Checking the Minor League’s Cap Game

A look the best lids in the MiLB

Those of you who know me know I have a bit of a fitted (cap) fetish. I am particularly fond of Minor League Baseball caps, because nobody has more fun in modern sports branding than the minor league teams.

With that in mind (and admittedly jonesing a bit for pitchers and catchers to report), I decided to go through and highlight some of my favorite currently-available MiLB caps:

The Hillsboro Hops’ cap has a freaking hop on it. You can practically smell the piney, citrusey IPA just looking at it.

I don’t totally understand why the Eugene Emeralds cap features a gorilla eating a tree, but I’m sure it makes sense after a few vape hits.

The Frisco RoughRiders cap has Teddy Roosevelt grinning like he’s about to take out a hot dog. This hat is real America’s official response to “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.”

The Hartford Yard Goats sounds more like a Jack White side project, but this cap wins with an angry goat gnawing on a baseball bat. Then it scores bonus points for rocking a vintage Hartford Whalers-inspired color scheme.

I love the Pawtucket Red Sox home cap because it features what I’m fairly certain is a drunken Masshole bear heckling you.

In other bear-related caps, the South Bend Cubs do it right by sticking with the classics.

The Wilmington Blue Rocks have a moose who is either snorting angrily or doing a lot of cocaine. Can’t go wrong either way.

I am not totally sure what the motion lines around the guitar are all about, but pair it with some nice black and red and the Nashville Sounds cap gets the job done.

Behold the beautiful simplicity of the Syracuse Chiefs’ alternate cap. It’s clean, bold, and manages to avoid the fate of the Indians and others by not being hideously offensive to Native Americans.

The Greensboro Grasshoppers orange alternate cap stars what appears to be a five-tool insect who may or may not be taking some sort of PEDs.

Why is Uncle Sam giving a pervy wink? That’s the mystery at the heart of the Harrisburg Senators alternate cap.

The Fresno Grizzlies’ alternate identity, the Fresno Tacos, is sweet enough on its own. The zarape brim version really kicks it up a notch.

Also amazing, this Taco Truck cap from the Grizzlies. Check out the description:

You can’t talk Fresno without talking Triple-A baseball and taco trucks. Tacos and baseball are who we are, hence the slogan “we are what we eat” when the Fresno Tacos were first introduced to the world of Minor League Baseball prior to Taco Truck Throwdown 5 in August 2015. Fresno’s cultural heritage is intertwined very closely with fantastic Mexican food, and with the best taco trucks on Earth here in the Central Valley, it’s almost as if the die-hard fans of each truck are supporting their favorite baseball team.

It doesn’t get more classic than the Durham Bulls. The original all-blue was made legend by the movie, but I’m a fan of the old school pinwheel.

The El Paso Chihuahuas’ grey alternate cap, complete with Mexican red and green accents, works on every level.

As part of their “Smell the Change” initiative, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs wear a grey cap with a strip of bacon on it every Saturday. That is change you can believe in.

And speaking of things that taste delicious when wrapped in bacon, when you start with a name like the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, you’re already cooking with gas. This cap–featuring an angry shrimp–turns it up a notch.

Similarly, the Richmond Flying Squirrels have taken their name, run with it, and are soaring majestically.

But the even more impressive showing from Richmond is their Sunday Brunch cap, which wins massive points just for existing, not to mention featuring a waffle drenched in syrup.

The Albuquerque Isotopes’ cap wins because of its connection to The Simpsons, even if the design is a touch uninspired.

The Daytona Tortugas cap has an angry turtle swinging a baseball bat. Your argument is invalid.