Over the weekend, at least two different caps have begun circulating on social media, both with the same overall appearance. If legitimate, these caps will be worn during the MLB All-Star Game and/or associated events, which will be hosted this year by the Texas Rangers.
The two caps thus far spotted “in the wild” thus far are the Texas Rangers and the Pittsburgh Pirates. While the Texas cap is a 5950 (and thus likely official on-field), the Pirates cap is a snap-back, which features a partially mesh crown. But both are the same style, lending credence to their legitimacy.
TEXAS RANGERS
The bottom of the Rangers cap shows a price sticker and “Authentic Collection” hologram on the underside of the brim. A closer look shows that there’s a slightly darker red design on the underside of the brim that, among other things, depicts a three dimensional star graphic, which aligns with this year’s ASG logo.
The Rangers cap also appeared on a Dick’s Sporting Goods web page (it may have been taken down since then).
PITTSBURGH PIRATES
As you can see, the Pirates and Rangers caps follow the same stylistic pattern. Here are some additional views of that cap:
The view of the underside of the brim displays a similar pattern to the Rangers cap. A side view also shows the patch on the right side of the cap, which features the All-Star Game logo rendered in Pirates black and gold.
This, too, approximates the official ASG logo.
While it can’t be officially confirmed, it’s likely these will be worn for All-Star game activities. My source confirms the patch on the side of the cap aligns with what’s in the style guide, but specific caps haven’t been officially added to the guide yet.
As has been MLB’s practice the past several years, there will almost assuredly be two caps worn during the All-Star game week: the official game cap, and a secondary cap worn for other workouts and events, such as the Home Run Derby. The leaks shown here are likely the “workout” caps.
For reference, this is last year’s “workout” cap (you can see the design a bit more clearly here), which was distinct from the ASG game caps, which last year were seafoam for both squads.
[Thanks to Alan T (@Ashura96), joey🏴☠️ (@joeypacethe3rd) and eddie rodriguez (@eddieRDZ7) for alerting me to the leak]
UPDATE: Looks like the St. Louis cap has also been leaked.
Is it possible that the Pirates hat can be the workout cap and the Rangers hat is the official game cap?
Wow, did hats get expensive.
I was just gonna say. that is…something. and really makes me not want to buy any new caps.
luckily, I am not really in the market for any, but if I were…yeesh.
This is where I am too. I have all the hats I need but the prices have gotten out of hand.
Luckily I wear glasses and hearing aids, so there’s no room for a cap.
More so than pretty much everything else?
Truck-stop specials.
I want to hate it, but I can’t. I’ll probably end up picking up the Giants version.
$40 for an adjustable mesh back cap?! That’s crazy. No thanks.
$40 for the meshback, and the real deal is less than $10 more???
I don’t buy this merch, but as someone who owns several hundred caps, I greatly prefer adjustable to fitted. Definitely not a fan of trucker/mesh style tho.
Adjustable meshback caps are the best… although in colder weather I still like an adjustable wool cap.
My dream is to get or make a meshback Tastes Great cap from the old Less Filling/Tastes Great softball game.
link
New Era’s 5950s look ridiculous on most people. And the adjustable 950s look cheap. The mid-profile 3930s are their best, a comfortable flex fit cap.
Yeah, it always boggles my mind that people like wearing the new era caps. If flat-brim-with-tags/stickers-still-on is your style then it makes sense. But otherwise, it is far too structured and heavy to look good on people when worn in a traditional baseball cap style. I only go with ’47 franchise, or their mesh back variants for caps to be worn at the beach/pool. All of them are far too expensive these days, and the quality lacking.
And as someone with a 7 7/8 hat size, I can’t stand snapback hats. Of any type.
Does the embropidery on the Texas logo look sloppy to anyone?
Welcome to MLB merchandise production in 2024.
Are these needed? No. But…not a bad looking design. Has a 1970s look.
Man, I hate mesh hats. So cheap-looking. But the design itself works. Team colors, not too absurd-looking. I think the on-field hats are pretty nice.
Love the design, also under the bill. Best ASG hat style in years. I will wait for 10 years before I buy one in a vintage store (any team will be fine) for a couple of euros. 40 dollars for a trucker hat? No, thank you.
Yeah gotta say that’s a very nice design.
The unfinished stripe on the left side is irksome to me. They’re going for a shooting star look, I suppose? But wouldn’t that be better rendered to the reader’s right?
I’m thinking the design is based on the Texas state flag.
Waiting for MLB to start hawking On Deck caps and Warming Up in the Bullpen caps.
Someone from MLB could be reading this.
Don’t give them any ideas.
Honestly? I like them, I like how it draws attention to a teams colors and identity rather than making them all the same boring color
Damn, with tax over 50 bones for a cap, can’t disagree Mike Chamernik, Your spot on.
Munch I think you got it with TX state flag, Good call.
Honestly shocked that they’re in the team colors.
I was too, at first, but if they’re warmup caps then it’s consistent with previous years. The game caps will probably be some uniform shade of blue or red for both teams.
Billion Creation has another ASG design for this year, potentially the version to be worn in the game itself: link
These are fine, I guess. I would probably wear one if someone gave it to me but I ain’t paying for it. New Era’s quality went completely down the terlet like 10-15 years ago and from what I can tell, has not recovered.
The mesh caps look bad with the patch on the side. The other ones are fine.
Reminds me of those ugly white socks everyone had back in the day with 2 stripes at the top.
I’ll pass.
I really like these.
MLB is pumping out hats faster than ever it seems! Pretty soon we’ll get the father’s day hats as well!
They’re already out there!
link
Do they come in fitted? Adjustable hats never fit right and are a pain.
I love caps. I have a lot of caps. This may be too many caps. It feels like variation for variation’s sake. And yes, the prices are getting way out of hand.
Great! More Caps!
On top of the normal rotation, City Connect, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Military appreciation, Field of Dreams etc. etc. just how many caps will some of these players end up wearing in 1 season?
I really struggle to believe there is a market for this many caps year after year… My Giants cap from 1997 is still going strong, thank you very much but I’m obviously not the target marketplace here.
And at $50 a hat. I think the last fitted cap I purchased (before the Vid) was $28.99.
To amplify your example, the Mariners have the following hats in normal rotation:
1. Solid Blue (worn with Whites and Blue softball top)
2. Solid Blue with NW Green Bill (Worn with NW Green Softball Top)
3. Royal Blue (worn with the Sunday Creams)
4. Blue with Black Bill (worn with City Connects)
Specials:
1. Mother’s Day
2. Armed Forces Day
3. Father’s Day
4. 4th of July
5. ASG Hat(s)
At $50 a hat, the whole compliment would be a nice round $450 dollars. Almost enough to buy a week’s worth of groceries these days.