Happy New Year

1929 Eat Raisin Pie Co.

I don't know much about this cap other than it is from 1929 and originally listed in the Semi-Pro Category.

I couldn't find any history of the company or team.  If you know anything let me know. Still a fine unique cap.

Looking forward to a great new year.

The Natural

1939 New York Knights

Both the novel (1952) by Bernard Malamud and movie (1984) directed by Barry Levinson tell the mythical story of Roy Hobbs, although with very different endings.

The story is based on the real life shooting of Eddie Waitkus at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago in 1949.

Book:

Movie:

1908 St. Louis Browns - Part 3

1908 St. Louis Browns (R)



The most memorable moment in Brown's history occurred on August 19, 1951 when the Brown's sent up Eddie Gaedel to the plate in the second game of a double header.  Memorable because Eddie was only 3 feet 7 inches tall, the shortest player in major league baseball history.



Eddie walked on 4 pitches from the Detroit Tiger's Bob Cain and was then replaced by a pinch runner Jim Delsing.

Eddie was ordered by Brown's eccentric owner Bill Veeck not take the bat off his shoulder. 

Eddie Gaedel's Uniform

The following day American League president Will Harridge cancelled Eddie's contract. Eddie finished his career with a 1.000 on base percentage. 

Read about the interesting life of Bill Veeck:

1908 St. Louis Browns - Part 2

1908 St. Louis Browns (R)

Here is a good view of the 8-panels of this cap.

The Browns won their one and only pennant in 1944. They played and lost to their inner city rivals the Cardinals in 6 games.  It was the last World Series palyed entirely in the same stadium, Sportsman's Park.

1908 St. Louis Browns - Part 1

1908 St. Louis Browns (R)

The St. Louis Browns began play in 1902 after the Milwaukee Brewers moved to St. Louis after the inaugural season of the American League.  The Browns played in Sportsman's Park from 1902 until 1953 when the team moved to Baltimore where it remains today.  The Browns "borrowed" their name from the St. Louis Browns of the 1880's that eventually became the modern day Cardinals.

This cap is an 8-panel cap unlike the more common 6-panel caps we see today.

More Pictures to come.

Another Yellow Cap

1974 San Diego Padres

The San Diego Padres came into the National League  in 1969.  McDonald's co-founder Ray Kroc purchased the team in 1974.   San Diego had a Pacific Coast League team since 1936 prior to joining the NL.

The team name "Padres" is Spanish for fathers and refers to the Spanish Franciscan friars who founded the city of San Diego.

Chico's Bail Bonds

1976 Bad News Bears

1976 movie about a bunch of little league misfits and their alcoholic coach Buttermaker.

Classic.

Brewers Make Central Race Interesting

1970 Milwaukee Brewers

Brewers trade for former Cy Young Award winner Zach Greinke. With the earlier addition of Shaun Marcum the Brewers should compete with the Reds and Cards for the Central Division this year.

Cap History Card Series #7

1915 Boston Braves

#7 of 106

1955 Brooklyn Dodgers - Great Teams Week #5

1955 Brooklyn Dodgers

After losing the World Series to the New York Yankees in 1941, 1947, 1949, 1952, and 1953 the Dodgers "Next Year" finally arrived beating the Yankees in seven games to capture their first championship. The Boys of Summer included Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Gil Hodges, Roy Campenella, Don Newcombe, Johnny Podres and Carl Erskine. The celebration, a long time in the waiting, was short lived as the Dodgers lost to the Yankees in 1956 and moved the team out to L.A. in 1958.

One of the greatest baseball books of all time:

1934 St. Louis Cardinals - Great Teams Week #4

1934 St. Louis Cardinals (H)

The 1934 Cardinals, affectionately known as the Gashouse Gang, won the National League by two games over the New York Giants.  This rag tag team was managed by Frankie Frisch, the Fordham Flash, and  included Joe "Ducky" Medwick, Leo "The Lip" Durocher, "Pepper" Martin, "Dizzy" Dean  and his brother Paul Dean, "Ripper Collins,  and the last remaining legal Spitball tosser Burleigh Grimes.

They went on to win the World Series by beating the Detroit Tigers in seven games. The player/manager of the Tigers was Mickey Cochrane who played with the 1929 Philadelphia A's.   

One of the best books written about the 1934 Cardinal season and the "Gashouse Gang":

1929 Philadelphia Athletics - Great Teams Week #3

1929 Philadelphia Athletics (R)

The 1929 Philadelphia Athletics won the first of three consecutive pennants and back to back World Series championships in 1929 and 1930.  Lead by long time manager and owner Connie Mack this team had for future hall of famers in their line up - Mickey Cochrane, Al Simmons, Jimmie Fox, and Lefty Grove as well as two hall of famers on the bench Eddie Collins and Joe Cronin.  The 1929 team won 104 games and beat the Chicago Cubs in the World Series. 

A great Sports Illustrated article on the 1929-1931 A's was written by William Nack: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1008586/index.htm

Great history of the Philadelphia Athletics:

Great biography of the legendary Connie Mack:

1914 Boston Braves - Great Teams Week #2

1914 Boston Braves (H)

Know as the "Miracle Braves" the 1914 Braves came from last place on July 4th to win the National League Pennant.  In early July they were 26-40 and ended 94-59, 10 1/2 games ahead of second place New York.  They swept the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1914 World Series. 

Unlike the 1908 Cubs there is very little written about the "Miracle Braves". 

There are a few chapters in this book about the 1914 Braves' season from their Hall of Fame shortstop, Rabbit Maranville, as well as many great anecdotes from his career.

1908 Chicago Cubs - Great Teams Week #1

1908 Chicago Cubs (H) 

Probably the most studied and written about season in baseball history. The Cubs edged the New York Giants by one game to take the National League and went on to defeat Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers to capture their 2nd consecutive and, to this date, last World Series.

The most controversial game of the season and possibly one of the most controversial games in baseball history occurred  on September 23, 1908.  Fred Merkle's base running blunder opened the door for the Cubs and forever tarnished his name.   

Here are some of the better books I've read about this season.

Great recap of 1908 from the newpapers of the day.





And finally listen to Fred Snodgrass retell his eyewitness account of the Merkle game.

Cap History Card Series #6

1909 Boston Doves

#6 of 106

Cap History Card Series #5

1902 Boston Beaneaters

#5 of 106

Ron Santo 1940-2010

1914 Chicago Cubs (R)

Listening to the Cubs on the radio will never be the same. 

Open Up the Checkbook!

1917 Boston Red Sox

Native American Baseball Games at Bison Meadows

1928 Crow Nation

1996 Catalog Cover

by Richard Merkin

Cap History Card Series #4

Boston Braves(28)/Bees(40-43)

#4 of 106

Topeka, KS - Minor League Week #5

1951 Topeka Owls

The Owls played in the Class C Western League from 1939 to 1942 and 1946 to 1954.



Chattanooga, TN - Minor League Week #4

1930 Chattanooga Lookouts

The Lookouts, named after the nearby Lookout Mountain, are a AA team currently playing in the Southern League. The Lookouts began play back in 1885 and have had the same nickname since 1909.

Salt Lake City, UT - Minor League Week #3

1949 Salt Lake City Bees

First Pacific Coast League team to play in Utah. The Bee's nickname is said to be a reference to a symbol in the Mormon church. A minor league team has played in Salt Lake City off and on since 1915 and continues to host a team today.

Fon Du Lac, WI - Minor League Week #2

1948 Fon Du Lac Panthers

The Fond du Lac Panthers minor league baseball team played between 1940 and 1953 in  the Wisconsin State League.  The Wisconsin State League was a Class D league composing of treams from Appleton, Green Bay, Sheboygan, La Crosse, and Wisconsin Rapids.

Elmira, NY- Minor League Week #1

1938 Elmira Pioneers

Elmira has a long history of professional baseball dating back to 1885.  It currently has a New York Collegiate Summer League team also named the Pioneers. 

Trans-Caribbean Baseball League Part III

1935 Panama Flash

Have a great Thanksgiving.

Trans-Caribbean Baseball League Part II

1935 Havana Bananas

Trans-Caribbean Baseball League

1935 Port Au Prince Skulls

1995 Catalog Cover

Marie L'Overture by Richard Merkin

2nd Baseman (or should I say 2nd Basewoman) for the Port au Prince Skulls of the outlaw Trans-Caribbean Baseball League.

Cap History Card Series #3

                                           1938 Brooklyn Dodgers

#3 0f 106

Managers of the Year

                                        1972 San Diego Padres (Road)

Congratulations to Padres manager Bud Black the National League Manager of the Year and Twins manager Ron Gardenhire the American League Manager of the Year.

NL Cy Young

                                           1935 Philadelphia Phillies

Congratulations to Roy Halladay 2010 NL Cy Young.
Sorry Felix, no Seattle cap (yet).

AL R.O.Y.

1983 Texas Rangers

Congratulations to the Texas Ranger's Neftali Feliz  American League Rookie of the Year.



NL R.O.Y.

                                               1965 San Fransisco Giants

Congratulations to the Giants' Buster Posey and to the 2010 World Champions.

Maybe they should break out these uni's next year:

                                                        1906 New York Giants

Sing Sing

                                   1936 Ossining Sing Sing Prisoners

The MWL on the cap stands for "Mutual Welfare League". Created by Thomas Mott Osborne, warden of Sing Sing prison in Ossining, New York. He established a system of internal self-rule called the "Mutual Welfare League" within the prison and quickly won enthusiastic support from both guards and prisoners

There is a great chaper in Harold Seymour's The People's Game Volume 3 titled Baseball Breaks into Prison.

1994 Catalog Cover

                                                       by Richard Merkin

Featuring the cap of the Sing Sing Prison Guards, 1938.