A handful of this year’s MLB batting practice caps (not to be confused with the spring training caps or clubhouse caps) appeared on a lifestyle website earlier this week. Now almost the entire set — for every team but the Mets — has appeared on ShopJustSports.com.
Update: The caps now appear to have been removed from that site. Fortunately, I downloaded the cap images:
National League East
National League Central
National League West
American League East
American League Central
American League West
———
A few notes:
- As I mentioned at the top of this article, for some reason the Mets’ version isn’t yet available (at least on this particular website).
- There are two Dodgers caps — presumably one home and one road.
- Speaking of the Dodgers, their caps appear to be the only ones with side patches.
- The Detroit cap feels like a road design. Maybe there’s a corresponding home version that’s not yet available..?
- It turns out that the Orioles mystery cap from last week is part of this product line.
- Oh man, that Phillies cap is too much. Kudos to whoever pulled the trigger on that.
- Many of the other designs are very nice. Not all of them, but most of them. Well done (or at least well-ish done), MLB.
(My thanks to Ken Bartelt and a reader who prefers to remain nameless for letting me know about these.)
It’s too bad they insisted on using that weird textured material on the BP caps. Some of these designs are fantastic and would look great with a standard wool or polyester cap.
Hard disagree from someone who has both played in this type of fabric (and wears it now in daily life). It’s so much better than the poly blend they use for game caps from a comfort perspective.
Agree for general comfort, disagree for amount of stretch. I have a fitted 21 Batting Practice Cardinals hat (the “stink eye” redbird) that just…won’t stretch the rest of the way I would like when my hair is long.
The 3930s in this material are an absolute dream, stoked to see so many great designs will be available this year. The trucker style was such a miss not only in design but construction and material
A lot of these are pretty good and could be worn as alternates and not look out of place on the field.
With a few exceptions, these are much nicer than the city connect caps.
I completely agree.
Always loved that A’s logo…although not sure why they went with a green elephant instead of white or grey.
Agreed, the elephant should be white, in keeping with history.
Oakland hat is excellent. I’d like to see it with a green brim and white or gold top.
Exactly. It’s like the designers never looked up the history of why they have an elephant mascot in the first place.
Sorry, meant that for someone else… the elephant needs to be white.
Detroit’s suuuuuuuuuuuucks! The Spring Training caps and clubhouse caps are pretty good. It’s like they ran out of ideas when they got to the BPs.
Detroit apparently likes to follow Cleveland’s lead (see their BP hat). Back in 1995 the Tigers added the racing stripes (up the sides and on shoulders) on their road uniforms. That is exactly what Cleveland had for several seasons (think Major League movie).
The striping for the Detroit cap seems to be based on their ’72-’84 doubleknit road jerseys:
link
It’s pretty rare to base a throwback cap design on a team’s old cuff trim.
It might be rare but if you’re a Tigers fan who has long wished that they’d go back to that general look for the aways it was instantly recognizable.
Respectfully disagree, I think the white stripe in the middle does exactly enough to make the navy and orange pop on the grey background. Not a bad use at all of the Tiger’s color scheme
All look pretty great. Would’ve liked to have seen Seattle go with the M’s in the ball logo, but overall looks like the blind squirrel has found a nut.
“the blind squirrel has found the nut” – PERFECT assessment!
The DC cap will go over well – a lot of Nats fans prefer it over the curly W and probably the block W.
Really? I can understand why the curly W might not be the most popular, but the bevelling on this is just so clunky. I mean, it’s clunky *anyway*, but with the limited amount of detail they can get with the cap embroidery it is barely even recognisable as bevelling. Makes it look downright ugly to my eye.
Most folks that live in the area, myself included, always always ALWAYS always refer to it as ‘DC’. No one ever says “Oh I’m heading into Washington today” or any other sentence that necessitates the use of the name of the city.
“How far from DC are you?”
“I lived in DC proper for a few years”
“Are you on the DC Beltway or the Baltimore Beltway?”
The DC logo has remained my favorite logo of the Nats since their inception. Any other W they’ve ever used can’t hold a candle to it, the Curly W honestly maybe being my LEAST favorite.
Fair. I suppose the issue then is that it’s a shame that the only “DC” logo available is such a mess.
100% true. Instead of telling people I’m from _____, Maryland, I say I’m from the DC area. It’s easier, and avoids any unnecessary conversation. I really do like the curly W, hate the new block W, and not a huge fan of the capitol dome W, but glad they’re using the DC logo again!
I’ll be one of those fans buying this cap.
I prefer the curly W, but the interlocking DC is better than the block W – unless the block W includes the Capital dome. I wish they’d added the DC silhouette along with the interlocking letters.
*IS* there a restriction on wearing these during the game?
“Oh man, that Phillies cap is too much. Kudos to whoever pulled the trigger on that.”
You mean, whoever copied the idea from the Mets. Mr. Met appeared on the Mets’ batting practice caps in 2015.
Looks like something kids 14 and under would receive at the ballpark for the Phanatic’s Birthday…another way of saying I don’t like this one.
And yet….I love it…
the Mr. Met spring/BP cap was great, it was a licensed team logo anyway… but to use the fluffy costumed mascot as your logo…it’s gotta be a special one. Bryce Harper putting the Phanatic on his shoes, bandanna, etc. probably has something to do with this.
80’s Giants logo is back!! YES!
Hmmmm. If they did away with the Clubhouse Collection, these would be decent. Frankly, its just too much being released all at once. The Phillies BP was a fun risk.
So much to like here! A personal favorite is the ’80s vintage Giants’ insignia. That was my all-time favorite home uniform of theirs.
I wonder if the Diamondbacks are transitioning to teal (really aqua or turquoise) as their primary color to go with black, and have red as a secondary color? Both this cap, which appears to have no red, and the new teal Spring Training cap, with limited red in the logo, both emphasize teal. I would embrace this. I thought it was a bad move when they dropped purple for red, leaving the color of a World Series winning team behind. Since teal was one of their original colors, I thought they should have just transitioned to teal over purple if they really wanted to abandon their purple. Why introduce a completely new color. There are enough red teams in MLB, so like I said I’d be all for teal being their primary color.
There’s nothing to wonder about. They’ve already unveiled this season’s uniforms and they are very teal heavy.
Yes, but red is still more prominent than teal.
Seems like a few teams on here (Phillies, Cards, Brewers, Jays) are using secondary or accent colors as the primary on these hats. BP and ST hats are a chance to do something different and get away from the main color scheme of the on-field uniforms. Dbacks are definitely pushing electric teal as their new accent color to go with the red and black. I like it aesthetically, though the red and sand of the mid 2000s seemed more “desert” to me
These are some great designs, I am impressed! The Phanari
…the Phanatic hat is going to be a huge hit in Philly.
Missed infinite regression opportunity – the Phanatic should be wearing the BP cap, not the standard headwear.
you have no idea how much I love this concept you have presented
Yes, love the infinite regression idea!
Or in the alternative, the Phanatic’s cap could have a plain block “P,” a la the dolphin’s helmet in the old Dolphins helmet logo.
That Phillies BP cap is going to fly off the shelves around here. Much love for the Pirates and White Sox designs as well. Not sure about some of the throwbacks; some work and some don’t. The Red Sox and Orioles do work, the Rangers and Giants could work (though the SF old wordmark will clash with the current wordmark), the Mariners and Rays don’t work.
A lot of these should be made in wool and see the field during the games as well.
Wish the Red Sox hat has the white B that the Spring Training hat has.
Also, yes, this is a merch dump, but it’s a merch dump done right: alternative caps with nice designs (by and large) that are actually connected to the team’s visual identity and colors.
I was thinking the exact same thing! The Sox wore an alternate red cap white a white B back in 1997, I’ve been waiting for them to bring it back for years. If it weren’t for the spring training patch on the side I’d definitely pick one up.
I see Detroit’s and Cleveland’s caps, and all I can think of is, “Look at my trucker hat!”
Swap the Rangers cap chassis with that of the Phils(& lose the mascot and go with the P) and viola!
The Guardians logo isn’t lid-worthy…pointy C is the way.
I LOVE the White Sox cap!!! Great job on that.
Love that the Giants cap uses the 80s logo I grew up with. Which is the uni my membership card is based on.
The Marlin’s pinstripes appear (to me at least) to make a huge, disproportionate fin. I cannot unsee it.
That Guardians alternate logo will never not be terrible
Completely agree. As a lifelong Tribe fan, I can’t get over how poor that “G-baseball” design is. It looks so amateurish, almost hand drawn. I hated it when it was released and I hate it now. I’ve been counting the days until they get rid of it. No question, Cleveland’s batting practice cap is the ugliest of the bunch.
The G-ball definitely tries too hard. And it violates one of the cornerstones of MLB logo design – the monogram initial isn’t the team nickname.
My friend commented that the Guardians logo looks like the log for a gas station, and now that’s all I can think about when I see it.
And just like that, they are now pulled off the Just Sports website. It seems like every site that was mentioned as having a link, the hats were removed. I almost pulled the trigger on Just Sports this morning in ordering a BP hat, but now it is gone. I would assume with all of the leaks in the wild and various sites having them and subsequently removing them, the release date has to be coming up in the next week or two along with the St. Patrick’s Day Caps. I know from my time working at Lids several years ago, we would typically get the new special event hats (any league) a few weeks early with an email that threatened us with immediate termination if we took photos and put them on social media, showed them to customers early, or sold them early, especially with New Era…they were supposed to remain boxed up in our backrooms with signs that had the shelf date on them. I wonder if some of these sites have gotten in trouble for selling or leaking them early.
Pretty nice overall- and I was happy to see Barrelman on the Brewers cap.
Red Sox need to pair that BP cap with the red alt-home jersey and make it a game cap. Also feel like New Era/MLB really stepped up the cap game this season. Clubhouse, Spring Training and BP caps all look great.
I would love to see the Sox adopt an actual alternate cap. Either red cap with blue bill or vice versa would be nice.
100% agree. Wear the red cap/blue bill on Sunday home games. Would be incredible.
Dying to see the Mets version now.
I guess I know what Phillies cap I’ll be buying . . .
At least half of these feel like fashion / retail hats, not something a professional team wears on the field, even in the context of them being BP hats.
MLB hat, wear the stylized initial(s) of your home city (or state). Anything else is bush league.
some of these are great. Phillies, Pirates, Reds, Brewers, A’s, Dback’s, Rays. If Mr. Met is on the Met’s, that could be a great one also. Too bad most won’t be seen on TV.
I actually really dig a ton of these.
I have to believe the Yankees will have a second cap for the road. I can’t picture them wearing white accents and something with pinstripes on the road, even if it’s just for BP. They usually bring out a similar cap with gray accents when they go this route.
Same deal with the Tigers — hard to see them wearing grey at home for BP.
Interesting that the Rockies and Marlins have pinstripes running up the cap perpendicular to the bottom hem, converging at the squatchee, which is the traditional way pinstripe fabric is used on a ballcap. Whereas the Twins have their cap pinstripes cut so that the pinstripes are parallel to the center seam on the front of the cap. Which is a style that wouldn’t work if all six cap panels had pinstripes, but for a two-panel contrast front, it’s a very nice effect, and one I don’t recall seeing before.
It’s also a good illustration of why the one significant flaw in the current Twins uniform set is the absence of pinstripes on the home uniforms. The Twins are a pinstripe team, and their current marks all look better on pins than on plain white.
Love the Stargell Stars on the Pirates cap.
C’mon, Rockies, you had the design in hand all along! Team Dinger! link
The Phillies, Brewers, and A’s knocked it out of the park, and the Diamondbacks are up near the top as well.
I wouldn’t mind the Tigers because I love the combination of blue and orange for sports uniforms. Unfortunately in this photo, it looks more like black than navy.
I wish I liked the Astros even a little bit, because the tequila sunrise is great.
I know you said other teams may have home and away hats, but the fact that there are two Dodgers hats shown just adds to the whole offseason rich-getting-richer vibe that has turned me from being sort of ambivalent about the Dodgers to outright hating them.
Odd the Red Sox didn’t change from the ST hat, if anyone wouldn’t change I would had figured the Yankees. D-backs have a solid hat. The collection looks all over the place. Guardians and tigers look like the ASG game from I think it was Cincinnati, some teams with pinstripes, looks like a little of this, a little of that.
The Cubs have been on fire with the hats recently, the old logo from the late 70s to the mid 90s is my favorite one, so glad they brought it back for this one
The Phillies, Pirates, Astros, and Rangers hats are fantastic.
The Giants logo brings back so many nostalgic memories from when I first started watching ball as a kid. I love it!
Never thought of this until now, but I think it’d be great if the Dodgers had red squatchees on all their caps. That would be really satisfying!
LOVE the Yankees cap!!!
A’s cap clearly intended to not reference Oakland in any way.
Since a lot of these are alternate logos or old logos, I’m guessing Mets will have the running Mr Met logo.
As a Rays fan l love ours. It’s cool to see the Devil Rays “TB” logo rendered in the current color scheme.
The design of the Mariners hat is awesome — or at least it would be if they didn’t use the absolute WORST hat logo in franchise history. That generic S should be banished to the trash heap for eternity.
Agreed. They have several excellent logos, but for some reason, this super lame “S” keeps popping up. It’s ugly.
Actually, now that I take another look at it, this looks like the 80’s “S” logo. Not the Seattle pilots S that seems to be on every Seattle alternate.
Avert your eyes children, the Mariners logo is naked!
Can’t wait to see the new fielding-practice hats, warming-up-in-the-bullpen hats, and hanging-around-the-batting-cage hats.
MLB, enough already.
The Angels are reminding us that they really need to go back to the navy caps with red brim.
I really love the hats and I would love more information on the. Thank you very much.
Its inevitable that a player instead of the Spring Training cap is seen wearing the Clubhouse…or the Batting…in a game on the field in AZ or FL…..
Really like a ton of these, especially (for once) the Yankees. I wonder if they have a road cap as well. Very curious to see.
Just got the Seattle low-pro 59/Fifty Spring Training hat in there mail yesterday. It looks sweet! Not liking the BP one at all. How long will that white crown stay ‘white?’
Red Sox are always pills when it comes to these kind of things. Can’t at least use the hanging Sox logo to make it just a little fun? And how many times do they have to do red crown white B to see that it looks awful?
As a Twins/Rockies fan I’m pretty sad. A few of the others are great, that’s A’s one and the Brewer Barrel man in particular. But the Rox vertical strips are awful. Looks like my hats when my kindergartner gets a hold of one with a sharpie. And the Twins one would be fine without the weird pinstripe panel, which matches none of their new uniforms. If they’d done the old M logo from when they did have pins that would’ve made sense. But the new “Marlins of the North” logo with pins? Huh? Also it’s just a bad logo.
Love the Rangers hat. Reminds me of Nolan Ryan.