UT student Ryan Mussina’s MLB hat collection. It’s doubtful that he’s a fan of all eight teams. | Miles Parks/The Minaret
“Some people are collectors of hats, and some people are collectors of hats from their favorite team,” says Marco Lumpkin.
“As long as the fashion keeps growing, that rivalry’s gonna stay the same.”
Lumpkin is a manager at Lids in North Tampa, a store in University Mall that sells many types of hats, but most specifically, baseball hats.
He says that there’s a large divide between people who love their team, and people who love the hats and colors of many teams. It’s a trend that has offended him a bit as a Cleveland native selling Indians’ hats for the colors, but not nearly as much as some others, he says.
“Mainly, it’s the guys who take it very seriously. It’s the people who really love the game,” Lumpkin says. “They take it to a whole new level.”
University of Tampa sophomore Lee Guilder can be considered one of those guys. A lifelong Yankees fan, the New York native says this trend is “ridiculous.”
“Why wear a certain hat if you have no affiliation with the team?” Guilder says. “The flat rimmed hat, wearing it backwards, doesn’t make you ‘the man,’ it makes you look stupid.”
Whether the trend is fair or foul is yet to be decided. Artists and pop culture sensations such as Lil’ Wayne and Usher are often seen sporting baseball hats that match their outfits, so it’s not surprising the masses are attracted to the fashion.
In it’s original intent, the cap is a part of a baseball uniform, as integral as a helmet to a football player or high socks to a soccer star. It is not simply an accessory.
In a 2010 commercial promoting New Era Caps, Evan Longoria goes through some ridiculous trials and tribulations to recover his hat. The Tampa Bay Rays’ star third baseman steals a bike, rides a jet-ski, and jumps out of a helicopter in an effort to find it.
It might be sacred to some, but to others, it’s really not so serious.
Myles Liebel, 19, owns close to 20 MLB hats, he says. He touts a blue Kansas City Royals headpiece today.
He’s a baseball fan, but doesn’t understand why people are getting so worked up. He gets a lot of conversation based on his headwear and he doesn’t really mind.
“I get questions all the time, because I’m wearing all different teams. I have a Blue Jays hat, so they want to know if I’m from Toronto,” Liebel says. “I enjoy the attention I guess.”
Mike Liebach, 21, sports a Cardinals hat. He says that he owns Minnesota and Pittsburgh caps, but he has to draw the line somewhere.
“I’m from St. Louis,” Liebach says. “I would never buy a Cubs hat.”
The St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs have a long standing rivalry and play in the same division, the N.L. Central. A few Red Sox fans said they would never buy a Yankees hat, and Yankees fans echoed reversely.
It’s almost as if they care enough to not insult the hat, but not enough to wear it exclusively.
For all the debate on who’s wearing them and why, it seems obvious that this must be a must-have clothing touch; an accessory really worth fighting for.
Sachin Bhola, fashion editor for Askmen.com, isn’t sold. The cap won’t and can’t be influential in fashion on it’s own, he says, as it’s been ruined by typically being associated with a cover-up for a bad-hair day.
He says the hat’s got a bad reputation but then goes even further, giving the hometown faithful hat bearers some good news.
“As for the casual wearer who puts on a city’s sports logo for looks, I think he’s either testing the trend out or is a bit of a poser,” Bhola said in an e-mail. “Your style is more admirable when it’s authentic.”
Bhola likened the wearing of another team’s hat to someone wearing cowboy boots. It’s a lot more acceptable when you’re actually from the Midwest, he says.
But for every argument against them, there’s one more University of Tampa young man, born and raised in Rhode Island, strolling through campus flaunting his red Anaheim Angels crown.
The white T-shirt and baseball hat fashion duet that reigns supreme here may continue to grow and prosper. Just don’t expect the baseball purists to be on board.
“Stick with one team and wear the team hat that you support,” Lee Guilder added.
“Or get lost.”
Miles Parks can be reached at mparks@spartans.ut.edu.
