August 1- Minnesota Twins

One would think of all the hats in my collection this would have been one of the easier ones to track down. Nope! If my memory serves me correct it took me about three years of combing various Web sites, Ebay and Lids locations in order to find an authentic one. Now, over my ridiculously exhaustive search I did come across a few “Genuine Merchandise” versions (replicas), but this bad boy was a diamond in the rough that I somehow found at the Lids in Union Square in downtown Manhattan. Clearly all of the best caps are displayed there because I definitely picked up some gems every time I went there.

It was a bit of mystery to me as to why this cap would have been so hard to track down, but then again, I can be pretty picky at times. I for one have always preferred the Major League Baseball logo on the back of the hat, a token which was only added to caps starting in 1993. 

As in the case of this cap the logo wasn’t added until 2009 when the Minnesota Twins wore it as a home alternate cap. The Twins first used this for all of their home games from 1976-1986 where it and the all-navy “TC” cap that I wrote about on February 15^th were replaced with the “M” logo cap that I wrote about on January 21^st. The move proved to be one of those rare uniform changes that brings immediate success as the Twins hoisted their first World Series championship since 1924 when they were still the Washington Senators.

In my research I found a bit of a conflicting story about its first use. The vintage MLB clothing company Brand ’47 has the year 1973 marked on most of its franchise caps, as did a few other Web sites. The only problem with this is that in almost every photo I found, whether it was baseball cards, game photos or even the team photo, this cap wasn’t used. No, the first arrival of this cap via photo didn’t arrive until 1976 as I previously mentioned as shown in the photo below.

Now, I can see where in a black and white photo one might not be able to tell; however, it’s easy to notice how the shade of the cap matches with the “TWINS” emblem across the chest, which was red at the time and contradicts the navy blue shirts of the trainers and equipment managers. This trait becomes even clearly in the team photo from 2009.

Like I said, I looked deep into most photo archives and couldn’t find anything until I came across the Web site http://twinstrivia.com/year-by-year/ where they have all the team photos dating back to 1961, their first year as the Twins. Check the link if you don’t believe me as the team also wore the red caps from 1977-1982 and 1984-1986. I could be wrong about 1983, as it might also have to do with the lighting and it being in black and white, but it looks like a few guys are wearing red and other navy blue. Either way, red was the home color that year.

Keeping in the theme of the red cap I have elected to mark it up with numbers and a date from the original time from of when this cap was used. Nothing personal against the 2009 team who won their division on an extended day of the season (game 163) against the Detroit Tigers, but there’s just too much good stuff that happened within the other 11 years to pass up.

#14- To those familiar with the Twins legacy, this is an easy number to remember. But for those who only know about Hall of Fame legacies, this is a name you should learn. Ken Hrbek, a product of Bloomington, Minneapolis, was drafted in the 17^th round of the 1978 draft. The interesting part about the timing is that, as a first baseman, he had some pretty big shoes to fill as Harmon Killebrew and Rod Carew were the only names were noting to have played the position in the team’s history. Carew was traded before the 1979 season, so Hrbek was one of two possible candidates being groomed for the position. Hrbek made his major league debut on August 24, 1981 at Yankee Stadium, hitting a game-winning home run in the 12th inning off New York reliever, and future Twin, George Frazier.

After his cup of coffee at the end of the '81 season, Hrbek would make the team out of spring training and come into his own in 1982, playing well for Twins manager Billy Gardner. That season Hrbek would etch his name into the Twins’ legacy as he finished the year with a .301 average, 23 home runs and 92 RBI. As great as his accomplishment were during his rookie season, he still only managed to finish in second place for the Rookie of the Year award one step ahead of Wade Boggs and one spot behind some washout named Cal Ripken, Jr. Not sure what happened to either of those guys. Hrbek also locked up a trip to the All-Star Game that year, the only appearance of his career.

1983 proved to be a stellar sophomore season for Hrbek, but it was in 1984 that he had the best of his career. In ’84 Hrbek finished the year with a career-high .311 average, 27 home runs, a career-high 174 hits and a career-high 107 RBI. Somehow Hrbek didn’t gain an invitation to the All-Star Game, not to mention he once again finished as the second fiddle when it came to the American League MVP vote. That year Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Willie Hernandez won the MVP as well as the Cy Young Awards outright. The Tigers ended up winning the World Series that year as well.

Hrbek started and finished his 14-year career right where he started, in his home state in front of the people who had cheered him on since his high school days. The most notable contribution Hrbek gave back to the Twins fins were the two World Series Championships they won in 1987 and 1991. One the first run Hrbek finished the season with a career-high 34 home runs, but his most memorable came during Game 6 when he hit a grand slam off of St. Louis Cardinals reliever Ken Dayley, which shifted the momentum in favor of Minnesota who would win the Series in seven games. In 1991 Hrbek’s bat isn’t what most remember from that World Series run, rather the now infamous first base clash he had with Atlanta Braves’ left fielder Ron Gant in Game 2. Here’s the play if you don’t remember. Hrbek was a hero in Minnesota and public enemy number one in Atlanta. The Twins would win the Series again in seven games thanks to great pitching from Jack Morris and clutch hitting from Kirby Puckett. Hrbek was one of seven Twins to be part of both World Series teams. The other six were Puckett, Randy Bush, Greg Gagne, Al Newman, Gene Larkin and Dan Gladden.

Frequently injured (though seldom seriously), Hrbek retired after the players strike in 1994, citing his nagging injury problems and desire to spend more time with his wife and daughter. Kent Hrbek's number 14 was retired by the Twins in 1995, becoming at the time only the fourth (along with Killebrew, Carew, and Tony Oliva) in franchise history. Hrbek was also inducted into the Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame in 1996. He was also one of few players then (which is even rarer today) who played out his entire career with only one team.

#28- It’s a rare quality for anyone to have a professional baseball career for more than seven years, but Bert Blyleven was able to hang onto a playing career for 22-strong. Born in the Netherlands, but raised in Garden Grove, California, his father moved the family to Melville, Saskatchewan, Canada when Blyleven was two years old, and then to Southern California when he was age 5. He became interested in baseball as a young boy watching Sandy Koufax pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers and listening to Vin Scully and Jerry Doggett announce the Dodgers' radio broadcasts. Blyleven was quoted as saying, “My dad built me a mound in the backyard with a canvas backdrop over our horseshoe pits, and I would go back there and just throw and throw and throw until I developed it, and it became my curveball. And I could throw it over at any time, any count.” Blyleven starred on the Santiago High School baseball team, also running cross country to build up his stamina and leg strength. He was drafted straight out of high school by the Twins in the third round in 1969, where after only 21 minor league starts he found himself called up to the Majors at age 19 on June 2, 1970. In his first season, his sharp curveball helped him to ten victories and he was named AL Rookie Pitcher of the Year by The Sporting News.

For six-and-a-half years Blyleven was the ace the Twins needed; however, he was blamed by the fans for the team’s failures. Blyleven won at least 15 games every season from 1971-1975; unfortunately, he also lost at least 15 games every season from 1971-1974. What’s even more unusual is that Blyleven never posted an ERA above 3.00 from 1971 until the moment he was traded to the Texas Rangers in the middle of the 1976 season. In 1973 Blyleven went 20-17 with a 2.52 ERA, 258 strikeouts and nine shutouts. The wins, ERA, strikeouts and shutouts were all career bests, but they were only good enough to give Blyleven his first All-Star Game appearance, a seventh place finish for the AL Cy Young and a 26^th place finish for the MVP. Yah, times were pretty crazy back in the 70s.

After Blyleven was traded to the Rangers in ’76. He pitched well with the Rangers, having a 2.76 ERA in his first season and throwing a no-hitter against the California Angels on September 22, 1977, just two weeks after being sidelined with a groin injury. His 2.74 career ERA with the Rangers remains the best in team history. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates the following year as part of a four-team trade which is way to long to list the ins and outs. In short, Blyleven won his first World Series ring with the Buccos in 1979 behind a 12-5 record and a 3.60 ERA in 37 games started. Once again, the 70s were crazy time. At the end of the 1980 season Blyleven was traded again to the Cleveland Indians where he would have a stellar third place finish for the Cy Young in 1984 and an equally as noble 1985 season where he was traded back to the Twins and still finished with his second, and final All-Star Game appearance and another third place Cy Young finish behind a league-leading 206 strikeouts, league-leading 24 complete games, league-leading five shutouts and a league-leading 293 2/3 innings pitched. If you’ll learn anything by the end of this post it’s that pitchers these days have it pretty easy.

Blyleven would play three more years with the Twins all the way until the end of the 1987 season where he would earn his second World Series ring. At the end of the 1988 season, his worst statistical season, he was granted free agency by the Twins and was almost immediately picked up by the Angels. In his first year in Anaheim Blyleven had a bounce-back season going 17-5 with a 2.73 ERA, a league-leading five shutouts and 131 strikeouts. Blyleven finished the season in 13^th place for the AL MVP and fourth place for the Cy Young. Blyleven would play two more seasons with the Angels before hanging it up at the end of the 1992 season.

After his first year of eligibility in 1998, Blyleven was widely considered to be the best eligible pitcher not yet in the Baseball Hall of Fame. According to Matt Welch of Reason Magazine, "there had long been a strong case that the Dutch-born curveballista was the most deserving player on the outside of Cooperstown looking in." Still, it was not until his 14th year of eligibility in 2011 that he was elected, with 79.7% of the vote. He currently ranks 5th all-time in Strikeouts, 9th all-time in Shutouts, and 27th all-time in Wins. At the time of his election he was the only eligible member of the 3000 strikeout club, and the only person with 50 or more shutouts, not in the Hall of Fame.

Blyleven received only 17.55% of the vote for Hall of Fame admission in 1998 (first year of eligibility), and his vote total dropped to 14.1% the following year. No player who had debuted on the ballot since 1970 had a vote total that low and later won election to the Hall. However, ESPN.com columnist Jayson Stark stated that "no player has ever — and again, that word is 'ever' — had his Hall of Fame candidacy helped more by the sabermetrics boom than Blyleven." Specifically, according to Welch, "the president and chief investment officer of Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel in Long Beach, California, a guy by the name of Rich Lederer, began spending some of his off-hours writing analysis on the Interwebs about Blyleven's overlooked case." Blyleven was finally inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2011 after receiving 79.7% of the vote on his 14th attempt. "It’s been 14 years of praying and waiting,” he said. "I thank the baseball writers of America for; I’m going to say, finally getting it right." Blyleven was the first Dutch-born player inducted, and his Hall of Fame plaque depicts him with a Twins cap.

In 1996, Blyleven became a color commentator for the Twins. Blyleven's commentary is occasionally risqué for a baseball broadcast, but provides interesting and friendly conversation between him and play-by-play announcer Dick Bremer. One of his trademarks is circling fans with the telestrator on screen. Fans, both at home and at road games, carry signs to the games saying "Circle me Bert." This has led to a fundraising campaign with the Parkinson's Foundation and a sponsorship with the Minnesota Lottery.

8/1/86: This is one of the more fascinating days in Twins history for a number of reasons. The Twins were at home hosting my beloved Oakland Athletics as the Twins were holding their 25^th Anniversary celebration. That’s one reason. Blyleven was on the mound with 2,992 strikeouts under his belt, facing one of the better power hitting teams of that 1980s. In front of a crowd of a little more than 14,000 people Blyleven struck out Mike Davis for his 3,000 career strikeout and still had time to drop seven more batters on his way to a career-high 15 strikeouts in one game. Not to mention, Blyleven also got the complete game. Now, what would a game be without a little bit of offense? In order of his five at-bats Puckett hit a triple in his first, flew out in his second, hit a ground rule double in his third, a single in his fourth and a home run in his final at-bat to become the seventh player in Twins history to hit for the cycle.

What’s even crazier about this date, August 1^st, is that it also marks another unusual time in Minnesota history. In 2007 the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge in Minneapolis. Due to how many people were at the game the Twins elected to play the game that night against the Kansas City Royals, but postponed the game the following night. What I wouldn’t find out until six years later is that my girlfriend, Angie, was in Minneapolis, visiting friends from Wisconsin, and happened to still be in town for when the Twins played the Indians two days later.

April 18- Fort Myers Miracle

I don’t think I can ever express into words how much I absolutely adore my girlfriend Angie Kinderman (@sconnieangie). I also realize my affection for her is probably causing a lot of you to projectile vomit as we speak; for which I make no apologies for. :D

A few days before I arrived in Florida she had informed that she had a “big” surprise for me when I got to town. Now, in my head this could have gone any numbers of ways; all of which exceeded a PG-13 rating, but as I walked into her house and into the bedroom to throw my bag in the closet, I was met with this…

For those of you who are unaware what this is supposed to be, watching this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hPTkmQCGOY

When I was living in New York City working for the MLB Fan Cave I shot this video to show people how to make their very own hat walls in an effort to show off their collections for cheap. Knowing that I would be staying with her for an extended period of time, she constructed her own little hat wall to make me feel more at home. She even took the liberty to start my new collection by attaching a Fort Myers Miracle hat she picked up during a Minnesota Twins Spring Training game in March. Needless to say, a hug, kiss and “I love you” soon followed. This is bar far one of the sweetest things anyone has ever done for me. I am so lucky and so grateful to have her in my life.

I’ve dated quite a few ladies in my life. Some of them were great, while others made my question if I had a fully-functional brain to stay with them for as long as I did. In almost every case each one of the previous wanted me to change something about myself; despite the fact that they had said they liked everything about me. (Every guy reading this knows exactly what I’m talking about. Every woman reading this now doesn’t know what I’m talking about.) One of the biggest habits I was asked to change was the amount of time I devoted to baseball; something that I will never bend. In the case of Angie, she has been more than supportive of my passions. Whether it’s my writing, my New Era Cap collecting, my fantasy baseball teams or even just staying up late to watch a game, she fully supports my lifestyle 100%; all to the point where she’ll do something as thoughtful as buy me a hat to help continue my goal of a new post a day for the whole year. I don’t know how I got to be so lucky, but I thank the Lord every day I wake up to see her smiling face next to mine. She’s smart, she’s funny, she’s beautiful, but most important, she’s a baseball fan. And I’m madly in love with her.

I’ve touched up on this in previous posts, but Angie is a die-hard Twins fan. She hails from Eau Claire, Wisconsin and grew up watching the Twins because her father was an avid fan. Much like myself, my father was a die-hard San Francisco Giants fan; however, I of course took the latter route, like most smart mouthed kids do, and rooted for the most opposite team, the Oakland Athletics. Angie is currently attending physician’s assistant school at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Florida, a hotbed for baseball talent. Washington Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez has a home there, and just down the street at Nova High School several Major League stars cut their teeth before getting drafted. Such talent includes: Twins pitcher Anthony Swarzak, former Chicago White Sox shortstop Harry Chappas, former Baltimore Orioles and Athletics outfielder Jeff Fiorentino and Seattle Mariners outfielder Michael Morse. We met, like so many people, through the magic of Twitter while I was in the Fan Cave last season. Since I was the Athletics representative she took it upon herself to routinely remind me how great Josh Willingham was doing for the Twins. I was immediately attracted to her smack talk. We talked off and on throughout the three months I was in New York as well as during my baseball road trip following my exodus. When the time came to head to Florida I gave her shout and asked if she wanted to go to a Miami Marlins game with me. Not only did she say yes, she offered me her couch to crash on for the night. If you want to know the rest of the story, please go back and read my post on the Florida Marlins from February 23. It’s been seven wonderful months, most of which has been separated by over 3000 miles, but our love for each other grows just as strongly as our first common love, baseball, by the day.

Tomorrow we are headed to Tampa to catch the Rays play a three-game series against my Athletics, but for now we are in Venice Beach. Angie, always full of surprises, kept this little trip from me until last night; at which I asked her if there was any chance we might be able to catch a Miracle game tonight if they were in town. Always the baseball enthusiast, she was happy to oblige. We looked over the schedule and saw that were on the road. Rats! No matter, we had the whole day to ourselves, and that’s what mattered most.

In lieu of my new gift, I decided to wear the Miracle hat. Even now as I write this post I’m still beaming that she got it for me. We left the house around 11:00 AM and made a quick stop at Chick-Fil-A for lunch. True story: I hadn’t eaten at a Chick-Fil-A in over 13 years, so I was especially happy for this little perk. We finished up and continued our journey, always telling each other that we loved one another during moments of silence, but always trying to make the other laugh as we tore through the vast, desolate wasteland that is Alligator Alley. For some strange reason I had forgotten that we were going to be passing through Fort Myers, despite having looked at the map about 20 minutes before we left. I asked Angie if she wouldn’t mind stopping by real quick for a photo. Being the amazing girlfriend that she is, she was more than happy to oblige. As we pulled into the parking lot we were greeted by a slew of recreational vehicles for an upcoming weekend RV Show. We parked the car, stretched and headed on a merry way to the façade of the stadium whilst holding each other’s hand. Angie led the way around since she had been there before. There are two practice fields on the left side of the stadium that we walked past, one of which had two members of the grounds crew watering the field. Neither of them paid much attention to us as we walked through a tunnel next to the batting cage facility on into Hammond Stadium. And when I say we walked into the stadium, I mean we were standing 10 feet away from the dugout. The sprinklers were on in left field and Angie had mentioned how awesome it would be to jump the fence and run through them, which we easily could have done. I laughed and said we should. She just smiled back. I popped out my camera, held her close and popped this photo…

I’ve always preferred to have some sort of a theme going on in the photos of me wearing the hat, and what better one to take than while wearing the hat of the team at their facility with the person who got it for me? As I slipped my camera back into my pocket I looked around to see if anyone noticed that we were there; crickets. I then asked Angie again if she would run onto the field with me. She laughed, but said no. I then asked one last time to make sure. I could tell in her eyes that she really wanted to, but didn’t want to take the risk of getting caught; a move I totally understood.

The whole walk back to the car plus the first 15 miles away from the stadium we kept talking about it. Both of us are avid fans of the film “Bull Durham” and we both brought up the scene when Crash Davis, Nuke LaLoosh and a few of the other players sneak onto the field the night before the game to turn on the sprinkler system to force a rainout. But alas, we both chickened out, but perhaps not for long. It may not happen in Fort Myers, but at some field we’re going to have to make it so.

The Miracle have been using this hat as their game style cap since the start of the 2011 season. The logo of the “M” with a palm tree was first introduced at the start of the 1993 season, but featured an all-black cap with a red trim logo. The Miracle are an advanced-A affiliate of the Twins and have been a member of the Florida State League since 1964. The team was around in 1963; however, they were set as a Class D squad. An interesting fact about the Miracle is that two of the minority owners are musician Jimmy Buffet and comedy legend Bill Murray. Both of whom bought into the team in 1989. Another cool fact is that the original team was called the Miami Hustlers from 1927-1928, one of the most badass, yet foreshadowingly (not a real word) ironic team names for the area in sports history.

Since this cap has only been around for the last two seasons I really didn’t expect to find anything worthy enough to mark it up with. Boy was I wrong! For those of you who didn’t know, Joe Mauer’s older brother, Jake, is actually the manager of the Miracle; however, I’ve all ready written a post about him back on January 11 with the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Instead I found two up-and-coming studs currently on the Major League roster.

#5- Throughout Spring Training there were very few players making a case for themselves much like #98 prospect Aaron Hicks. With the loss of Denard Span to the Washington Nationals Hicks went into preseason with the starting centerfield spot up for grabs. With only motivation and raw talent in his favor, Hicks went on to hit .370 with four home runs and 18 RBI. With an OPS of 1.051 it was hard for Ron Gardenhire to say no to the former 14^th overall pick in the 2008 amateur draft. While Hicks’s regular season hasn’t been quite as prosperous, he’s still young and willing to learn.

In 2011 Hicks played 122 games in Fort Myers, having played the previous two seasons with the Beloit Snappers in the Midwest League. With the Miracle he hit .242 with five home runs, 38 RBI and five triples.

#11- This guy was an eighth round pick in 2009 out of Southern Mississippi and made his Major League debut on May 7, 2012. Brian “Bull” (as I like to call him) Dozier played two seasons with the Miracle in 2010 and only 49 games in 2011. In his combined one full year Dozier hit .291 with seven home runs and 64 RBI and has been a fan favorite of the organization for a number of years. So far this season he’s hitting .279 with zero home runs and six RBI as the Twins’ second baseman.

February 15- Minnesota Twins

If you didn’t read my post from January about the Minnesota Twins “M” logo cap, I highly suggest going back and checking it out before continuing with this. It’ll fill in a few gaps of back story on my personal relationship with the franchise. The most important thing to know is that my girlfriend, Angie Kinderman, is a huge Twins fan, while I am on the exact opposite end of the spectrum. Back on December 31, 2012 I flew out to Miami, Florida to visit Angie and spend a week with her before we both started up class again on January 7, 2013. Being the hopeless romantic that I am, I decided to wear this cap when I flew in to put a smile on her face. Needless to say, it did the trick. Today she flew into Portland, Oregon to visit me and I decided to wear the same cap again. I suppose in this matter it’s best to leave my differences aside and do something nice for my sweetie. So now, this is my official Angie airport greeting cap.

I originally picked this hat up off of EBay, along with a few others from independent dealers. I had purchased the “M” logo cap at first, but ended up not really digging the 2010 Target Field patch in the side so I opted for a new style. I figured in this case, it’s best to go with the original. When the first incarnation of the Washington Senators moved to Minneapolis at the end of the 1960 season, the team changed its name to the Minnesota Twins, as to appease the obvious Minneapolis/St. Paul twin cities moniker. With that, the team also made the “TC”, which stands for Twin Cities, its official logo. From 1961-1986 the white “T” with a red “C” intertwined on a navy blue cap reigned throughout the league and made a reappearance prior to the 2002 season where it has remained as the team’s home field/game cap. As a fan of the classics, I had to roll with two greats when marking up this cap.

#3- The Killer himself, Harmon Killebrew is arguably the greatest Twin, and the greatest Mormon baseball player to ever take the field; however, in my humble opinion, is one of those few guys who made the Hall of Fame for having played during an interesting era. Killebrew started his career in 1954 and saw minimal playing time until 1959 when he hit a League-leading 42 home runs with the Senators. When the team made it’s debut in Minnesota Killer continued hitting bombs for the Twins by hitting at least 45 home runs for four consecutive seasons (1961-1964). His best year came in 1969 when he went .276/49/140 and won the American League MVP outright that season, the only one of his career. Killebrew made 11 All-Star appearances throughout his career and only made the World Series once in 1965 when they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games. Killebrew finished his career with 573 home runs and 1559 RBI, but only hit 2086 times with a career average of .256 in 22 years. Killebrew was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1984 and sadly passed away on May 17, 2011.

#29- Like a lot of kids from my elementary school days, the first time I heard the name Rod Carew was in Adam Sandler’s “The Hanukah Song.” As I got older I made sure to do my homework as to not besmirch his name in jest. Carew started his Hall of Fame career in 1967 and played with the Twins until the end of the 1978 season. In ’67 Carew took home the Rookie of the Year crown after going .292 with 150 hits on the year. That year and the following would be the only two years in which Carew would hit below .300. In the 12 years that Carew gave to the Twins he went .334/74/733, but he attained 2085 of his career 3053 hits while rocking the “TC.” Carew won seven batting titles, lead the league in hits three times, but only one MVP in 1977. Throughout his 19-year career, Carew only missed making an All-Star appearance once; his final season. Carew made the Hall of Fame with ease in 1991 on his first ballot.

Update

#12- Cesar Tovar was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela where as a child, he shined shoes to earn extra income for his family. At the age of 15, he befriended Gus Gil, another Venezuelan who went on to play in Major League Baseball. In January 1959, Cincinnati Reds General Manager, Gabe Paul, attempted to sign Gil to a contract however; Gil insisted that Paul should also have Tovar sign a contract. Paul relented in order to make Gil agree to sign. Tovar began his professional baseball career when he was assigned to the Geneva Redlegs in the D-league New York-Penn League. He hit .252 in 87 games as an infielder for Geneva in 1959. That winter, he returned to Venezuela to play for the Leones del Caracas, and won the league's rookie of the year award.

In 1960, he played with the Missoula Timberjacks of the Pioneer League where he produced a promising .304 batting average along with 12 home runs and 68 RBI. After being selected to the league's All-Star team, he was rewarded by getting to play two games at the top level of the Reds' minor league system with the Seattle Rainiers. Tovar was sent back to Geneva in 1961, where he batted .338 with 19 home runs and 78 runs batted in. He stole 88 bases in 100 attempts to lead the league while setting a new league record for stolen bases. In 1962, he played for the Rocky Mount Leafs of the Carolina League, and led the league in batting with a .329 batting average along with 10 home runs and 78 runs batted in. The Reds had a promising second baseman in Pete Rose, who would win the 1963 National League Rookie of the Year Award, and with second basemen Bobby Klaus and Gus Gil in their minor league system, there was little room left for Tovar to progress. The Reds sent him on loan to play for the Minnesota Twins minor league affiliate, the Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers. In 1964, Tovar returned to the Reds organization, where he played for the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League. He helped the Padres win the league championship by hitting for a .275 with 7 home runs and 52 runs batted in, while playing as a third baseman, shortstop, second baseman, and as an outfielder.

Before the start of the 1965 season, the Twins traded pitcher Gerry Arrigo to the Reds for Tovar. The Twins had originally sought to get Tommy Helms from the Reds, but they refused to trade him and the Twins settled for Tovar. At the age of 24, Tovar made his major league debut on April 12, 1965, becoming the ninth Venezuelan to play in Major League Baseball. Tovar’s career with the Twins stretched until the end of the 1972 season, but his career ended after the 1976 season after making a few stops with the Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees along the way. Between 1967 and 1971 Tovar finished in the top-25 in voting for the AL MVP thanks in part to his decent average, ability to steal bases and the amount of hits he was able to rake in ever season. His 204 hits lead the AL in 1971.

As far as career notes are concerned, Tovar racked up a few records: On September 22, 1968, Tovar became the second player after Bert Campaneris (Kansas City Athletics, 1965) to play all nine fielding positions in a game. The two were later joined by Scott Sheldon (Texas Rangers, 2000) and Shane Halter (Detroit Tigers, 2000) as the only four players in MLB history to have accomplished the feat. Tovar started the game on the mound against Oakland and pitched one scoreless inning in which he struck out Reggie Jackson. As fate would have it, the first batter he faced was Campaneris.

On May 18, 1969, Tovar combined with Carew to set a major league record for most steals by a club in one inning with five. In the third inning against a Detroit battery of Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan, Tovar stole third base and home. Carew followed by stealing second base, third base and home. The two steals of home in the same inning also tied a record

Along with Eddie Milner, Tovar is regarded as the major league's all-time leader in breaking up no-hit attempts with five. César Tovar died on July 14, 1994 of pancreatic cancer in Caracas, Venezuelan Capital District, Venezuela, at 54 years of age. Tovar was inducted into the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003

January 22- Detroit Tigers

Throughout the year there is another constant that will come up roughly 35-40 more times; the first assortment I bought were simply on the basis of having one hat per team. Besides the Oakland A’s, the other teams I made an exemption for are the Montreal Expos and the Detroit Tigers. My affinity for the Tigers has been around since the mid-90s. There was always something about their colors and logo that popped. Which is actually kind of funny because they’ve kept the idea of their logo pretty much the same throughout their history; while at the same time, the Old English script is so intricate and detailed that there really wasn’t much of need to switch to anything else. But the more important thing I should probably point out is that when I bought this hat, my intentions of going way back throughout the team’s entire history of hats had never crossed my mind. I was going to stick with the current home and away. So, having explained that, on we move…

The Tigers introduced this hat at the start of the 1983 season and have been using it as their road cap ever since. The previous 10 years had also featured an orange “D” logoed hat, but I will get to that one later down the road. The ’83 season went incredibly well for the Tigers; however, even their 92-70 record under Sparky Anderson wasn’t good enough to get them into the playoffs. As members of the American league East division the Tigers finished six games behind the Baltimore Orioles, who later went on to win the World Series over the Philadelphia Phillies. This was also back in the day when each league only had two divisions. The Tigers, not particularly frazzled by their modest success, decided to lay the entire league to waste with their 104-58 record in ’84, also adding a World Series title to their collection after eviscerating the San Diego Padres in five games. That was the first time Kirk Gibson became a postseason legend. Buuuuuuut… it wasn’t good enough to make my cap, a decision I partially regret.

I had purchased the home hat first, and this one well after I had marked the previous. And once again, I need to point out that I marked it with the intention of not getting any other Tigers hats before you judge.

#47- This one won’t get much debate I would imagine. Jack Morris played for the Tigers for almost his entire career. From 1977-1990 he donned the “D”, and became synonymous with some of the great pitchers of the 80s and early 90s. During his 14-year tenure in Detroit he went 198-150 with a 3.73 ERA and 1980 strikeouts. He also served as the ace for all but 1977-78, as he was coming out of bullpen for relief work. Clearly that concept didn’t last too long. I’m not going to go into the Hall of Fame talk too much, but I’ll simply say that the Baseball Writers Association of America is pretty f---ed in the head for keeping him out. Grated, he did only win one World Series ring during his time in Detroit, but went on to win three more (one with the Twins, two with the Blue Jays). I think the saddest thing about Morris is that he never won the Cy Young. His best finish was third, losing out to Steve McCatty (Athletics) in second place and Rollie Fingers (Brewers) in the top spot. Go figure that Morris would get taken down by two guys who had played for the Athletics. Personal victory for me! Sorry Jack.

#20- This one was way more personal for me, but like I said, I did it with the intention of not getting another Tigers hat at the time. One of my all-time favorite players is someone who I never had the chance to see pitch live; however, was able to see video of years later. Mark Fidrych is a guy who I have pretty much idolized since the first time I saw his face grace an old issue of Rolling Stone from 1977, in which he was the first professional athlete to ever grace the cover. Fidrych played from 1976-1980, but was hampered by several injuries in short periods of time: torn knee cartilage, and rotator cuff tear, which he never had looked at or fixed throughout his career. I don’t want to go on too much about him, as I will do that in another post. But one thing I will say is that Fidrych was, and is still one of the most revered pitchers in Tigers history. Anyone who was alive to see him play still recount being at Tiger Stadium when he played in 1976. It was always dead silent when he threw, and a roar of applause when he got off the mound. The Bird, as he was dubbed in Lakeland by coaches because of his uncanny resemblance to Big Bird from Sesame Street, was also one of the most unusual figures in baseball. He’d always fill in the dirt in front of the rubber in between innings and had a carefree attitude wherever he went. Definitely a kind of guy who isn’t too far from myself, personality wise at least.

January 21- Minnesota Twins

If there was ever a team who struck gold with changing/introducing a new hat, hands down it has to be the 1987 Minnesota Twins*. Also, if there was ever a team who didn’t deserve to be hated, but for some reason I do, it’s the Minnesota Twins.

The Twinkies introduced this hat at the start of the 1987 season, kicking the long time favorite “TC” logo to the curb; which had been a staple of the organization since the Washington Senators were relocated in 1961. I’m honestly curious to know what the fan response to the hat/logo change was prior to the start of the season, especially considering that the Twins won the World Series in 1987 and 1991 while sporting this cap. For some reason, in my head, I can picture droves of fans booing the switch; almost comparing it an abomination to the team. In the same light I can also picture Carl Pohlad giving the fans the finger… with a World Series ring on each middle finger. My dreams are weird sometimes. Anyway, this is a constant, repetitive theme that I will be bringing up on my blog posts for the next 334 days, if you haven’t figured that out.

The “M” logo, in my opinion, is the best hat logo the team ever had. Keep in mind the team has only had four total hat styles. I’ve just always enjoyed. It has that special something, and a bit of bite to it considering the success the organization has had with it. Now, a very important detail that I must point out: I bought this hat in October of 2011. At the time my plan was to only have one hat from every organization, so I picked this one up off the Lids Web site for $16. Why so cheap? Here’s why…

When I had originally purchased this hat the 2010 Target Field patch didn’t bother me. Then, it showed up in the mail… and I’ve hated it ever since. When it comes to “on field” caps I prefer just the team logo and the MLB logo on the back. Patches on the side, with the exception on the New Era logo, have always been distracting to me; makes the hat too busy. Also, when starting my marking process, it makes these numbers a bit out of place when considering that this hat was used for one specific year, and should have been represented by an event or player(s) form that team. But like I said before, I was only planning on getting the one Twins hat, and went with the two guys who I most associated with my time really following the organization.

For some it’s hard to believe that my first conscious memory of baseball on TV is Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. I say this because I was three-years-old when it went down. The 1987 World Series I remember just as vividly. I can tell you every detail of my house in Stockton, California from where the TV sat to who was in the room and where they were sitting while we were watching it. With that, I chose the two most (personally) memorable figure from that squad.

#34- Kirby Puckett should receive no argument on any grounds. 1987 was his breakout year, posting .332/28/99 along with an American League leading 207 hits. Not too shabby for a guy hitting in the seven hole. Not only could dude pal hit, he was a Gold Glove lock in the outfield. For as short and pudgy as he was, the cat was a five-tool player if there ever was one. I should also point out that, as a four-year-old, I was very impressionable, and seeing a guy who looked like Kirby (plus the name) made it hard to resist now being a fan of his.But most important, his unfortunate injury sidelined what could have been an amazing addition to his career. Having only played 12 years, his stats were an obvious Hall of Fame lock: .318 lifetime average and 2304 hits. He would have easily gotten to 3000, and quite possibly 4000.

#16- This is the moment when I first realized how badass facial hair is. Frank Viola’s mustache was, and still is amazing. Sweet Music was the best starting pitcher the team had that season… and the next for that matter too, since he did win the AL Cy Young in ’88. His 17-10 season record was only closely matched by Bert Blyleven’s 15-12 record, and an equally as boss beard. Plus, even a 42-year-old Steve Carlton had to sit back an admire Viola’s dominance in the Series: 2-1 with 16 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.72. And oh yah, did I mention he was the World Series MVP? Viola that is, not his mustache.

*One thing that should also be pointed out when reading this post is that my girlfriend Angie Kinderman (@sconnieangie) is a huge Twins fan. She will rub this, and every positive thing I say about the Twins in my face. Lame. :(

January 11- Cedar Rapids Kernels

I find it kind of fitting that I’m sitting in a bar right now, writing this piece and enjoying a pint of Pabst Blue Ribbon and jamming out to The Clash. The library closed at 7 PM and I of course waited until the last minute to write it. Those are the breaks I suppose. Now, onto business.

I came across this hat in July of 2010 on the Lids Web site and immediately shouted in my head, “Daddy likes!!!” The Cedar Rapids Kernels introduced this hat in 2007 while they were still an affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, which they were from 1993-2012. During that stretch was the last time the Kernels attained a league championship in 1994. At the start of the upcoming 2013 season the Kernels with be the high-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.

I’m not really sure what is what that made this hat so attractive to me so quickly. For starters, I’ve always had a fondness for navy blue and green; yet at the same time, there’s just something amusing about an ear of corn in the shape of a baseball bat mean mugging people on the center of a cap.

#20- Picking out numbers to mark my cap with it became a bit of a challenge. The thing that’s consistent about high-A ball is that there is always a plethora of talent rolling through year after year. After all, you have to get your start somewhere. In the same breath; however, I had to stay between 2007 and the present. When searching through the Angels rosters over the last five years, I came across an unknown talent who may or may not have a decent career in the majors. He originally grew up in New Jersey and made his original debut during the 2011 season, but didn’t do so hot. The Angels moved him back to AAA and called him back up in late April of this last season. His number is 20 and I’m sure he’ll fall suit with being a solid franchise player like the other outfielders who came before him whose last names happened to be the name of a particular breed of fish. Maybe you’ve heard of him… Mike Trout. (Before you have to ask, yes, the last few sentences were oozing with sarcasm.)

Trout played two half-season with the Kernels, hitting .358 with six home runs, 39 RBI, 50 walks and 45 stolen bases. His OPS was .966. Even then, people knew how special this kid is.

For the other number, I decided to roll the dice with #33. This one is a bit more obscure. Back in 2001 there was a kid drafted in the 23^rd round (677^th overall) by the Minnesota Twins, which coincidentally his little brother was also selected by the Twins much earlier in the draft. He played for four seasons in the minors and was sidelined permanently after injuring his elbow. At the end of the 2005 season he accepted a coaching job and eventual managing job with the Gulf Coast Twins in 2008. During the two years he acted as skipper, the team finished in second place the first year and in first place the second year, combing for a record of 69-42. He then moved on to manage the Fort Meyers Miracle in 2010 where he was met with lesser success, posting a record of 64-74. Despite the bad run, this guy was promoted to manage the upcoming Kernels squad for the 2013 season. Oh, and in case you haven’t figured it out, this guy’s name is Jake Mauer, the older brother of Joe who was selected #1 in the 2001 draft.

So with that I have a little bit of the old and a little bit of the new as the Kernels transition into the Minnesota Twins era.