To Cap It Off

 

 

 One of the things about being an old fogey is that you tend to “wax nostalgic,” whatever that means.

Things were so much better in the old days. Let me tell you, sometimes things were not so good.

My parents would tell me stories about having to quit school to get a job to help make ends meet around the house.  I know this is a golden oldie, but my dad told me that when he was 13 years old (this would be around 1930), he walked to Maryland from East Tennessee to look for a job.

I talked to an old-timer one time about the “old days,” and I asked him if he missed them. He said, “NO!  I don’t miss getting up in the middle of the night to go out and sit in an outhouse”.

So I appreciate people when they cut through the misty water colored memories of the past and let you know that some things are better now.

What got me thinking about this was this:

 

I read a lot of articles about baseball caps. I know, I party all the time.

 

I just like baseball caps, and I collect baseball caps. I have favorites.

I like the Boston Red Sox cap. It is simple and elegant. If it was good enough for Ted Williams, Yaz, and Mayday Malone, it is good enough for me. 

 

 

 

I like the blue New York Mets cap over the black ones they wore for a while. The cap is a homage to the Brooklyn Dodgers and The New York Giant-the hat is blue (Dodgers), and the emblem is orange (Giants).

 

 

 

I must say the world went back on its axis when the Milwaukee Brewers went back to their old “glove” hat. The glove is an M and B mushed together.

 

 

I love the Minnesota Twins TC (Twin Cities) cap. When I was a kid, The Twins were on TV a lot. They had Rod Carew, Tony Olivia, and Harmon Killibrew. There is only one thing a man named Harmon Killebrew could do: hit home runs.

 

 

 

 

 

My wife got me a Montreal Expos hat for Father’s Day last year. It always looked like a hat that was designed in Paris. I think the emblem stands for Montreal Expos Baseball, or it could be a dirty word written in French.

 

 

 

I read an article that said the 1973 Atlanta Braves hat, which features a small “a,”  is the best looking hat in Atlanta Braves history. 

It wasn’t.

The reasons had something to do with the 70s, which I lived through.  It wasn’t like walking to Maryland, but it was no day in the park.

As James Lileks points out, the 70s were sandwiched between landing on the Moon and the Space Shuttle. The only thing going on overhead was Skylab, which was also being worked on like a car parked in the backyard.

The country was in a “malaise” back then.  Our President, Jimmy Carter, said so.

We had disco, but, as you might have heard, disco sucks.  There were gas lines, but it wasn’t too bad around here in Georgia.  People got naked a lot. They ran through the streets without any clothes on.

 

It was called "Streaking" and even some members of my saintly class of 1977 went streaking.  I could name names, if I could remember them.  I just hope Ethel didn't look.

It had its good points. “Saturday Night Live” was funny. People didn’t go into a conniption if you told a joke. As far as I remember, nobody was ever canceled

Traffic in Atlanta still stunk, but Atlanta seemed smaller and, in some ways, nicer back in the 70s. 

I’m sure that’s my age showing.

The Braves teams stunk to high heavens back when they were wearing those hats. The only good thing that happened was when Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run in it.

You can keep that cap. I like the one the Braves wore when they won the World Series.