July 17- Texas Rangers

Well, it’s been a while, but I’ve finally come back around to writing about the Texas Rangers. I’m hoping this post reaches an audience as it will surely be a difficult read for all of my friends who are ardent Oakland Athletics fans. Unlike most of y’all (you know who you are); I don’t harbor ill-will against other teams to the point where I won’t buy their gear, leaving a hole in my collection. Yes, I totally understand rivalries, and yes, I joke a lot about fans of those teams; however, everything I say in do all takes place in the field of play. I don’t make a habit out of letting my sports-related differences spill over into real life. Well, unless it’s my job. Last I looked I wasn’t getting a paycheck for being “Sports Hater of the Year;” although, that would be pretty tight.

Like a lot of these hats that I’ve written about all ready, this is the first time I’ve worn this cap, my apologies. I know it’s an awesome cap, but when you have over 300 you tend to lose a little bit of focus on which ones you have and haven’t worn. More important, sometimes you just have your favorites that you’d prefer to wear more. In either case, I’m glad I’m finally getting around to this one as it bears some importance to my life a year ago today (July 17, 2012).

For those who have been following since my time during the MLB Fan Cave this day may come as a bit of a “moment of note.” For my friends in the right field bleachers, this is the first day we all met in person. Most of the hugs and hand-pounds part of the story I will leave until tomorrow’s post as it pertains to the hat I have chose for then. What I will schmooze about here was how it was great to finally sit down with the great folks of whom I had befriended during my time in New York. More important, I finally got the chance to get back home to where my Athletics fanhood began, spending the whole game passing jokes back-and-forth to one another, cheering on our team and talking mad trash to Nelson Cruz who had the unfortunate duty of playing right field for the Rangers that day.

I’ve never really been one to shout at a player during a game, let alone smack talk with them, but something compels you to break your manners and good habits the second you sit down in the right field bleachers. Every game I had been to prior to this day was spent in the plaza level above or the first or third base side of the field. No matter where I sat year-after-year I could see the gang yelling, holding up signs and having the best time anyone has ever consistently had at the Coliseum. During my time in the Fan Cave the feeling of wanting to get back to the Bay grew with every game I watched in the “baseball fan’s dream world” which really ended up being a glorified hamster cage. What’s funny about this comment is that there is actually a hamster wheel in there this year. At least they’re aware. Anyway, when the time came to finally get back home I made sure not to tell anyone as to not spoil the surprise. The reaction was about what I expected, but I’ll get into that tomorrow. What I was treated to was a spectacle of rhythmic flag waving, drum beats and specifically-timed chants. It’s quite extraordinary. One chant in particular follows an eight-beat drum lick with “[two syllable name of opposing right fielder] SUCKS!!!” In this case it was, “NEL-SON SUCKS!!!” None of us really mean it of course, it’s just good banter. What I WILL NOT join in on is when anything of a steroid, PED or drug variety is brought up. Personally, I think that’s in very poor taste. Anything else is fair game. The only thing we really needed to bust Cruz’s nuts about was the play in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series, something he has since taken in stride.

The thing that I have to admit about Cruz that very few people seem to do is that he is an incredibly generous and wonderful human being. Cruz is one of the few guys who cut it up with us, throwing some smack talk back, but also taking time out to take photos with kids and dish out some autographs. Hell, he even follows quite a few of us on Twitter. How could you not like that? Most important though, the man does a lot of great work in the Dallas/Arlington, Texas community as well as in his native Dominican Republic. No matter what gets tossed around these days that is something that must not go overlooked. Guys like Cruz are a rare commodity. We all make mistakes; some big, some small, but it’s what we do to set things right that show true character. Despite the fact that he plays on a rival team, Nelly Cruz will always be welcome in Oakland. Just be ready to dish some more smack talk out.

As I said before, I can’t believe I haven’t worn this cap before. In the history of Rangers hats it’s definitely one of my favorites. Most of the design I touched on with my Toledo Mud Hens post back on March 11^th, but I’ll give you a quick refresher as it pertains to the Rangers. This cap was first introduced during spring training right before the 1972 season, the inaugural year after the second incarnation of the Washington Senators packed up shop and moved to the Lone Star State at the end of the 1971 season. Even after having enough time to come up with a really creative logo for the team’s caps, the Rangers elected to roll with this. 

Don’t get me wrong, there is something very stylistic about it, but it still doesn’t excuse the fact that it was taken from the Mud Hens. For those who think I’m crazy when I make this claim I merely need to direct you to this photo of Jamie Farr who played Corporal Max Klinger in MASH. 

Farr’s character was from Toledo and wore this outfit quite often on the show. For those who forgot, MASH was on air from 1972-1983, but the show took place during the Korean War which was fought from 1950-1953. The Mud Hens first used this logo throughout the 1950s before their first incarnate left after the 1955 season for Wichita, Kansas. It’s all a bunch of craziness really. The Rangers used this particular cap until the end of the 1985 season; however, the cap logo lived on until the end of 1993 season.

What I don’t understand is why the Rangers never used this as their cap logo.

Not so much the “Texas Rangers” part, but just this logo. I think it’s pretty clever, but it was only a primary logo not actually featured on the uniform.

I suppose I could blame Ted Williams and his one and only year as the Rangers manager for all of these mistakes, especially since he did an equally poor job before the team relocated. His 54-100 in 1972 is still the worst finish in the team’s history.

#20- Back in the old days when it was common for high school kids to sign with a team right after graduation the then-Senators used their first pick (first overall) of the 1969 draft on a kid from Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California named Jeff Burroughs. If you’ve been following my blog over the year, let alone the last week, you might recognize that name. Jeff is in fact the father of Sean, the San Diego Padres prospect who I wrote about on July 14^th. Jeff spent the first year-and-a-half down in the minors between the Wytheville Senators of the Rookie League and the AAA Denver Bears. He made his Major League debut on July 20, 1970 as a part-time replacement player before getting sent back to Denver after a two week furlough in The Show. Burroughs would spend the next two seasons bouncing between the Senators and the Bears and then the Bears and the Rangers until finally making his case to stay at the top in 1973. That season, which also happened to be the first without Ted Williams as the skipper, Burroughs hit .279 with 30 home runs and 85 RBI; however, it would be his next where Burroughs made his presence known.

In 1974 the American League was owned by the AL West, and no two team’s players showed this more than the Athletics and the Rangers. In fact, the top-six finish for the AL MVP was comprised only of A’s and Rangers players with Burroughs taking home the prize behind his .301 average, 25 home runs and league-leading 118 RBI. Granted, the Athletics won the World Series that year and the Rangers finished five games behind them for the divisional crown; however, no one expected the Rangers to do anything that season except continue to stay near the bottom. Burroughs and company had other plans. Burroughs also made an appearance in his first of two All-Star Games he’d play in, but the only one in which he’d be a member of the AL squad.

Burroughs’s next two years in Texas didn’t pan out so well as his average dipped below .230 and his strikeout numbers skyrocketed. At the end of the 1976 season Burroughs was traded to the Atlanta Braves for Adrian Devine, Ken Henderson, Dave May, Carl Morton, Roger Moret (remember this name) AND $250,000. Yah! All of that for one guy! Burroughs would go on to have two fantastic years with the Braves in 1977 and 1978, finishing in the top-20 for the National League MVP both years and making his second All-Star Game appearance in 1978, but after that his power production dipped tremendously and by 1981 he was traded to the Seattle Mariners. At the end of the ’81 season he was signed by the Athletics where he played from 1982-1984 before having the rest of his contract purchased by the Toronto Blue Jays prior to the 1985 season. His one year in Toronto would be his last.

After he retired, Burroughs later coached his Sean's Little League team, the Long Beach All-Stars. With Sean as their star player, these teams won the Little League World Series in both 1992 (they actually lost the championship game, but were later awarded the title by forfeit after their opponents were found to have used no fewer than 14 ineligible players) and 1993.

#31- One of the more interesting figures in MLB history, Ferguson Jenkins is still considered by many as the greatest Canadian in MLB history. With a 284-226 record, 3.192 strikeouts, the 1971 NL Cy Young, three All-Star Game appearances and a National Baseball Hall of Fame induction in 1991 it’s really hard to argue. Jenkins played for 19 years with the Philadelphia Phillies (1965-1966), the Chicago Cubs (1966-1973), the Rangers (1974-1975), the Boston Red Sox (1976-1977), the Rangers again (1978-1981) and the Cubs again (1982-1983). While I only plan to really focus on Jenkins’s time with the Rangers, I can’t help but share this video clip with you. I doubt most of you remember seeing this unless you’re into bonus features on DVDs as much as I am, but it’s a cut out clip from This is Spinal Tap from 1984. Now, the movie was released in 1984; however, this scene was shot in 1983 as you can tell by Spinal Tap drummer Mick Shrimpton’s (played by RJ Parnell) answer to the question about Jenkins during their in-studio interview. Jenkins ended up finishing his career with 49 shutouts, the last of which he obtained on June 10, 1983 against the St. Louis Cardinals.

After the 1973 season Jenkins was traded to the Rangers. In 1974 he achieved a personal best 25 wins during the season, setting a Rangers franchise record which still stands. Jenkins also finished the year with 12 loses, a 2.82 ERA, a league-leading 29 complete games, six shutouts, a 1.008 WHIP and 225 strikeouts. Jenkins finished second for the AL Cy Young behind Athletics’ star pitcher Jim “Catfish” Hunter whose numbers were 25 wins, 12 loses, a 2.82 ERA, 23 complete games, six shutouts, a 0.986 WHIP and 143 strikeouts. Hunter received two more first place votes than Jenkins which tipped it in favor of Hunter despite the fact that collectively Jenkins had the more dominant season. Hunter’s team ended up making the playoffs and won their third-straight World Series title which may have been the difference. Either way, Jenkins got hosed.

During Jenkins’s second run with the Rangers he found success within the first year, 1978, when he finished sixth for the AL Cy Young award. Unfortunately for Jenkins it was also during this time that he found himself in a really bad spot. Jenkins achieved his 250th win against the Athletics on May 23, 1980. Later that year, during a customs search in Toronto, Jenkins was found possessing 3.0 grams cocaine, 2.2 grams hashish, and 1.75 grams marijuana. In response, on September 8, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn suspended him indefinitely. However, Jenkins' suspension lasted only two weeks before, in an unprecedented action, an independent arbiter reinstated him and he returned to the league. Jenkins was not further punished by MLB for the incident, as he remained active until his retirement following the 1983 season. It has been suggested that this incident delayed his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Jenkins was in fact the first player on record to be banned/suspended for a drug-related offense.

#29- Remember when I told you to remember Roger Moret’s name? Well… Moret was born and raised in Guyama, Puerto Rico in 1949 and was later signed by the Red Sox as a free agent in 1968 where he would make his MLB debut on September 13, 1970 just three days before his 21^st birthday. He played for the Red Sox (1970-1975), the Braves (1976) and the Rangers (1977-1978). In 168 games (82 as a starter and 86 as a reliever), he posted a career won-lost record of 47–27 and an ERA of 3.66. Moret led the AL in winning percentage in both 1973 (.867) and 1975 (.824).

His career ended in 1978 in a bizarre fashion. Scheduled to be the starting pitcher against the Detroit Tigers on April 12th, Moret was spotted in the Ranger locker room in a catatonic state, with his arm extended holding a slipper. His teammates first kidded with him but as time went on the gravity of his condition brought the team's medical staff. Attempts to awaken him failed. The Rangers staff sedated him and dispatched him to the Arlington Neuropsychiatric Center. By the 25th of April, Roger's condition had improved and he was scheduled for release within a week. He appeared in only six more games after the bizarre incident. In the film Fever Pitch, the incident was cited as an instance where the Curse of the Bambino struck the Red Sox, but this is an error, as Moret was no longer with that team.

July 7- Midland RockHounds

Looking back on my blog posts, I can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve written anything Oakland Athletics-related. I suppose I’ll have to make up for that over the next few days. This cap plays a particular importance in my life despite the fact that I’ve actually never seen the team play live, but I’ll get into that in a moment. First, a little bit of history… before some more history. I really need to stop saying that, it’s all relatively redundant.

For those of you who have become avid fans of my blog here is one thing that I should probably share with all of you that a few people have brought up in passing. All of my research is conducted independently, only in a few cases have I needed to rely upon outside sources to help me out; however, I suppose I could still say it’s part of an independent investigation because no one is necessarily volunteering any of this information for me. One thing that I have been incredibly skeptical about since February is whether or not I should use any information I come across in Wikipedia. In some cases I have found a few snippets which have helped aid a direction I may want to take with my posts, but in every case I still need to dig a bit further as opposed to just taking what’s written as gospel. I’d say roughly 85% of the time that I have used Wikipedia I’ve gone through and changed anything that I know is wrong. And no, I’m not just talking about for 85% of my posts; I’m talking anytime I’ve used it over the last decade or so. In most cases we’re talking about minor issues, but every now-and-then I find something egregious. Take today for example. Click on the Midland RockHounds link and you’ll find a mistake within the first paragraph, “The RockHounds are the current champions of the Texas League South Division.” This is not the case. The RockHounds were last division champions in 2010. Like I said, small stuff in most cases, but rather bothersome to keep noticing and changing. Obviously I elected to leave this one be to prove a point. All right, enough of this tomfoolery…

The AA RockHounds have been affiliated with the Texas League and Midland since they first played ball back in 1972 as the Midland Cubs until the end of the 1984 season. After that they became the Angels from 1985-1998 when they changed parent clubs until making their final name change when the Athletics took over in 1999. One thing to be noted from this time period is that the Athletics were clearly a bit cleverer in the name-changing category. The RockHounds played most of the history in Christensen Stadium (awesome name, no relation) as the park had been erected 22 years before the organization was founded until the end of the 2001 season. From 2002 through the present the RockHounds have been calling Citibank Ballpark (formerly First American Bank Ballpark until 2005) their home. This cap was introduced in 2003 and has been used for home games since. In their history the RockHounds have won four division titles (1975, 2005, 2009 and 2010) and three Texas League titles: 1975 (which they split with former Lafayette Drillers, 2005 and 2009.One of the interesting tidbits about this cap is that it took me going to New Era's headquarters in Buffalo, New York to track it down in their flagship location. Weird.

Other awards have followed the RockHounds throughout their history. The Midland franchise under the Angels won the Texas League Organization of the year in 1990 and 1994 and as the RockHounds in 2002. In 1995 Midland won AA's highest award, the Bob Frietas Award. General Manager Monty Hoppel has been named Executive of the Year with the franchise three times: in 1991, 1995, and 2002. In 2007, the RockHounds won the John H. Johnson President's Award, Minor League baseball highest award for a franchise, making them the third Texas League franchise to do so after the El Paso Diablos and the Tulsa Drillers.

I’ve only know, personally, two players who have spent time with the RockHounds and both came at interesting point in my life.

#25- Unless you really followed the Athletics at the end of the 1990s/early 2000s you probably have never heard of Jacques Landry. Landry grew up in Bryan, Texas which is about six hour east of Midland. He attended San Jacinto College, a community college in Pasadena, Texas, which is a suburb of sorts in the Houston area. Other notable players to play ball at SJC include San Francisco Giants first baseman Brandon Belt, 11-year pitching veteran Mike Gonzalez, Seattle Mariners pitcher Lucas Luetge and some borderline Hall of Famer named Roger Clemens. During Landry’s tenure with SJC he was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 36^th round of the 1993 amateur draft. Landry declined and later transferred to Rice University where he played under current coach Wayne Graham during the first years of Rice’s dominant presence within college baseball. After making the tournament in back-to-back seasons Landry was taken in the 12^th round of the 1996 draft by the Detroit Tigers and ended up playing in Fayetteville with the Class-A Generals and later the advanced-A Lakeland Tigers. From 1996 until today the Rice Owls have since won the regular season or tournament title every single year in three different conferences, including the 2003 National Championship.

At the end of the 1998 season Landry was signed to a minor league deal by the Athletics and played all of 1999 in Modesto with the then-Modesto Athletics. This is the point in time where I step in. 1999 was my first year as the bat boy for the Bakersfield Blaze and at that time I was only 16-years-old, Landry was the second-oldest player on the team at 25. Now, due to the fact that there are so few teams (10) and it’s broken up into two divisions with a first-half and second-half champions, the Athletics made a few visits to Bakersfield which gave Landry and his accomplice, Eric Byrnes, more than enough opportunities to play practical jokes on me and get me into as much trouble as they possibly could. Some of the highlights included black widow spider scares and the thievery of a teammate’s Little Caesars pizza. But, no matter what happened it was all for jokes, and when the games started we were all in the zone.

Toward the end of the season Landry and I swapped email addresses and kept in contact as best as we could. Every so often I’d here from him, but most of his emails were usually just part of a mass send which was comprised of funny video. When the 2000 season rolled around and the Athletics came to town Landry wasn’t there. Landry had been promoted to Midland where he spent 2000-2003, batting .251 during his time as an outfielder, as opposed to the third or first base he had been playing in Modesto. Of the three seasons his best came in 2001 when he went .241/36/95, which ended up being the second-best year of his career behind his 1999 campaign which got him promoted (.311/27/111). In 2002 Landry was promoted again to AAA Sacramento to play for the River Cats for a total of 57 games. At the end of the season Landry was no longer on the Athletics.

Landry was picked up originally by the Seattle Mariners and played with the AAA Tacoma Rainiers for a brief stint before getting released and then picked up by the Houston Astros where he played the rest of the season with the Round Rock Express while they were still affiliated with the Texas League. After the 2003 season, Landry was out of baseball. I never heard from him after his second year in Midland, which was right around the time I had graduated from high school in Vancouver, Washington. If anyone knows him or knows where he might be at, tell him I said hi.

#29- Another three-year veteran (2 ¼) of the RockHounds is someone I wrote about back on April 15^th during my Jackie Robinson post. Jeremy (@Baseclogger) Barfield and I became acquainted and then friends within the two hours that we met. For the more risqué bit of the conversation that kicked it off I suggest clicking the Robinson link above. As for everything that I didn’t all ready mention, Barfield and I mostly hit it off so well because we’re both pretty much the same type of person intellectually. We don’t take things at face value and we always do what we can to better ourselves and our education. Like Landry and so many others above, Barfield played his little bit of college ball at San Jacinto College, but after he played high school ball at Klein High School in Klein, Texas where he was originally drafted by the New York Mets in the ninth round of the 2006 amateur draft. I was the only one at the pool at the hotel in Phoenix for the final audition of the MLB Fan Cave who knew this off the top of their head. This particular bit of knowledge was not known by then-reject and current Mets Fan Cave representative Travis Miller, which ultimately demoted him to Barfield’s shit list. Actually, thinking about it now, almost anyone who knows of Barfield should know that bit about him, especially if you’ve seen the infamous bat flip video that has become a hit on YouTube. But alas, Barfield went one to SJC for two years where he was then drafted by the Athletics in the eighth round of the 2008 amateur draft. The move then and especially last year was an odd choice for the Athletics due to the fact that the A’s have been outfielder heavy since 2005 and Barfield would have been better suited, if not moved up the rankings a little bit quicker. This of course is the way that I see it, and I’m sure others might feel the same way. In any case, Barfield’s first three seasons took him from the short season-A Vancouver Canadians to the Class-A Kane County Cougars to the advanced-A Stockton Ports before starting the 2011 season in Midland.

Barfield’s first year in Midland was pretty solid. He hit .257 with 11 home runs and 72 RBI as he shared the field with the likes of Grant Green, Sonny Grey and AJ Griffin (who ruins the color scheme). When we met near the end of February it was right at the beginning of Spring Training. Players were just arriving to Arizona just as we were and Barfield paid us a visit at the end of the second and final night. Most of our conversation didn’t actually revolve around baseball. In fact, most conversations I’ve ever had with professional athletes don’t, unless I’m on the job. The Fan Cave hopefuls, Barfield and I sitting around the pool didn’t qualify as work. So, anytime baseball was mentioned it was always after he initiated it. For the entire duration of the night I was wearing my Fan Cave campaign shirt that I had made for a few people in Eugene, Oregon to help spread the word. As the night came to a close Jeremy had grown a fondness for it and asked if he could have it. Knowing that I could easily make more back home, I gave it to him right then and there. It was a very humbling and prideful feeling. I’ve always been creative and put together very solid ideas; however, very few people ever took notice prior to the first shirts I made for the University of Oregon versus Auburn University National Championship in NCAA football. These…

But when anyone, pro athlete or not, says, “I want that thing you created because I like it,” it makes for a great feeling.

To add to that, Jeremy did an interview with Baseball Prospectus not too long after our meeting and had some additional nice words to say about our encounter and me. Here’s the link. Jeremy kicks on around the 1 hour and 13 minute mark.

2012 went on to be an even better season for Jeremy. He hit .272 with 13 home runs and 64 RBI, but he remained with the Midland for the rest of the season, making sweet catch-and-throw plays like this.

Jeremy had a pretty decent Spring Training this year, and it was all capped off by this photo taken after he crushed a dinger during one of their games against the Colorado Rockies. In fact, it was the earliest known photo of the new home run celebration the Athletics players orchestrated.

One of the more positive things that came from this time is that Jeremy decided to finish up his degree which we talked not too long after I finished up my school in the middle of March. No matter the age, current job, etc. I will always be supportive of anyone who decides to continue their education. I think it’s pretty awesome that at his age and what he does for a living he sees the importance of it. As Spring Training came and went Jeremy was headed back to Midland, but fortunately his time didn’t last very long as he was promoted to the River Cats after his game on May 7^th against the Frisco RoughRiders.

Remember what I said about the Athletics having too many outfielders? Well, they felt the same way, on today’s post date, and gave Jeremy the option to convert to become a pitcher; which would make him a very valuable commodity if it’s successful. As for now, the conversion seems to be going well according to his updates on Twitter. Until the first moment in the spotlight comes and every day after, I wish you luck dude. I hope it works out.

June 30- Texas Rangers

If there’s anything I’ve learned over the last year when it comes to uniforms, I think one of the top three moments of clarity is when I learned not once, but twice that ESPN uniform “analyst” Paul Lukas (Uni Watch) really has no sense of style and appreciation for change. I realize how much of an odd comment it is for me to say this when considering how much of a purist I’ve become when it comes to just buying hats; however, I do appreciate it when a designer comes up with something new, even if it is a bit unorthodox.

Baseball is a game that some take for granted and heavily undervalue. While some want to complain about how slow it moves or whatever bit of dribble that translates into my head as “clearly you’re not smart enough to appreciate it,” the one thing that very few grasp is that it’s one of the few games that hasn’t undergone any dramatic changes in over 120 years. I’d say adding the designated hitter rule in the American League in 1973 is most notable. Regardless of that, my point about Lukas arose the first time this last autumn after the unveiling of the new Diamond Era batting practice/Spring Training caps and he felt the Atlanta Braves Chief Noc-A-Homa logoed cap was worthy of a F grade, the only one to receive it. Lukas, for one, opposes any use of the old Native American symbols and names as stated in an article he wrote for ESPN back in September of 2012. While I have always respected other peoples’ opinions on this particular matter, I can’t help but find the humor in white people making this argument, while on the other side of the coin there are a fair number of Native American tribes who respect it and are honored by the use, but this is a matter I’ll get into way down the road in another post.  The second strike against Lukas came on March 27^th when he unveiled the 2013 Memorial Day Stars & Stripes caps in a picture tweet which said, “All 30 teams to wear these really ugly camo caps on Memorial Day.” I just can’t side with that.

I for one am a fan of them. Hell, I am a huge fan of the ones from last season. You know; the ones I wrote about back in May which featured the game style-colored caps with the digital camouflage interior logos. The ones I’m still trying to find the last few teams that I need. Like baseball uniforms, the United States military has undergone a similar change by updating their camouflage patterns and colors. In years passed, New Era had stared with variations of red, white and blue pattern hats with actual stars and stripes integrated into the logos which ended up pleasing some and disappointing others as well. Even though I personally didn’t purchase any of those caps, as a fan of the game and a fan of caps, I can still stay that it was a clever series of designs. When it came to last season’s models I felt that it was a way more fitting tribute to the troops on top of the proceeds that were, and are still being donated to Welcome Back Veterans. I will admit I was a little disappointed to see that last year’s models weren’t brought back for a second tour, but I got over it once I saw these. Even more important, I as incredibly impressed with the fact that Majestic Apparel collaborated with New Era and came out with matching camouflage-logo jerseys and shirts for the players to wear and fans to purchase which were met with positive responses from both. My point in all of this is that as a uniform critic, using “ugly” as an adjective is rather juvenile. Even more so, to be so quickly dismissive shows no sign constructive intelligence, kind of like when CBS baseball writer Jon Heyman bashed the Oakland Coliseum so harshly in one tweet. As journalists, they know and could do a lot better.

Now that I’m off of my soapbox, I’ll move onto the hat. I snagged this and two others on June 24^th during my trip to Buffalo, New York for the New Era Fan Appreciation event. In my Buffalo Bisons post from that date I explained how at the end of the New Era factory tour we were allowed to take a few “defective” Texas Rangers Stars & Stripes caps home with us. Not wanting to be greedy, I only took as many as my means told me; one for my friend Taylor (@TaylorAKSmith), one for my friend Mark (@TheTXGonzo) and one for myself. I probably could have snagged more, but I didn’t want to overstep the hospitality. If you couldn’t tell from the photo above, the defect in these caps was that the “T” logo was supposed to be made in red with a blue trim, not white with a blue trim.

To be perfectly honest, I dig the white “T” a lot more than the red, but that’s just me.

Now, unlike last year’s Stars & Stripes caps, I don’t have any intention to purchase one of for every team; however, at some point down the road I will snag the Oakland Athletics for my collection because, you know… Athletics.

When marking up this cap I couldn’t help but post the same date as the Arizona Diamondbacks cap I wrote about on May 14^th due to its significance, but also because it makes a lot of sense (in my mind) on account of the logo. I’ll explain…

5/27/13: If you didn’t click on the link for the Diamondbacks post, I’ll give you the Cliff’s Notes version. Back when the schedule was written up and first posted, the Diamondbacks were so thrilled with the success of a doubleheader which had taken place the previous season that they opted to schedule one for the upcoming season. Being the smart guys that they are, they came up with the best date to hold the games and host the Rangers at the same time, Memorial Day. Since it’s a National holiday, and typically a day when people tend to go out and partake in family events, it proved to be a perfect match for everyone involved… except the Rangers.

If you haven’t noticed with my other posts, I like to find patterns and discover weird stories which all took place underneath these caps. In the case of this one, I thought it would be an amusing fit to mark a date I’ve all ready used on a hat that was made incorrectly for a team that ended up losing both games of the doubleheader they agreed to play in on the road. That’s right; the Rangers dropped both ends of the double dip by the final scores of 5-3 and 5-4. Unfortunately for the Rangers they couldn’t get anything really going offensively with the exception of Adrian Beltre who went 3-9 with three RBI for both games.

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.

March 3- Texas Rangers

Things are finally starting to get back to a level of normalcy. My stepfather came down for the day and helped me fix my ailing computer. On top of being able to work on my blog posts at my house again, I can actually do homework. But I think we all know which one is way more important. Totally blog post…

Today is the first day I’ve ever worn this hat. I picked it up in January of 2012 at Buffalo Exchange is Eugene, Oregon. For those who are unaware of what Buffalo Exchange is, it’s a clothing store that sells used, vintage clothing for ridiculously high prices. At the time I had stopped in looking for old school Champion NBA jerseys and scored well with a Rodney Rodgers Denver Nuggets for $18. On my way to the checkout counter I noticed that they had hats on a slew of pegs next to the front door. I wasn’t really expecting to find much. I mean, what are the odds of finding a New Era cap in your size that’s also in really good condition? Apparently the odds were stacked in my favor when I found this. I normally wear a 7 3/8, but since my hair was growing at a rather explosive rate it fit rather well for a 7 ½. What was most impressive about this find is that it’s one of the lesser known hats from the Texas Rangers franchise. It was only used from 2001-2003 and served as the alternate cap. Trust me, I’ve looked around and have yet to see one anywhere else.

The inside had a little bit of wear, and there was a little bit of dust on the top of the cap, but I was incredibly impressed with the fact that the authentic hologram sticker was still on the bill. It’s as if someone wore it a few times, threw it in their closet and sold it after cleaning it out. I obviously have no qualms against this. Even if I don’t throw it on that often, it’s still a gem for my collection.

After giving it a lot of thought I had to leave Rafael Palmeiro out of the equation when it came to marking it up. Believe me; this did not sit well with me especially since he hit his 500^th in 2003. The reality? Palmeiro will be getting his own post down the road. For this hat, there really wasn’t much else to mark other than this…

.305/156/395- I’ll never forget living in Vancouver, Washington and seeing the reactions of all the Seattle Mariners fans when Alex Rodriguez signed his 10-year $250 million deal. It was as if a member of the family had just spiked his napkin onto the dinner table, gave everyone the bird and said they were moving to Bel-Air to go live with their rich aunt and uncle. There really was no reason for Rodriguez to move south other than for financial compensation.

When Ken Griffey, Jr. hit the bricks to Cincinnati at the end of the 1999 season, Mariners fans looked to A-Rod to fill the void left by Seattle’s favorite son. It didn’t take much convincing as Rodriguez continued to hit the cover off of the ball. Had it not been for Cleveland Indians shortstop Omar Vizquel, he probably would have hauled in a cache of Gold Gloves for his terrific defense. He all ready had a batting title from when he hit .358 during the 1996 season, and he was steadily carving out a Hall of Fame career. The Mariners finished with a record of 79-83 in Griffey’s last season, good enough for third place in the American League West; however, in 2000 the M’s finished the year 91-71 and swept the Chicago White Sox in the American League Division Series before losing to the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series. Throughout the offseason the Mariners did what they could to offer Rodriguez a respectable long-term contract, but fell short as the Rangers offered to make him the highest paid player in sports history. I realize that almost all of you know this story, and that it’s not really my style to repeat something so well-known, but… most of you don’t really understand the emotional impact it caused throughout the Pacific Northwest. The mere fact that the M’s lost the greatest player currently in the game and reloaded with an unproven star (Ichiro Suzuki) to win a MLB season record 116 games was not even close to being expected.

The numbers on the cap are the stats that A-Rod posted during his three-year run with the Rangers. It kind of blew my mind that the exact three years he played there happed to be the same three years in which this hat was worn and made for a perfect match. One thing I will point out is that it’s one of the longest number sequences I’ve thrown on any of my hats. A little too long if you ask me.

Anyway, A-Rod was supposed to be the savior in Texas; the guy who would fill in the void left by former MVP slugger Juan Gonzalez when he got dealt to the Detroit Tigers in 2000, and then to the Indians in 2001. The Rangers were still rather stacked with Ivan Rodriguez behind the dish, Palmeiro at first base, Ruben Sierra at DH and Michael Young at second base. Offensively, the Rangers were expected to destroy AL pitching. The only problem; their pitching staff was primed for total annihilation. The Rangers combined for a record of 216-270, finishing dead last in the AL West every year. The only bright spot, besides Palmeiro, was A-Rod. Anytime the Rangers made their way to SafeCo Field scores of Mariners fans chanted "A-Fraud" and rained stacks of Monopoly money throughout the stands, which occasionally made its way onto the top of the dugout and field. I never really understood why they did this, especially considering that the Mariners were clearly better without him on the team. Say what you want about the guy, the one thing that you cannot deny is that he’s one hell of a competitor. He missed one game over that three year stretch, and took home the first of his two career AL MVP awards in 2003. 

What’s most interesting about this time frame is that 2001-2003 are the only three years in which A-Rod has ever admitted to using performance enhancing drugs. This always struck me as unusual when considering that The Ballpark at Arlington is a particularly easy place to knock a home run, especially when the jet stream is rolling out. One would think his numbers should have been a little bit higher; not to say that 156 home runs in three years isn’t a ridiculously impressive accomplishment. But who does he think he is kidding? From 1999-2000 A-Rod called Safeco Field, a pitcher’s park, home and hit 33 of his 83 home runs there. Now, compare that to the rest of the team; 1999-2000 equals 214 total homeruns at home for the Mariners from 27 total guys. 214 home runs / 27 guys equals 7.9 home runs at home per player over those two years. A-Rod hit 33, which is four times the average at home in two years which accounts for 15.4% of the total.  I honestly tried to break down the numbers even more by at-bats and games played to prove my point even more, but after an hour and sore eyes I said to hell with it.

I suppose with even a slight analytical breakdown one can sift through the B.S., but what does it really matter? He never got popped while he was playing, and yet we all paint him as this evil doer and cheat, while a lot of other guys were doing the same thing. I’ve never cared much for the PED talk as it always leaves people arguing more often than coming to a resolution. I don’t believe in asterisks, I just believe in the truth. I thing that depresses me the most is that this three-year time frame will potentially keep A-Rod out of the Hall of Fame. The next two years of his career will make this atrocity even more prevalent as he sits 99 hits away from 3000 and 116 home runs away from overtaking Barry Bonds as the most prolific home run hitter of all-time. He all ready has over 300 stolen bases for his career (318) which will make him one of two players in MLB history to have over 3000 hits, 500 home runs and 300 stolen bases. Willie Mays currently sits alone in this category.
Whether clean or dirty, A-Rod put up those numbers. No one will ever be able to change that or take it away. How do I know? It’s written on my cap for all to see.

January 19- Houston Astros

I think it might be fair to say that I totally doomed myself when marking this hat, but I’ll get to that in a moment. The Houston Astros wore this cap from 2000-12, at which some could argue the 13-year stretch was the greatest of the team’s history. 2005 is the only year that the Astros went to a World Series, losing to the Chicago White Sox in four games under then manager Phil Garner. But, I disagree with that statement, which I’ll get to later in the season. Like a few teams I’ve written about previous to this post, the changing of the colors, uniforms, not to mention a new ball park (Enron Field, now Minute Maid Ball Park) only served to be the closing act of an era since their humble beginning in 1962 when they were called the Houston .45s. This was the last stretch the Astros not only played in the National League, but also the longest tenure they had in the NL Central, which they had moved to at the start of the 1994 season.

If you’ve noticed on my hats thus far, I ted to stick to only two jersey numbers. The four numbers I’ve been marking make for a great fit without being too distracting to the logo and its placement; however, on this hat, I went with three numbers. Primarily for the sake of the four total numbers that fit. With these three guys represented, it’ll make it a little difficult when I decide to mark and write about their black road cap.

#5- An obvious choice, but perhaps one I should have used for an earlier style. Jeff Bagwell played his final game in The Show at the end of the 2005 season. Despite being born in Boston and being drafted by the Red Sox in 1989, Bagwell never played a game for anyone other than the Astros, and holds most of the offensive records for the franchise: .297 AVG, 449 home runs, 1529 RBI and 1401 walks. Only one man has him beat on career hits. 2000, the first year of this cap, was the last great year, and quite possibly the greatest of Bagwell’s career in the Majors. Bagwell played in 159 games that season and hit .310 with 132 RBI (Second highest of his career) and 47 home runs, the most he had ever slugged in a season. Unfortunately for Bagwell, only Richard Hidalgo had as positive of an impact on the season. The team finished in fourth place in their division with a record of 72-90 under Larry Dierker. I assure you that this is not the last time you’ll see Bagwell-related numbers on any of my hats.

#7- The man who holds the Astros career hits record, and a guy who clearly got hosed on his first Hall of Fame ballot, Craig Biggio. Unlike Bagwell, Biggio stuck it out for 20 years. That’s not to say that Bagwell didn’t want to stick around, but Biggio was clearly the healthier and more resilient of the two. 3060 hits for his career, Biggio started out back in 1988. Throughout his career he became a real utility guy, playing at second base, catcher and some platooning in the outfield. Much like Michael Young in Texas, Biggio always made himself useful for everywhere on the field when needed. The 2000-2007 years were mixed for Biggio as he hit career highs in home runs (24- 2004 and 26- 2005), and he only hit over .268 twice (.292- 2001 and .281- 2004) He also never batted in more than 70 runs in that time. But, much to the chagrin of baseball writers, he clearly earned his way in the Hall of Fame, which will more than likely be recognized in the next few years.

#17- The one guy who probably deserves the most recognition on this era of hats, Lance Berkman. Berkman came up with the Astros in 1999 and stuck around halfway through the 2010 season when he was dealt to the Yankees for the remainder of the season. During his time in Houston Berkman posted .296/326/1090 and quite possibly could have been the one guy to shatter all of Bagwell’s Astros records. But, the Astros rained heavily on that parade. Berkman wasn’t the greatest fielder the team ever had. Hell, he only made 5 All-Star teams despite finishing well in the NL MVP run in five years. Berkman was head and shoulders about the rest of the team, talent wise, plus playing for a team that failed to give him a supporting cast didn’t help his case either, unlike Biggio and Bagwell in their early years.