One hundred and three years. You wouldn’t expect to find a piece of baseball history preserved in excellent condition. ANTIQUE ATHLETE has done just that. This SPALDING Short Brim Baseball Cap is circa 1907 and is of the Brooklyn Style. The crown and bill are made of a thick Black, wool flannel. There is a supple leather sweat band on the inside. The age alone makes this an outstanding piece for a vintage baseball collector, but the condition only doubles the value of this rare find. For the taking at $375 from http://www.antiqueathlete.com

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Earlier this year, ROBERT EDWARD AUCTIONS auctioned off a lot of 6 Major League Fitted Baseball Caps from circa 1949. All caps were consigned by Gene Bauman who was the visiting team’s batboy of the St. Louis’ Sportsman’s Park during 1948 and 1950. All caps come with an index card signed by Gene; each card states when and from who he acquired the fitteds from.

Here is the breakdown of the fitted baseball caps:

1. Washington Senators; Its a Navy Blue Felt cap and has a White “W” embroidered on the front panel. It has Wilson label on the headband. He acquired it from trainer “Gus” Lentz., 2. Philadelphia Athletics; This fitted comes in a Royal Blue color scheme and has a White “A” stitched on the front. It has both Mitchell & Ness and Spaulding labels on the headband. He got it from club trainer “Tadley”., 3. Detroit Tigers; This Navy felt cap features an Orange “D” embroidered on the front. It has a Wilson label on the headband and was acquired from the Detroit Tiger’s trainer., 4. Chicago White Sox; It features a Black felt base and displays a White C on the front. It features a McAuliffe label and he got it from Packy Schwartz ., 5. Chicago White Sox; This Black felt cap has Sox embroidered in White and outlined in Red. It has a Wilson label and was acquired from trainer Packy Schwartz., 6. Chicago White Sox; Another Black felt base with Sox embroidered in White. Acquired from Packy Schwartz. All hats were attained in either 1949 or 1950. This lot sold for a total of $1880 which is not a bad deal at all. Check the auction out here.

Charles Walter Dressen (September 20, 1898 – August 10, 1966), who was known as Chuck or Charlie. He was a former baseball player and Manager. He played for the New York Giants and Cincinnati Reds. He managed teams such as the Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Dodgers, Washington Senators, Milwaukee Braves, and the Detroit Tigers. Throughout his baseball career, he hit 11 home runs, had 221 runs batted in and had a .272 batting average. As a manager he won two Nation League Pennants.

On November 6, 2009, a GOTTA HAVE IT auction for Chuck Dressen’s Brooklyn Dodgers Spaulding fitted baseball cap closed for $600. We don’t know if it sold or not because it says that the reserve was not met. If someone did win this cap, they got a very good deal on a piece of history. Chuck wore this cap while coaching the Dodgers in 1953. It looks like Dressen put a lot of damage to the hat. Its made up of a Blue wool base with White embroidery and features the Brooklyn Dodgers logo stitched on the front. The mystery continues, was it sold or not?

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Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StrictlyFitteds and tweet us your nomination for best Fitted Baseball Cap of 2009!

babe ruth spaulding fitted baseball cap

Nostalgia auction house LELANDS brought another special piece of baseball history to the block. This is fitted baseball cap belonged to the legendary “Babe” Ruth, aka Great Bambino aka the Sultan of Swat. Fear the Curse of the Bambino. This Red and Navy Boston Braves cap was worn by Ruth during his final season as a professional ball player. Best known as a New York Yankee, Ruth was sold in 1934 to the Massachusetts franchise, finishing his days in uniform there. In a historic 20+ year career, Babe Ruth racked up 714 Home Runs, 2,873 hits, sent 2,217 players to home base, and maintained a .342 career batting average. The auction closed on December 4th, 2009 at a staggering $30,250.00

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The aftermath of the recent looting has brought much publicity and support for THE HOLY GRAIL. Down but not defeated the consignment shop for caps and licks will re-open for business June 20th 2009 at 12pm. The staff will be accepting items for consignment as well. In celebration, there will be live music and much more.

THE HOLY GRAIL
604 w pico blvd
los angeles,ca 90015
213.746.6405

ATHLETE ATHLETE scores another piece of history. This museum quality piece is from the 19th century. Pictured here is part of the evolution of the fitted baseball cap. This vintage baseball cap dates from the 1890′s and was manufactured by Spalding Sporting Goods. The crown is floppy and unstructured which, which was called the Boston Style. This rare find was graded EX-MT to NR-MT and is now very sold out. Nonetheless a hot conversation piece that would be more appropriate behind glass than on your head.

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300 miles and running! We’ve uprgraded this POST CATEGORY of the site strictly for your visual pleasure. Here you will see the personal collections of your rivals peers and random images taken by the STRICTLY FITTEDS staffers.

Our inagural post belongs to none other than:

James “JLS5EN” Smith, 26 | Washington, DC | Site Admin, www.nikeskateboarding.org

Follow this link to see his full collection of braggin’ rights. …+MORE