full year of his career; batting .216 with one home run and 33 RBI. The numbers I’m looking at are his defensive numbers. In 1997 Ordonez won his first of three consecutive Gold Gloves at shortstop, an impressive feat considering that Cincinnati Reds shortstop and Hall of Famer had cleaned house on the previous three. Not bad Rey, not bad at all.

#28- Unless you’re a hardcore Mets fan, I doubt very few of you remember a pitcher named Bobby Jones. No, I’m not talking about the Hall of Fame golfer whom Hollywood made a movie about staring Jim Caviezel in 2004. I’m talking about the guy who pitched for the Mets from 1993-2000.

Jones was a first round pick by the Mets in the 1991 amateur draft out of Fresno State. He made his debut on August 14, 1993, but was still noted as a rookie throughout the 1994 season in which he finished eighth in the NL Rookie of the Year vote with a 12-7 record and a 3.15 ERA. In 1995 and 1996 he put up some decent numbers, but nothing of real notoriety. In 1997; however, he had a career season. He went 15-9 with a 3.63 ERA and 125 strikeouts. His performance on the season would help him make his first and only All-Star Game of his career. After that his career took a downturn until the 2000 season which would be his only year after ’97 that he would have a win/loss record over .500.

So I guess there were a few diamonds in the rough amongst all the bad play and decisions that were the ’97 season. You just have to know where to look and what you’re looking for.

April 30- Dominican Republic World Baseball Classic

I need to apologize for the speed I’ve been getting these latest New Era Cap posts out; these long Oakland Athletics games and me being on the East Coast have done a number on my sleep schedule. But the bigger issue at work is the fact that I decided to stay an extra week to be with my girlfriend Angie Kinderman (@sconnineangie). With that, I made an egregious error and forgot to bring enough caps. Even after I ordered a few more I’m still a little short of my goal, but at least my parents are doing me a solid and mailing a few out this way so I can stay on top of if. Hooray!!!

So, with needing a new cap to write about, I ventured out to the local Lids about a mile away from Angie’s place hoping to find something I needed. When I walked in I didn’t spot anything I was in any kind of a rush to purchase, especially after the two employees on duty asked me if there was anything I had in mind. Originally I wanted to find either the Sunday-style for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago White Sox, but I struck out on both accounts. I also thought it was going to be a quick in-and-out operation; however, we were just getting started.

Having worked in retail for well over a decade I’ve always enjoyed getting into a bit of sport-related banter with the customers, just as I also appreciate chatting it up with the employees on duty wherever I go to pick up hats or other gear. B.J., the manager on duty, and I tackled a wide variety of topics for a solid two hours. I had a lot of time to kill as Angie was in her lecture until 4:30 PM and I really didn’t have much going on throughout the day. As it turned out B.J. is an avid collector of Nike shoes. Even bigger than that, he’s a close friend to former St. Louis Rams receiver, and future Hall of Famer Isaac Bruce. I decided to keep my San Francisco 49ers allegiance to myself. As much as I love and know about Major League Baseball, believe it or not, I actually know way more about the NBA between the 1970s and early 2000s. Our discussion brought up a lot of old names and rosters of teams who have long been forgotten by this current generation. The other employee, Aurelio (@IGettFreshh), is B.J.’s nephew; quite the accomplished photographer and Nike fan as well. Needless to say, I’ll definitely be going back there for more hats and chatter in the future.

I haven’t done a very good job of picking up all the World Baseball Classic hats, and since they didn’t have any Minor or Major League hats that I needed, I figured, “why not?” Of all the New Era Caps I’ve seen shuffling through the crowds of Miami and Fort Lauderdale, this Dominican Republic cap has been the one I’ve seen more frequently. Being in southern Florida it really didn’t come as much of a surprise, especially considering how close they are to one another. The same can easily be said about the number of Puerto Rico caps I saw as well for the same reason. The DR cap is one of the few to make an appearance in all three WBCs, and is hands down one of the best looking ones in the bunch.

This last WBC is not only the first time the DR has won the event, but more importantly they became only the second team to win it as the Japanese team took the first two in 2006 and 2009. In the eight games the DR played in the WBC they didn’t lose a single one, including the championship game against Puerto Rico. Robinson Cano was named the WBC MVP after going .469/2/6 with 25 total bases. That’s pretty damn impressive considering the fact that this is the best in the world at play. When coming up with numbers for this hat I did a bit of research through all three rosters from 2006-2013, but only found two names that popped up on all three. With that, I give you my marks…

#4- It’s kind of funny to look at Miguel Tejada’s bio sheet when considering the fact that he was busted for being two years older than he actually was back when he was playing for the Houston Astros. Tejada was once a premier player for a solid ten years from 2000-2009 when he played for the A’s, Astros and Baltimore Orioles. That’s not really to say he’s not good anymore, but you can’t doubt that 10-year stretch when he finished in the Top-25 for the American League and National League MVP vote eight out of 10 times. His best year came with the A’s in 2002 when he went .308/34/131 on the season and took home his one, and only AL MVP award. Other accolades he received in his 16-year career include six All-Star Game appearances and two Silver Slugger awards. What’s most surprising to me is how he didn’t win the AL MVP award in 2004 with the Orioles. That season he hit .311 with 34 home runs and a career/league-high 150 RBI; all of which met or beat his numbers from 2002; however, he only finished in fifth place. Weird.

#7- Jose Reyes saw the bench for most of the 2006 WBC, mostly because the other shortstop they had was hitting better. That guy, Miguel Tejada. Reyes has all the makings of being a Hall of Fame shortstop; mostly from a hitting perspective. Unfortunately for him, his body feels the exact opposite as we found out a few weeks ago when sliding into second base for the Toronto Blue Jays. In the 11 years he’s been in the Majors only nine of them have been truly praiseworthy. No offense to his time in 2012 with the Miami Marlins, but he was clearly the only sign of grace in an otherwise dismal lineup. From 2003 to 2011 Reyes was the man in New York with Mets. Despite only playing in 69 games his first year he still managed to crack the Top-10 for Rookie of the Year for hitting .307 with five home runs and 32 RBI. From 2005-2008 he cracked the Top-30 in the NL MVP vote, his best year coming in seventh place going .300 with 19 home runs, 81 RBI and a league-high 64 stolen bases. From 2005-2007 Reyes would lead the NL in stolen bases and in 2011 he would win his only batting title thus far in his career. He hit .337 in 126 games. Which in my opinion is a little shady based on the amount of games, but even worse because of the fact that he took himself out of the lineup in his last game in order to preserve it. Had Ted Williams still been alive he would have taken issue with it. In 2009 and 2013 Reyes was the starting shortstop for the DR WBC team. He hit .314 with one home run and three RBI for this last WBC as he and his teammates held the trophy after their 3-0 victory of Puerto Rico.

March 26- Kansas City Royals

I need to apologize first and foremost for such a late post this evening, but I assure you it’s for a noble reason. A few days ago I was brought on board with eDraft Sports (@eDraftSports), an online fantasy sports publication and biweekly radio network. Tonight, I submitted my first couple of articles. It was interesting to step away from my first person narrative and get back to a news/feature style of writing. It took me a little bit longer than usual, but it all comes with practice. After all, I didn’t graduate with two Journalism degrees and one English degree from the University of Oregon for nothing.

The Kansas City Royals expanded into the American League during the summer of 1969. I hardly doubt Bryan Adams had the Royals in mind when he wrote the tune of the same name; then again, Bryan Adams is Canadian, and not only that he was also born in 1959. What the hell did he know about the life of a high schooler in the “Summer of ‘69”? Wow! I got really off topic. Anyway, from 1969-1994 the Royals donned the same royal blue cap with a white “KC” logo affixed to the front panels. Tonight, I will not be talking about that cap. Instead, I’ll be discussing the first alternate cap in the history of the Royals franchise. This one…

From 1995-1999 the Royals primarily wore this cap on the road to pair with their grey jerseys and pantaloons. Throughout that five-year stretch the Royals planned under managers Bob Boone and Tony Muser. Boone was one of those guys who was a hell of a player on the field, but questionable as a manager. During his three year run the team’s best finish came in 1995, his first year as a manager in Major League Baseball, when the team finished in second place in the newly revamped AL Central. Even though the team finished in second place they still finished with a record of 70-74 to give a win percentage of .486, the highest of Boone’s career. Muser proved to be equally as depressing of a manager; never getting the team higher than third place in the AL Central and never attaining a win percentage better than .475. But, while these Royals teams couldn’t compete with the rest of the top tier talent throughout the league, they did however have a lot of up-and-coming young talent making their breaks in the Big Leagues over those five years.

For my markings I decided to go with an old school player and a fresh-faced rookie. I think you’ll agree that while one is a bit unorthodox, he was just one of those guys that never really got his due. So tonight, I have to hook him up.

#17- The first really interesting thing about this guy is that he originally wore #55 from 1989-1995 only to change it to #17 for his last few years with the club (1996-1999). Because the #17 fit within the time period of the cap’s use I decided to mark it using that number. The other reason I marked it with #17 is because this player’s fortune turned for the worst not too long after he made the decision.

Kevin Appier was the ninth overall draft pick in the 1987 amateur draft out of Fresno State. He made his debut in 1989, but made his rookie campaign in 1990 at which he went 12-8 as a starter with a 2.76 ERA and 127 strikeouts. His performance on the season was good enough for a third place finish for the AL Rookie of the Year award. In 1991 and 1992 Appier went 28-18 while in 1993 he had the best season of his career going 18-8 with a League best 2.56 ERA and a third place finish in the AL Cy Young voting. 1994 proved to be a mediocre year as he went 7-6 while in 1995 he went 15-10 with a 3.89 ERA and a trip to his first and only All-Star Game.

In 1996 everything seemed to change for Appier, but he still managed to have a decent season with a 14-11 record, a 3.62 ERA and a career best 207 strikeouts. If you go back and really crunch the data I have laid out you will see that in a seven-year time frame Appier never had a sub-.500 record. And for a guy pitching for the Royals during those days it was kind of unheard of, and yes, this is even taking Brett Saberhagen’s stats into consideration as his worse year was the year of Appier’s Rookie of the Year campaign in 1990, and Saberhagen’s final year with the Royals was in 1991. But that’s all stuff that will be talked about down the road.

Before the start of the 1997 season Appier signed a long-term deal with the Royals as they promised him they would become more competitive. The reality is that Appier could have signed with anyone. As I mentioned above, with his numbers and with that team he could have been veritable force with any other ball club. Unfortunately for Appier the 1997 season proved to be one of his worst as he went 9-13; however, things took an even bigger turn when he had to have surgery for a torn labrum during the 1998 season. Appier came back strong in 1999, but the rest of the team played sub-par. Appier asked for a trade and ended up getting his wish before the trade deadline. In short, that’s the story of how Kevin Appier joined the Oakland Athletics.

All kidding aside, Appier has gone down as probably one of the most underrated pitchers of all time. I’m not saying Hall of Fame worthy, I’m merely saying underrated. After the Royals Appier spent a year-and-a-half with the A’s, one year with the New York Mets in 2001 before they traded him to the Anaheim Angels for Mo Vaughn in 2002 and in 2003 was traded back to the Royals for what turned out to be the final two years of his career. During his run in the Show Appier went 169-137 with a 3.74 ERA and 1994 strikeouts. Honestly, that’s like Top-100 starting pitchers of all-time numbers right there.

#36- This is another one of those interesting moments when the changing of a kersey number came off as more confusing, but it “helped” out in the long run. Carlos Beltran was a second round draft pick by the Royals out of Puerto Rico in the 1995 amateur draft. He made his debut during the 1998 season, but made his splash in 1999 when he went .293/22/108 which won him the AL Rookie of the Year award, a feat that only four players in Royals history have accomplished. Lou Piniella, Bob Hamelin and Angel Berroa were the other three. However, as quickly as this hat faded into obscurity at the end of that season, so did the #36 when he opted for #15 for the rest of his Royals, Houston Astros, Mets and San Francisco Giants career. The only other major accomplishment that Beltran obtained in Kansas City was a trip to the All-Star Game during the 2004 season, at which he was traded to the Astros shortly thereafter.

Beltran’s career was exponentially better after leaving Kansas City as he made six more All-Star appearances between the Mets and the St. Louis Cardinals (wearing #3) and won three Gold Gloves with the Mets from 2006-2008. Beltran is also won of eight players to hit at least 300 home runs and steal at least 300 bases. Who are the other seven? Go back and read my Arizona Diamondbacks piece from January 14 for the answer.

March 16- New York Mets

Back on March 6 when I wrote my piece on the Portland Beavers I had promised myself that any hat that I marked with a date I would wait until that date to write about it. Yet, here we are on March 16, ten days later, and I am breaking my own rules. Rebel!!! No, today was a bit inadvertent actually. I woke up this morning around 2 o’clock in the afternoon after getting home from the library around 5 AM. I got out of bed, did my usual routine and then shuffled through my New Era Caps to figure out which one I would be wearing/writing about. I’ve done a pretty decent job of spacing out writing about the same team; however, I realized that there were a few teams I had been neglecting for some time, even when it came to their Minor League affiliates. The New York Mets haven’t exactly been all that creative with their hats, as they’ve been using the same royal blue one since the first time they took the field in 1962. Nonetheless, I decided to pull the stickers off of this bad boy and take to the streets with it on my dome.

Believe it or not I do have about 45 or more hats that I still haven’t taken the stickers off. Therefore, I have about 45 or more hats that I haven’t marked up yet. This one was one of those few. The Mets introduced it in 1999 as their road cap, only a year after releasing the alternate cap I wrote about on January 7. Unlike the black panel with blue bill that went defunct after the 2011 season, this cap is still in active use. It is also only the fourth variation of a Mets hat to ever hit the market, while the alternate was the third. The second variation I will write about some time after the season starts up, and the fifth is hardly than hell to find as only one person I actually know owns it. Despite the fact that this is the road cap, the Mets still found themselves using it off and on during their time at Shea Stadium; a move that I can only assume was on account of an absent minded equipment manager. But then again, we are talking about the Mets here. They’re pretty absent minded themselves.

Throughout my shift at Max’s Tavern I kept looking up stats and jersey numbers in my phone so that I would be ready to crank my blog post out once I got off work. 2000 had some pretty decent moments. After all, that was the last time the Mets made it to the World Series where they were given a prompt five game exit by the New York Yankees. Numerous worth writing about players had been a part of the club since ’99: Paul Lo Duca, Shawn Green, Benny Agbayani, Rey Ordonez, Jose Reyes, Mo Vaughn, Jeromy Burnitz… ok, maybe not the last two. But regardless of all of their accomplishments, there was one specific moment associated with this hat that kept flashing through my head. Since I didn’t have another hat on me, and because I wouldn’t have been able to make it to my house and back to the library in enough time, I decided to bite the bullet and mark it up with the date of that moment.

6/9/99- As I mentioned just a little bit ago, the Mets made a habit out of wearing their “road” cap at home, and this was certainly one of those memorable nights. The Toronto Blue Jays were visiting Flushing, New York that night for the final game of a three game series. The Mets had won the previous two meetings and were looking for a solid sweep to give them momentum before their three game series versus the Boston Red Sox started the next night. David Wells started the game for the Jays and went 8 2/3 while only giving up three earned runs. Rick Reed took the mound for the Mets and was pulled out after going six innings and giving up three earned runs himself. After nine innings of play the score remained knotted at three apiece. Same with the 10^th. And then same with the 11^th. In the top if the 12^th the Jays had Shannon Stewart on first with second baseman Craig Grebeck at the plate. Mets pitcher Pat Mahomes threw a pitch out to the right side of the batters box for Mike Piazza to catch and throw out a stealing Stewart. As Piazza caught and immediately threw the ball, home plate umpire Randy Marsh (not this Randy Marsh)

immediately called catchers interference and Stewart was awarded the base. Mets manager Bobby Valentine came flying out of the dugout to argue the call. A few choice words were thrown around and Bobby V was given hook. A few more disgruntled words were exchanged before Bobby headed down the clubhouse tunnel to hit the showers. Now wanting to watch the rest of the game in his office, Bobby V broke one of the cardinal rules of baseball by donning a disguise to watch the rest of the game from the dugout.

Bobby was never caught during the game; however, League officials certainly took notice, thanks in part to the play-by-play crew pointing it out on camera. The game continued on, and in the bottom of the 14^th, with Brian McCrae on third base, the Mets got a walk-off victory after a deep single by Rey Ordonez. Bobby V was given a $5,000 fine and suspended two games for his stunt.

According to baseball lore, it has never been noted if anyone else has ever thrown on a disguise after being ejected from a ball game before, but it is known that Bobby V was certainly the Johnny Appleseed of this not-so-routine managerial decision. Winning!

One last little tidbit of info from this game which pertains to recent events; recently deceased Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threw out the first pitch. 

February 27- Houston Astros

I had previously owned this Houston Astros cap from 2000-2001 when I was living in Vancouver, Washington and wore it quite often when I went to work at Just Sports at the Vancouver Mall. Since our polo shirts were navy blue it made for a good match along with the khaki shorts or pants I was wearing, depending on which season it was. One night in January of 2001 I was riding the bus back home as I never had a car until I was 19-years-old. I was tuned into my portable CD player and lingering in between a state of consciousness and a light slumber when the bus made a sharp turn to the right onto 92^nd street where my stop was. Due to my state of slight confusion, I quickly hit the stop button and grabbed my backpack. I hopped off and made it about two blocks in the rain before I realized that my head and face were not being protected by the familiar bill that usually kept me dry. I had left the hat on the bus. Pissed off doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt. It would be 10 years before I bought a replacement.

I ended up finding this hat brand new on Ebay for about $10 in August of 2011. Every now-and-then I find a few gems there, but I became incredibly hesitant after I got burned by some kid in the Bay Area selling a “brand new” San Francisco Giants cap for $15. If by “brand new” he meant wore it for three years without taking off the tags, then yes. When the Astros cap came in the mail I immediately went to Baseball-Reference.com and filtered through an array of stats and stories, until inevitably falling on 5714, the number of strikeouts that Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan had throughout his Major League career.

It seemed to make sense to me at the time, but I never really had a good reason for doing it, especially considering that I owned a few New York Mets, California Angels and Texas Rangers hats which would have made just as much sense. I don’t know. Something in my gut just told me to throw that number on the hat, which for me is weird when considering how analytical I am when it comes to marking my hats. Historically it would have made sense to add that number to a 1986-1993 Rangers hat, since he did hit that mark, retire with and go into the Hall of Fame with that hat, or even the 1972-1989 Angels hat since he did tally the most strikeouts of his career with them. But no, I opted to roll with the 1965-1970/1980-1993 Astros hat.

So far I’ve done this post way different than the others. I usually start out with the history of the hat and end with my mark, but you’ll see why at the end. The Astros did in fact use this hat from 1965-1970 and then again from 1980-1993. From 1980-1981 it serves as the team’s road cap, before they transitioned it into the “alternate home” and road cap in 1982, which then became just their game cap by 1983. When it comes to hats and uniform combinations, very few teams have been weirder about this than the Astros. Ryan’s tenure with the team started in 1980 and ended in 1988 when he finished out his career with the Rangers. Prior to the Astros he played with the Angels from 1972-1979 and before that he played with the Mets from 1966-1971. So if you’re keeping score at home it looks something like this: 9 years with the Astros, 8 years with the Angels, 5 years with the Mets and 5 years with the Rangers.

Ryan only won one World Series throughout his 27 year career which came in 1969 with the Miracle Mets. Outside of that, he had 493 strikeouts and was merely a blip on the radar during his time in New York. When he got to California with the Angels his reputation came to light. Throughout his eight year run Ryan went 138-121 with a 3.07 ERA and a staggering 2416 strikeouts, the most with any team he played for. He also threw four no-hitters during that frame, which tied him for the most with Sandy Koufax at the time. No big deal; he was just getting warmed up.

During Ryan’s stretch with the Astros he went 106-94, which gave him a win percentage of .530, only three thousandths of a percentage behind his Angels wins percentage. He struck out 1866 batters, but he did post the two lowest seasonal ERAs of his career in Houston: 1.69 in 1981 and 2.76 in 1987, as well as one no-hitter with the ‘Stros on September 26, 1981… while wearing the orange cap. See!

His time with the Rangers went incredibly well. As you saw in the photo above, he threw two more no-nos and he went 51-39 with 939 strikeouts putting his strikeouts per nine innings at 10.1, the highest of his career. Six years after he was retired he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and perma-plaqued with a Rangers cap, something that I have questioned since Induction Day. Obviously his beast statistical years came with the Angels, not to mention he only won a championship with the Mets. Somehow in 27 years he NEVER won a Cy Young award; the closest he came was runner-up to Jim Palmer in 1973 despite the fact that Ryan struck 383 batters out. Palmer only struck out 158. Daaaaaammmnnnn!!! Ryan led the League in strikeouts 11 times: 7 with the Angels and 2 each with the Rangers and Astros. I realize that Ryan is a Texas boy and got to choose how he went into the Hall, but the powers that be really should have put the kibosh on that one. So glad they changed that rule!

But even with all of these facts and figures, the mystery of why I chose this hat to mark the 5714 on the front panel was still a mystery… until I went to the Hall of Fame. I’ve only been there once, back on August 1, 2012 with my friend Dave Kaufman. With the exception of a few photos of the plaques, I never really did much investigative work about what the Hall had to offer. I wanted to be surprised when I got there. And needless to say I was when Dave and I came across this display.

Not until today did I ever give much thought to it. This whole number investigation and explanation didn’t start until I picked the hat for today’s post. I honestly don’t even remember why I took a photo of this pane, but there it is; the hat with the 5714 strikeout caption below it. A hat which had no real significance on any special occasion for Ryan.

Weird things like this have happened throughout my life. I’ll think about something or get a strong feeling about whatever and it will pop up at some point in time down the road. This sort of “psychic” intuition always proved useful when I would think about a particular episode of The Simpsons and sure enough it would be on later that night. I realize that there is no real way for me to prove that I’m not pulling your leg… or is there?

I went back through all of the photos I’ve taken over the last year on the Samsung Galaxy Note I got while I was in the MLB Fan Cave, as well as a few photo albums on my computer to prove that I’m not full of crap and didn’t just make up an elaborate story.

This photo should all be familiar to you as it serves as the background for my blog. I took it on May 26, 2012, about three days before I got kicked out of the Fan Cave. I realize it’s hard to see, but the numbers are on the hat.

Here’s a close-up of that image.

Still not convinced? How about this photo?

This was taken on October 12, 2011, well before the Fan Cave and well before my hat collection ballooned to the number that it is now.

Sooooooooo… in your face! But like I said, it’s all weird.

February 16- Montreal Expos

To get a full sense of how last year started for me be sure to read this first. http://beardtobefeared.blogspot.com/2012/02/kid.html

It’s the original post I had before I went to Arizona for the MLB Fan Cave final audition.

It’s amazing how much I’ve grown as a person in the last 366 days. On February 15, 2012 I was just a happy-go-lucky 29-year-old kid, bound for bigger and better things as my campaign for the MLB Fan Cave had been going better than expected. After doing one TV interview with the local Fox/CBS affiliate in Eugene my story had been picked up by all of the major sports Web sites (Yahoo!, Deadspin, ESPN, NBCSports, etc.), and I was quickly making a name for myself throughout the baseball community. As great of a feeling as it was that I was almost guaranteeing my entrance into the Fan Cave, none of it really seemed to matter by the afternoon of February 16. Gary Carter, my childhood idol and inspiration for my path into baseball had passed away.

It was pretty much a for sure thing that I would be writing about this hat today, as it is not only a year later from Carter’s passing, it’s also one of the more important hats that I own. From the Montreal Expos first season in Major League Baseball in 1969 through the end of the 1991 season the team donned this amazing, and truly iconic hat. It was one of the first of its kind; a pinwheel of colors which also captured the spirit of the city in which the franchise was founded. For those who don’t know the name Expos comes from the 1967 World’s Fair which was dubbed Expo 67, and is in fact the most successful World’s Fair of the 20^th century in regard to attendance and number of countries who participated. As a kid the only time I ever really got to watch the Expos on TV was whenever TBS played the Atlanta Braves games in which they played throughout the season. Aside from that, the Expos cards were always my favorite to collect because they had the most interesting players and colors. Despite being an avid Oakland Athletics fan, I quickly developed a love for the Expos which I justified as my National League team. I wouldn’t be until I was 14-year-old that I would finally purchase an Expos cap, this one to be precise.

This is the first fitted cap I’ve ever owned, and truly the inspiration for my love of New Era Caps. More importantly, this is around the time when the internet really began to take off, and I was finally able to watch Gary Carter in some Expos highlights, as opposed to trying to recreate a play from his career based on the assortment of Carter Expos cards I owned. You see, the first time I ever saw Carter in action was during the 1986 World Series as a member of the New York Mets. I understood that he had played on a different team because of his baseball cards, but never got to enjoy it the way that my elders and the fine people of Montreal got to experience. In my lifetime I was only fortunate enough to see Carter play live once, but as a member of the San Francisco Giants, which has always left a sour taste in my mouth. But the most important thing that I value about this hat is that I bought it while the team still existed.

#4001- This number actually represents me. Like Montreal, I was heartbroken when the players strike ended the 1994 season for the Montreal Expos. If you don’t remember, the team had gone 74-40 in their first 114 games, and were primed to not only win their second division title (1981 being their only), but most analysts were saying the team was the outright favorite to win the World Series. Being 11-year-old, I didn’t really have a full understanding of what was going on. All I knew is that it was over. As years followed the Expos had difficulty keeping their talent; Larry Walker, Pedro Martinez, Marquis Grissom and Moises Alou all moved on to greener pastures, and the attendance at Olympic Stadium dipped to an average of 4000 fans per game. Therefore, even though I never attended a single Expos game in person, I watched all of them after the ’94 season on whatever channel would play them. I am fan #4001, and I never stopped supporting the team until they packed up and moved to Washington, D.C.; a move which I will forever be upset about.

#8- It wasn’t until his passing that I put hi number on this cap. I’m still not sure how I was able to keep it together, as this is the only hat I’ve ever marked with tears streaming down my face. I never met Gary Carter, but from every article I read, and every time I saw him on TV, I could tell that he was one of the most genuine human beings the world had ever known. His smile radiated, and his hard work and determination motivated others, especially a three-year-old kid living in Stockton, California. When Carter passed I cried almost as hard as when I found out the news that my best friend had been killed when I was 19-years-old. I’ve always been an extremely emotional person; however, this was one of the few times I had ever been truly inspired to do better for as many people as possible. With the Fan Cave only a few weeks away, I couldn’t think of a better platform to be able to inspire kids and spread my love of the game in the way that Carter inspired me.

It started in Phoenix during Day 1 of the Fan Cave auditions. I’ve always been a rather superstitious person, so I made sure to pack the one hat that I felt most comfortable wearing throughout my trip. I got a lot of questions from the other candidates and executives about it, as I was supposed to be the representative of the Oakland A’s. Every answer I gave consisted primarily of me pointing to the number on my hat and saying, “I’m a bigger fan of him.” Most people got it, or so I thought. Our first task was an “elevator pitch” to the suits of MLB, which is basically a 60 second reason why they should take us. I only needed 58 seconds, but every word that came out of my mouth felt as if every baseball fan who couldn’t be there took over my body. I never used the word “deserve,” I used the word “earned,” but most important, I talked about all of the things that made the game great… al the while with #8 on top of my head. The rest of the day consisted of killing it at MLB trivia and singing in public for the first time since I was 13-years-old. I don’t think I’ve ever been so “on” in all my life.

When I went to New York as one of the nine finalists for the Fan Cave I had said publicly that I would honor Gary Carter when I first walked in, but that didn’t come without its moments of controversy. All eight of the other Cave Dwellers had work the gear of the team they were representing, while I opted to wear a Mets Gary Carter Player-T along with an Expos cap. This was the first time I realized that no one ever listened to a word I said. When we were finally allowed inside I dropped my hooded sweatshirt, showing off my Carter shirt. People finally started to get it, but not until I wrote this on the top of one of chalkboard pillars…

In early April I was finally able to meet Dave Kaufman, a radio personality in Montreal who I became good friends with after a late night of boozery and Montreal Expos chatter.

Dave had given me an open invitation to visit and stay with him in Montreal after I was done with the Fan Cave, something we both had chalked up to taking place some time in 2013. Little did either of us know that I was going to be the first person axed. So, at the end of July I made my way out to take him up on his word. I stayed with him for a week and he was kind enough to tell me stories of all the Expos games he attended throughout his life, and even took me to the stadium which the Expos called home from 1977-2004. We had only planned on taking exterior shots, but lucky for us, someone had left the doors unlocked…

Throughout the week Dave and I talked about how the team’s departure affected the city. Almost every day in which I wore an Expos hat we were greeted with praise from the locals, but I never stopped any of them to go into more detail; a move I truly regret. From what I had gathered, the team was still reeling from the loss of their team, especially in the wake of the Washington Nationals having a very successful season. One of the things that Dave and I made sure to do was visit Cooperstown and the MLB Hall of Fame. It was the first time I had ever visited the museum, and I of course couldn’t think of a better hat to rock than this one.

When I visited Washington, D.C. I happened to be there for when the Nationals started a three game series against the Mets. The first day happened to be “throwback” day. This made perfect for the fact that I was all ready going to wear my Expos game, but it was especially weird when the Nationals decided to honor the Senators, as opposed to the actual past. So, I made sure be that representative. I even tried (unsuccessfully) to move the team back to Montreal…

I think if there’s one thing I’m most proud of over this last year it’s that I never lost myself. My mission over the last year was to be an inspiration to the next generation of baseball fans, much in the same light that Carter was to me. Despite having a short run in the Fan Cave I can honestly say that it was a success. I visited 27 of 30 stadiums and treated fans to tickets and good conversation, all the while I stopped and talked to every fan who recognized me and wanted to chat. I met my girlfriend, Angie Kinderman, during my stop in Miami, and I got to be there for almost every big moment the A’s had this season including their miraculous run to win the American League West title. Despite all the hardships I faced on the road, as well as the coldness I’ve received from MLB since my exile, I can still look at this hat and smile like Carter at all of the great, and amazing things I’ve done. Thank you Gary; everything I’ve become is because of the drive and passion you gave every day of your life. I will go and do likewise until my final breath.