My Sports Tees And Miscellaneous Caps, Part 7

With all that's going on related to my cancer, things are kinda tough, including with this blog. But last night I finally got a picture of EVERY baseball cap I own! (For now. Some are quite old and have sweat stains so it may be time for them to go, and there's a Phillies cap or two I'd like to buy if they're available/the right price.)

And so I present the final batch of caps...followed by some cool throwback t-shirts I got recently...

OMG! A 76ers cap! And the 1997 Flyers Eastern Conference Championship. That was a fun ride. Until it wasn't. #chokingsituation

Baltimore Orioles giveaway from a game in 2002, some time when I gave money to Human Rights Campaign (something I'll never do again), and from the golden days of Outsports.

These tees are from Shibe Vintage Sports, and I love them! There are a few more I hope to get soon.

Except for the above, which also comes in red for the Vet's other main tenant, so far I've got some long-gone teams...

Note: this pic is from the Shibe website. My pic turned out a brown color(????) The Bell, from something called the World Football League, looked like a success story when they initially drew over 50,000 to JFK Stadium. Turns out they gave most of the tickets away. It killed the team. The WFL soon followed.

The Star were able to play at the Vet because USFL played their games in the spring. And they won a chapmionship! (See, Eagles, it IS possible!) Then this happened. The Stars were forced to move to Baltimore until the league was killed. #NeverTrump

The Blazers played here for one year before moving. They were from the WHA, the league that the NHL eventually took some teams from. Not the Blazers, of course. The NHL did get a team from Edmonton. Had a kid named Gretzky. Whatever happened to him?

Before Oakland, before Kansas City, they were the Philadelphia Athletics. And look at this list of championships won while they were here (before things went sour and they...you get the idea.)

World Series titles: 1910 1911 1913 1929 1930
AL Pennants: 1902 1905 1910 1911 1913 1914 1929 1930 1931

Phillies? Any comment?

The Firebirds were a minor league hockey team that played at the long-gone Civic Center (fun fact: the building's gone but Civic Center Boulevard keeps the name to this day!) I was at their final home game in 1979 before they moved to Syracuse. Someone outside handed out fliers asking fans to chant "Keep the Birds in Philly!" midway through the 2nd period. The result: dead silence. #ByeFelicia

My Sports Tees And Miscellaneous Caps, Part 6

Surprise! NOT about movies! NOT about disco! NOT even about cancer! It's more shirts and caps, in photos mostly taken months ago!

Let's start with the Phils, since they're in season -- and doing surprisingly well! Most of these I got from the clearance racks. First one is actually not a t-shirt.

Some from the recent glory days...

Two from 2008 -- one official, one not...

My Sports Tees And Miscellaneous Caps, Part 5

Two more caps, then four t-shirts -- one from each team, in part for reasons explained below.

On the left is a Camden Riversharks hat I bought last week at a game for $5. They may not be in Camden next year. The cap on the right is pretty self-explanatory.

Also self-explanatory. Took me a while to find one for sale at a good price, though.

Because the NFL has returned, I resume my wearing of an Eagles shirt on game days (I've had this particular shirt for quite a few years). Didn't work out so well last night. That was a really pathetic performance in so many ways, in a game that was very winnable.

A giveaway that's become a regular thing, The home opener (barring unusual circumstances such as a world championship) is a 3:05 pm start on a weekday. After a day off (in case it rains on Opening Day) the next game is often designated "Opening Night" and a t-shirt is given out. Of course, they aren't commemorating pennants now...

One of the few 76ers items I own, bought from the clearance rack at Modells some time ago. Sadly, Moses Malone just passed away. What a rare feat: he was acquired to put the Sixers over the top and win a championship, and he did it in his first season. Even Pete Rose's first Phillies team, in 1979, missed the playoffs before winning it all in 1980. Rest in peace, Moses, and thank you.

My Sports Tees And Miscellaneous Caps, Part 4.5

Not Part 5 because it's so short. On Friday I celebrated my final radiation treatment with a Phillies ticket via StubHub, behind the visitors' dugout along the third-base line. Face value: $70.00. I paid $32.75. And the Phils won. After the game I stopped in the store to check out the merchandise, hoping to find something marked down or on clearance. That wasn't happening. Things are definitely more expensive at the ballpark. However, they did have a sale on caps: buy one at regular price, get one for 50 percent off. I wasn't going to buy any until I spotted the one on the left and succumbed to PPP (Pride-related Peer Pressure).

The other cap, however, had an interesting tag on the inside that I didn't notice until I got home:

So when I wear it, I'm wearing soda bottles on my head!

This last one is what the Phils gave fans who purchased their birthday greeting package in 2013 (you get a cap, your name on the scoreboard and confetti thrown on you by a performer as he or she sings Happy Birthday). My friend Kurt and I, who were born 20 years apart on the same day (I'm the younger one, no matter what the birth certificates say), went to the game that night and got confetti'd...or confettied?...spell check in Blogger accepts the former but not the latter. Okay, confetti'd it is.

My Sports Tees And Miscellaneous Caps, Part 4

Time for another chapter. And something embarrassing if you get to the end. Let's start with caps. Other that the first cap, this entire post is an all-Phillies edition.

  

From the Hockey Hall of Fame. Pretty sure this was from my epic trip in August-September 2004 to Montreal and Toronto for the World Cup of Hockey (an Olympic-style tournament, won by host Canada that year), but possibly I bought it on a later trip.

This is old. The Phillies added the blue cap option to their uniforms for day games in 1994. The defending NL Champs lost their first two games wearing them and the players were up in arms. Some fans didn't take kindly to them, either, although they sold rather well. The compromise for the players: they'd only wear them on weekday "Businessperson's Special" afternoon games. I think it's a nice-looking cap, but the jinx theory (final record: 1-6) won out.

You can probably guess that this was a giveaway item.

Aaron Rowand will be remembered forever for this catch and his comment a day or two later in reply to a question about the famous Ricky Watters "For who? For what?" quote when Watters short-armed a ball to avoid being hit in his first game as an Eagle.

The Flyin' Hawaiian! And a rare Harry Kalas home run call in which he did NOT use his famous "Outta Here!" Victorino, no ka oi!

Just looking at the condition of this shirt, it's very old. Steve Carlton's first year as a Phillie, 1972, when he went 27-10 (including a 15-game winning streak) for a team that only won 59 games, was what got me interested in baseball.

Greg Luzinski. The Bull. What a hitter in the mid-70s. Then injuries and slumps took their toll, but at least he was part of the 1980 World Series Champions.

Roy Halladay! First of three. This one was something the MLB Players Association did to raise funds for the Wounded Warrior Project.

This one might have come from a store like Walmart or Kmart or something.

On this night, the Doctor was definitely in. In the middle of the glory days, when it seemed like multiple World Series wins were the Phils' destiny. Sigh...

...and speaking of World Series wins...

 ...and finally...the right pic turned out a little blurry. It commemorates All-Star games hosted by the Phils as well as some of the NL and WS championships through 2010.. I wanted it badly but it took a while to be marked down to a price I was willing to pay.

There is only one problem with this t-shirt:

I somehow ended up with TWO of them. The exact same shirt, even the same size. And I only discovered this the other day when I was choosing the t-shirts for this post. I have no idea how this happened!

My Sports Tees And Miscellaneous Caps, Part 3

A mix of shirts and caps, mostly pretty old. In fact...

...this may be my oldest cap, even older than the Hare Jordan/Air Jordan cap from my last post. I worked here from 1987 to 1991. Each year they held sort of a company picnic-type event on their grounds and I'm pretty sure it was during one of these events that I got this. Haven't worn it in forever, but maybe I will soon?

...and these shirts (official locker room editions from the 1993 NL East and National League Champions) are almost 22 years old! The first one looks it, from the sweat stains on the neckline and armpits. I have an idea of getting a clear (unwrinkled) picture of the logo and having a new shirt made.

I can't remember exactly when or how I got this. I'm guessing it may have been part of some TV-related prize package I won. This is the latter-day PRISM logo, not too long before it was finally shut down. Here's the network's Wikipedia page if you don't remember (or weren't born yet) when PRISM carried some Phillies, Flyers and 76ers games for many years before Comcast Sportsnet was created, or if you just want to see the old logo.

For a short time there was a Spencer's Gifts on South Street. When the store had its going-out-of-business sale I stopped in and bought this for, at most, $3.00. Why? 1962 is my birth year and I am both vintage and an American Classic.

I stayed at this hotel off the Las Vegas strip in 2006. Not sure if I was given this as part of some promotion or if I actually bought it. It's since been renamed. Not a bad place, other than being off the strip.

This is my newest cap, bought recently at Dick's Sporting Goods when I was out in the sun and desperately needed a cap to keep the sun off my recently opened-up skull. Some of the proceeds go to the Wounded Warrior Project, obviously.

And finally, my three Chase Utley t-shirts. He's hitting .500 since coming off the disabled list recently, and he could be traded any day now. What I'd do in the off-season is dump Ryan Howard -- release him if no one wants to trade for him, and when Utley is a free agent after the season (and assuming he's healthy the rest of the season) I'd see if he can be enticed back to the Phillies at a reasonable salary to play first base semi-regularly and a few starts at second. I doubt it will happen, though...