(Editor's Note: Longtime baseball uniform expert and author Morris Levin writes periodically for Authentically Speaking.)
By Morris Levin
From 1970 through 1991, the Phillies wore a crimson red cap with the era’s P in white along with a white button on top. The caps were first made by Wilson, and then by New Era. The Phillies’ 1992 introduction of their current cap coincided with Major League Baseball’s mandate that onfield caps carry MLB’s logo on the back of the cap which meant that all 1970 to 1991 caps do not have the MLB logo creep, while the current style caps do.
More so, the Phillies, like most MLB teams, wore green underbrims through the 1989 season. Gary Mathews played for the Phillies from 1981 to 1983. This is a cap which he wore. Von Hayes played for club from 1983 through the 1990 season; this is one of his mid-1980s caps. This is another late 1980s model. Note that it still has the green visor.
The Phillies changed to a gray undervisor in 1990 which can be seen on this 1990 Ken Howell game worn cap. And this is a 1990 Dennis Cook cap. In 2007, all standard MLB caps were made with a black underbrim to reduce glare.
Also between 1992 and 2012, New Era changed the embroidery style on its caps from a flat embroidery to the raised tight logo embroidery used today. This is a game worn Phillies’ hat featuring flat logo embroidery and one can also see here the pre-2007 gray under visor.
The change in cap construction and styles can be seen most strikingly in the ‘throwback’ cap produced by New Era for the Phillies to wear in the 2011 Civil Rights game when the team wore would-be 1980s-era uniforms. The New Era cap features a grotesquely large P in raised embroidery.
This made me all the more delighted to walk into Pro League’s retail shop and find the Phillies cap pictured here. PLA special ordered this cap from New Era and it is a wonderful rendition of the Phils’ cap. It features the flat embroidery 1970s and 1980s P, and it has a green underbrim, and it does not have the MLB batter logo in the back. It is a wonderful reproduction, and in this era of New Era reproductions, one of the finest and most desirable caps which PLA is currently stocking.
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Authentic Store Buzz: Today’s the day. Please join us at our Center City Philly store from 11:30-12:30 as we welcome former Philadelphia Atoms soccer goalkeeper, and current Philadelphia Union broadcaster Bob Rigby to meet with fans, talk some soccer with the MLS all star event at PPL Park next Wednesday night, and sign autographs.
Rigby, a Philadelphia-area native who played collegiately at East Stroudsburg, helped lead the Atoms to the 1973 North American Soccer League Championship in his and the team’s rookie season, appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated, as the Atoms were the first U.S. team in any sports to win a professional championship in its first season.
We’ll have a reprint of the SI cover (first soccer player on the cover) for Bob to sign. Hope to see you at out store.
Meanwhile…if you live in the Philadelphia metro area, you may have heard a radio spot promoting Miller Beer’s ‘Throwback a Throwback’ campaign to enjoy a cold beer at a specific favorite sports bar while also having a chance to win a great-looking Phillies (the team’s not named in the ad) throwback jersey.
PLA is proud to be the official MLB jersey supplier to Miller/Coors and its representatives for this campaign.
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Authentically Speaking Trivia Time: What year did the Flyers introduce a black jersey to their wardrobe? Answer on Friday.
Wednesday’s answer: The Phillies first put a player’s name (with nameplate) on the back of the road uniform in 1973. It wasn’t until 1975 that names also on a nameplate appeared on the back of the home burgundy pinstripe uniforms.
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