Day 88: Cleveland Indians (1948) Cooperstown Collection

 

Today’s hat is the cap the Cleveland Indians wore the last time they won a World Series.  1948 is a lot of years ago to have never won again during that time.  I’m sure it was wonderful, but I certainly have never experienced it in my lifetime!

By all accounts it was a heck of a team.  Lou Boudreau, Bob Feller, Bob Lemon and even Satchel Paige was signed to the team before the end of the year, his first Major League team.  By most accounts, even more exciting than winning the World Series at the time was winning the first ever American League one game playoff, against the Boston Red Sox, with whom the Indians had finished the regular season in a tie.  Here is a picture of the team carrying rookie knuckleball pitcher Gene Bearden off the field after he pitched that game for a win.

While my replica doesn’t fit me all that well, this is actually a pretty nice looking hat.  The cap is blue, with a red bill that has contrast stitching.  The logo is a plain red “wishbone C.”  While we now associate the “wishbone C” with the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Bears, a lot of other teams have used this style of C as logos, including the Indians for many years.

As I mentioned, I don’t think this hat fits me all that well.  I tried it on again recently, and I guess it’s not as bad as I used to think, but it’s still not the best fitting hat I’ve ever worn.  I’m just hoping a bit of that 1948 mojo gets in to the team one of these years.