Ballcaps

I have done many posts concerning materialism over the years, and my struggles with the desire to own more than is healthy. It helps me to post about such things to 'enjoy them from afar.' My most recent struggle is baseball caps, or 'ballcaps.'

I've always enjoyed ballcaps, but they've become increasingly important as I go bald. Pale-complected balding men should wear hats outside. For sustained sun exposure, I defer to a wide-brimmed hat, but for typical days, the ballcap works just fine.

I don't normally pay much attention to fashion, but I am oddly drawn to make sure the ballcap I'm wearing matches my outfit. As such, I own a handful today in different colors. Generally, I defer to caps that depict logos from my favorite teams (Eagles, Penn State, Orioles, Flames, Spurs). But sometimes I choose a cap based on logo or color- I own a Flyers hat, for example, because it is bright orange and good for visibility in my treks through the local forests. 

At this point, I own enough hats. I have one for each favorite team except the Spurs (I'd like one, but I'm waiting for one with a design I like). But there are a number of other hats that I have my eye on, and I post about them here to enjoy them without owning them. Here are a few, organized by league:

Minor League Baseball

I like Teddy Roosevelt and S'mores, and believe it or not, there are minor league teams with these as mascots. The Frisco Roughriders and Rocky Mountain Vibes:

There are other amusing Minor League logos, to include a strip of bacon. My favorite hat brand, 47, has a number for sale on their website. 

Major League Baseball

Since (to my knowledge) the MLB is where the ballcap style originated, I enjoy many MLB caps. (I blogged about some favorite logos here.) In addition to what I posted there, there are others I enjoy. Like the San Diego Padres (I like their brown & yellow color scheme), the Milwaukee Brewers (logo is classic; I have a version with a yellow front panel that I love), the Detroit Tigers (classic cap- too bad they're in Detroit), and an old version of the Seattle Mariners (I've never once seen them wear this, but the trident looks cool).

47 Brand has a ton of variant MLB caps, like their Cooperstown collection.

National Basketball Association

I'm still searching for that 'perfect' Spurs cap, but I like other NBA teams, too. I enjoy logos that combine concepts- the Philadelphia 76ers cap, for example, is a great nod to both the team and our country. The Phoenix Suns hat looks like an advertisement for basketball in general, and it's purple to boot. The Milwaukee Bucks cap appears suited for hunters. The Spurs cap below is okay but still not what I'm looking for. Finally, The Utah Jazz is fun as it combines music with sport.

National Football League

I own three Eagles hats. I don't need more. But there are some fun NFL logos and colors, especially when you explore the legacy logos on 47's website. The old logos for the Buccaneers, Oilers [now the Titans], and Dolphins certainly were interesting. Finally, I once saw a "FD NY PD" hat, with the NY in the style of the New York Giants, shortly after 9/11. I couldn't find a picture of a ballcap with that on it, but saw a beanie with the same concept. That was a nice nod to the police and firefighters.

Military

I'll conclude with a cap based on the US military WWII roundel:

Nice! 

There are many cool hats out there, but I have only one head, so I don't need them all. It's fun to enjoy them from afar.

CCG

As one who looks forward, there's much I can't recall about my childhood.  Something that has remained with me, though, is my enjoyment of Collectible Card Games (CCGs).  I've played them for over half of my life; this is my CCG story (I explained the concept and appeal in an earlier post here).

The dust settles long after we fly down the country road.  Our 4-mile bike ride ends on a short stretch of [what passes for] a busy road in Lancaster county, and my best friend ("Justin") and I walk into the comic book store with an undisguised eagerness seldom seen outside of youth.  It's the summer of 1995.  Tales of the Jedi issues line the shelves, heralding the arrival of Star Wars as a major comic force.  In another section, several Magic the Gathering expansions are readily available.  They look enticing . . . as the world's first CCG, Magic was the introduction for many to the genre.  We buy a starter deck . . . and soon after we're hooked.

Justin and I returned to that store many times over the summer months to pick up a 'pack here and there' of Magic cards.  My favorite expansions at the time were Unlimited, Ice Age, and Chronicles.  We had no idea what we were doing, of course.  We knew the rules- mostly- but the subtleties didn't click, and my top desires were those giant creatures, often green (see example at right).  Out of ignorance, we disdained the powerful cards we had like Moxes (that, today, sell for thousands of dollars) in favor of these green commons.  Our decks weren't great . . . but we had fun, and that was the point.

Like many fads I experienced in my youth, our Magic craze fizzled over time, and I eventually gave away or pitched my cards (I shudder to think about the modern value that may have ended up in the trash).  But I wasn't done with CCGs quite yet.  My brother and I played Star Trek CCG a tad, and many others were on the horizon.

In the mid-late '90s, I dabbled in a market glutted with new CCG products based on Magic's success.  Anything and everything* got a CCG at that time- it was the golden age for the genre.  I even dabbled in the 'Christian' card game, Redemption.  But college beckoned, budgets tightened, and I put gaming on pause- for a few years, anyway.

In 2002, I stumbled across a website that was selling the Star Wars CCG on clearance.  Booster boxes that cost $70+ were going for $10-$20.  I took the bait . . . and was back in a big way (by 'big' I mean 'expensive').  I found a friend at college who enjoyed the game, and we played every Sunday.  Like with Magic, I didn't have (or try to have) top-tier decks . . . but again, we had fun.  Those game days stopped at graduation- but I wasn't done yet.

2004 saw me get back into Magic and dabble in others like Lord of the Rings CCG.  Again, other things took priority, and again (foolishly) I sold my cards.  See a pattern here?  Not the brightest bulb.  Around this time I also got into Star Wars Miniatures- a miniaturized collectible game in the vein of CCGs.

In 2008, I lived in Germany and ended up meeting friends who had all played Magic at some point.  I was back in for a third time; this time, it was for good.  I also collected and played Star Wars Miniatures and Vs. System a good deal with that crowd.

Throughout my gaming days, I've been tempted by other CCGs (living or 'dead' (no longer produced)), but few have the player pool or corporate support of Magic.  The dead ones in particular are often quite expensive (due to scarcity, not quality), and are best left alone.  Reflecting back, it's shameful how many different ones I tried (see below chart for unnecessary detail).

Like any hobby, CCGs are fun but need limits to enjoy them in a healthy manner.  The money and time they can consume is breathtaking; in hindsight, I shouldn't have cast my net so wide, nor so rashly given up collections to the few games I did like.  My current system is to keep a small collection of the four I enjoy the most (Magic, Star Wars Miniatures, Vs. System, and Star Wars CCG), and sell the expensive cards to make the hobby somewhat self-sustaining.  It's worked well, and I *think* I've finally got it down.  It just took me 20 years.

*For a list of CCGs, see here.  Boardgamegeek ranks all customizable games here.

Scrye Collectible Card Game Checklist & Price Guide (Various)

Collectible Card Games (CCGs) hold a special place in my heart (see here).  I've enjoyed them since their inception in 1993, when Magic: The Gathering was released; it created (and heavily influenced) the CCG genre.  When Magic's popularity soared, companies were quick to follow suit and design/release their own CCGs; over the years, hundreds of games have been released (though the CCG flood of 1995 soon crashed).  In 2003, Scrye (who issued regular CCG-themed magazines) released its second edition of Collectible Card Game Checklist & Price Guide, which covered every CCG released to that time.

The book covers a lot of territory.  Its initial contents:
- A brief history of CCGs
- An introduction to the genre (by defining it)
- A guide to estimate your collection's value
- Full-color examples of each CCG covered in the book
- Tips for organizing your collection

A lot of good stuff, but the meat of the book is the checklist and price guide it includes for CCGs.  Listed alphabetically, each game gets an introduction/description, rating in four categories (concept, gameplay, card art, player pool), and checklist (with associated price) for all cards produced for that game until 2003.  Cards are listed by expansion.  Over 150 CCGs and 550 expansions are covered here, as shown in the picture below.

This book is fun for reference and reflection.  I owned it before, and decided to pick up a used copy for fun.  The prices- now 13 years old- are obviously worthless, the information can be dated (obviously, nothing after 2003 is covered, and the 'player pool' rating is no longer accurate), the game descriptions vary wildly (some go over actual game play, others just cover themes and critical reception), and most checklists can be had online in a more usable, accessible format.  Despite these shortcomings, it's a nice trip down memory lane . . . the historical aspect is interesting, and it is shocking to see the number of games that game out in the mid-90s during the CCG heyday:

Most of these games are now 'dead,' meaning they're no longer produced or supported.  But some mainstays remain, including the three most popular from the era: Magic, Pokemon, and Yu-Gi-Oh!

Paging through this book, I had forgotten just how many things received "CCG treatment."  Every theme under the sun is explored, and generally a game could be categorized based on fantasy, sport, religion, sci-fi, history, and pop culture (movie/TV/book) themes.  Some games are expected- franchises like Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and so on.  But some are not- Pez (yes, the candy company) made a CCG, as did Survivor (the TV show), Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, Looney Tunes, and all major sports (to include Professional Wrestling).  There were even three Christian games and one adult-oriented (yes, sexually-focused) offering!  Crazy times.

I've played 15 CCGs over the years (I still maintain collections for 3).  While I enjoyed this work, I probably won't keep it on my shelf.  Seeing these old games triggers nostalgia and tempts me to pursue them.  Games I've already played, I'm tempted to buy again.  Games I've never played, I'm tempted to pursue- games like Wheel of Time, Warlords, Quest for the Grail, Middle-Earth, Lord of the Rings, Wyvern, and Vampire.  These games are dead for a reason- they were either no good, had run their course, or had no player pool to support them.  Collecting can be fun, but is ultimately futile- a lesson I learned last year, and I don't want to fall back into it.  And so, I'll enjoy these dead CCGs from afar.  They're expensive to obtain, anyway- due to scarcity, and not (necessarily) quality.

Rating: B+

MLB Logos

No major American sports league is older than Major League Baseball (MLB).  Eight of its thirty current franchises were founded by 1883, and sixteen were in place by 1903- only some European soccer clubs can match in longevity.  Baseball is well-ingrained in the American culture; movies like Field of Dreams reflect what the sport means to many.  For years it was the American mainstay; the last thirty years has seen it lose the top spot to football (NFL) and it vies with basketball (NBA) for number two, but almost half of Americans still identify themselves as fans (sources here, here, here, and here).

Personally, baseball is the first sport I remember following.  My memories begin in the late '80s, when I cheered for the Baltimore Orioles (historically bad at the time) and Philadelphia Phillies (not much better).  In that pre-Internet age (remember that?), I eagerly awaited the daily paper for scores and statistics- if I hadn't caught them on ESPN's wonderful but maddening score ticker (they'd always cut to commercial before my teams came up).  I enjoyed hearing grandpa's stories about the league from his time (1920s-on).  He'd talk about following the games on radio, taking the train to see the Phillies (in Connie Mack Stadium at the time), and the joy the sport brought to a boy of his era.  While other sports can be more exciting to watch, baseball retains a place in my heart as that historic mainstay, and watching gives me- perhaps oddly- a sense of tranquility I don't experience in other events.  A day at the Yard (Oriole Park at Camden Yards) is always a good one.

As many did, I collected baseball cards.  Sternly warned by my elders to keep them, I heard frequent stories about fortunes lost when ignorant moms threw away their own childhood collections.  We all heeded their advice and kept our collections safe; they're worth nothing today as a result.  I've since unloaded most of mine, retaining only my significant Cal Ripken collection, a handful of Mike Schmidt cards (my other favorite player), and a smattering of others from the time.

Baseball uniforms (and caps) often feature a clean design (many saturated with heritage) that I find extremely appealing.  And that's why I'm posting today- this is another entry in my 'enjoy from afar' series, where I digitally reflect on things I like to keep from physically buying them.  In moments of weakness, a dozen MLB team caps tempt me and beckon purchase . . . but as that's foolish, I'll end by displaying teams (and logos) I enjoy instead.

1. Baltimore Orioles

The only team I've consistently liked through the years, the Orioles are my number one, though the rest of the league has agreed only three times (1966, 70, and 83).  My favorite logo is the original cartoon bird (1966-88), though the recent cartoon bird (2012-present) is far superior to their prior 'naturally correct' logos (1989-2011).  Check out their uniform/logo history here.

My favorite player was Cal Ripken.  Baseball's "Iron Man" played in over 2100 consecutive games- a feat unlikely to be equaled or surpassed.  The Ripken name played a big part in Oriole affairs, with Cal's dad as manager and brother as fellow infielder.

After the late '80s ineptitude, the O's got better in the mid-late '90s, with several quality teams.  I fondly remember their quality infield (Rafael Palmeiro, Roberto Alomar, Mike Bordick, Ripken), outfielders (BJ Surhoff and Brady Anderson were favorites), and a few good pitchers (Mike Mussina and Scott Erickson were faves).   After ~15 more years of hardship, O's fans have reason to celebrate the last few resurgent years, where the team is again competitive (and won the division last year).

2. Philadelphia Phillies

I really miss the 1989 Philles.  I don't know why; they were horrible.  But those maroon and pinstripe  (or powder blue) duds of the '70s and '80s rocked, and watching Mike Schmidt, Lenny Dykstra, John Kruk, Juan Samuel, Von Hayes, and Darren Daulton play are cherished memories.  For some reason, Steve Jeltz- who had a horrible career- also stands out, perhaps because I witnessed him hit a home run (which happened only 5 times in his career).

In recent days, I've been a fair weather Phillies fan.  I was glad they won the 2008 World Series, and as a pitching lover, I couldn't help but root for their rotation of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels in the '10s.  They're currently horrible, though, and I really don't care- which shows my colors.  Maybe I'll change my mind if they bring back the maroon and powder blue.

3. Other iconic teams (to me)

With MLB steeped in history, it's hard to single out teams- so many have rich heritages.  I'll do it anyway, though, because I, for whatever reason, love some and despise others.  I admit, some of the fondness (or vitriol) is based on their logos, uniforms, or color schemes.  Yes, I'm petty.  Some feelings are more justified, though- I tend to root for the underdogs and oppose the heavy spenders in the only major sport without a salary cap.

Atlanta Braves
I loved the Braves pitching in the '90s.  Greg Maddux is one of my all-time favorite hurlers; Tom Glavine and John Smoltz are now with him in Cooperstown.

Chicago Cubs
Infamous for their ineptitude (no championships since 1908), the Cubs have an iconic look I can't help but enjoy.  Two former Orioles- Jake Arrieta and Jason Hammel- make cheering for them easy.

Boston Red Sox
Normally big spenders, I had no love for the Red Sox until they came back from 3 games down in the 2004 playoffs to beat the Yankees (my most hated team).  I couldn't help but root for them to get the title that year (which they did- their first since 1918).  They've since won two more.

St. Louis Cardinals
I love their jerseys, hats, and color scheme.  I don't mind when they win it all, which they've done twice recently.

Kansas City Royals
A recent favorite, I feel obliged to cheer for this small-market, long-suffering club.  They look postured to win big this year.  Former Orioles pitcher Jeremy Guthrie may help them get there.

Houston Astros
I don't know one player on their roster, but I'm really digging their new uniforms, and they're winning in spite of a small market.  Love it!

Oakland A's
Something about that dark green and bright yellow color scheme really appeals to me.

NFL Logos

As I posted last year (here), sometimes writing about things I like helps quench my desire to own those things- especially in the arena of sports jerseys.  Jerseys can be expensive, and let's face it; I rarely wear them.  Thus, I shouldn't own many . . . but since I like them so much, I'll blog about them.  Today's post focuses on National Football League (NFL) teams- the only two worth supporting.

1. Philadelphia Eagles

The top spot here is easy: my favorite football team, the Philadelphia Eagles.  I like their older jerseys (worn 1987-95) the best (the last two rows below), but their current ones aren't bad, either.  RUMOR: they may return to their color scheme of old (article here) . . . here's hoping!

2. Baltimore Ravens

I like the Ravens for several reasons: they're local, they wear purple, and they're named for a poem (Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven).