Trim those sideburns, Mattingly!

From the Fitted Hat Files

The Denver Bears were a long-time AAA affiliate of the Expos and had some major players like Tim Wallach, Andre Dawson, Tim Raines, and many more.

Notably, they were managed by the GOAT, Felipe Alou, and fielded some very successful teams while associated with Nos Amours.

Before moving to New Orleans in 1993, the Bears re-branded as the Zephyrs after the famous Zephyr passenger train. I’d like to pretend they were actually named after the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant Zephyrs, but that amazing episode of The Simpsons aired 8 years after the re-branding of the Bears.

The team re-branded again in 2017, becoming the New Orleans Baby Cakes. You can be sure I’ll jump whenever I can find a cap with this logo on it, because it’s purely amazing and, though the Expos connection is a bit of a stretch, it’s close enough…

The team moved again in 2019, becoming the Wichita Wind Surge, so that’ll be another team for me to get my hands on eventually. Collecting MiLB hats is a real trip.

About the hat

This hat is from New Orleans era. I was trying to resist buying it, but the 7 5/8 just sat on Hat Club and no one was grabbing it, so I did after watching it for about 6 weeks. I’m glad I pulled the trigger because it’s a real standout in my collection.