Exploring the Northwest League’s Six Most Exciting Baseball Caps
Full disclosure: This article may contain affiliate links. I make a small commission if you buy a product or hat from the Northwest League through those links. Think of it as buying me a hot dog at the ballpark — except it definitely pays less than a hot dog costs!
Welcome to the Northwest League, home of some of my absolute favorite hats in all of Minor League Baseball. The baseball cap designs in this league are exciting and different, and frankly each team has 2 or 3 hats that could have made this list. I’m already excited to swing back around to this league again in the future. But for now, let’s dive into my favorite hats from these six teams today. I make no guarantees that my opinion won’t change in an hour.
Introduction to the Northwest League
Sometimes known as the Northwestern League, this organization has been around since 1890, establishing its current iteration in 1955. The team has fluctuated between four, six, and eight teams throughout its life, with 22 different towns in the region hosting teams at one point or another.
The 6 current teams in this MiLB league are the Eugene Emeralds, Everett AquaSox, Hillsboro Hops, Spokane Indians, Tri-City Dust Devils, and the Vancouver Canadians.
Some of baseball’s biggest historical names once wore these team’s jerseys with eight former players in the Baseball Hall of Fame including Ken Griffey Jr, Reggie Jackson, Tony Gwynn, and Mike Piazza. Wildly enough, none of those eight players played for teams that still exist as part of the league.
However there are still a few notable names who played for Northwest League teams in existence now. Adam Jones spent time on the AquaSox. Kevin Pillar came through the Canadians, and Super Bowl winning NFL quarterback Russell Wilson was with the Dust Devils in 2010.
So every time you wear one of these hats, you’re wearing a tiny piece of baseball history. (Okay, maybe that’s a bit dramatic, but you get what I mean.)
And now? The hats!
Eugene Emeralds — Black Authentic Collection
Holy smokes, this hat. THIS HAT. With the plain black paneling, eyelet, and squatchee it leaves just the main event. BOOM — there’s Bigfoot. And not just any Bigfoot — this absolute unit is CHOMPING DOWN ON A PINE TREE. It’s great, its intimidating, its weird, it’s a great thing to wear on your head.
The green brim is a perfect accent to the overall piece. It’s like they knew exactly how much green (and what shade) to add without going full Kermit the Frog. The whole thing just screams “Pacific Northwest,” but in a way that’s more “cool local coffee shop” than “tourist trap gift shop.
Each detail is well framed through black and white stitching, and Bigfoot’s eyes are boring into the soul of whoever’s looking at this hat. What more could you ask for?
Everett AquaSox — Navy Authentic Collection
Okay, let me introduce you to Webbly the Tree Frog. This little guy is living his best life on this cap, catching baseballs WITH HIS TONGUE and wearing a different AquaSox hat while doing it! It’s like hat-ception, and I’m here for it.
According to longtime team broadcaster Pat Dillon, “The frog is a cross between a Pacific tree frog and a Central American red-eyed tree frog — and Brooks Robinson.” Brooks, of course was a legendary baseball player who…never played for Everett? The team owner at the time of Webbly’s creation apparently was just a huge fan. Sure, it’s Minor League Baseball, WHY NOT?! This is what MiLB mascots should be all about.
My only tiny beef? The light blue New Era logo matching only Webbly’s hat? Not it. Could’ve been green, could’ve been red, could’ve been white, all would’ve been fine. The Blue is off. But honestly? The hat’s so fun I barely notice anymore.
Hillsboro Hops — Navy Authentic Collection
It’s the second hat this week featuring a mascot wearing a different hat from their same team. THIS IS AN MILB HAT DESIGN CHOICE I LOVE. It lets me celebrate two hats at once, kind of. Not really, but I’m obsessed with this choice.
Okay, picture a hop. Now picture that hop playing baseball. That’s what’s happening on this hat, and it’s exactly as delightful as it sounds. Don’t let the image above fool you, the paneling and eyelets color is a Navy Blue, and it serves as a great backdrop to the hat. The light green accent throughout helps tie everything together nicely, however.
The navy background makes the whole thing pop, and there’s this light green accent that ties everything together nicely. However I have two gripes with this hat. First, the logo is a little too small. If it was scaled up by 20% or so, it would take up more space on the hat and be more legible to the eye. Right now some of the detailing is lost to the eye. Secondly? This may just be the lighting in the picture, but the brim and squatchee appear to be a slightly different green from the mascot and new era logo. If that’s not true when I see this hat in person? Quite possibly my top of the Northwest League.
Spokane Indians — Cafecitos de Spokane Yellow Copa de la Diversión
As someone who basically has coffee running through their veins at this point, this hat speaks to my soul. Now let’s address the elephant in the room; it’s YELLOW. Like, really yellow. Like “you can probably see this hat from space” yellow. And you know what? I absolutely love it. It’s a huge swing for the fences and the result is a hat I’ve truly never seen from any other team.
Sure, the yellow and orange primary colors make it kind of look like a rubber duck from certain angles, but you know what? Sometimes you need a hat that makes people smile. This is that hat. This hat will start conversations and celebrate a morning cup of joe. Totally fine.
As a bonus? The orange New Era logo is really fun. Underrated feature? It might just be a reflection off the flash of the camera, but the nose is a slightly different shade of white to stand it out. I love that. This hat rules.
Tri-City Dust Devils — Viñeros de Tri-City New Era Purple Copa De La Diversion
I’ve said it, I think, in maybe every article thus far, but let me say it again but louder for the people in the back: PURPLE HATS ARE UNDERRATED! This beauty pays tribute to the wine country workers who make Washington’s wine industry possible, and it does it with STYLE.
The deep purple base coloring on this 59FIFTY with the grape designs? Perfect. The absolute vibe of the mascot worker? A+. The bright green accents in the squatchee and eyelets tied through to the vine? excellent. I love this MiLB hat. I would wear this hat every day. This is a color scheme I would love to have on my head. You should as well!
Vancouver Canadians White Authentic Collection
I’m going to keep it real with you — most of the Canadians’ hats don’t exactly set my world on fire. BUT. This hat? It’s actually pretty solid.
They went all-in on the maple leaf design, pushing their regular logo to the side panel like it showed up late to the party. But you know what? It works. If you’re going to rep Canada, you might as well go full Canada, right?
While I probably won’t add this one to my personal collection, I totally get why people love it. It’s clean, it’s proud, and it knows exactly what it wants to be. Throw it on, belt out Oh, Canada. Why not?
Saying Goodbye to the Northwest League
I love these New Era hats, I love this league, and most of the teams in here have many fitted hats that could make my top list. This is one that will give your wallet some hurting if you’re collecting hats. Like I am.
I’m heading to Seattle to see the season opener for Gotham FC and Seattle Reign and now I’m worried I need to try and get some of these hats. Everett is only a 30 minutes drive from Seattle. Oh no. The Northwest League is joining my wall of hats.
What’s Next? The South Atlantic League!
Speaking of cool Minor League Baseball hats, next week we’re beginning a tour through the South Atlantic League starting with the North Division. For the second time since I kicked off this blog, I’ve found an MiLB league with an uneven number of teams between the two divisions of the league. Does anyone know what’s up with that? Please let me know in the comments.
