A’s logo consistent throughout the years
Even though I would like to say that this piece was my idea, after reading Adam McIntosh’s article reviewing Brewers’ caps in the Milwaukee Brewers’ FanSided Blog ‘Reviewing the Brew,’‘ I was motivated to do a similar one for the Athletics during their Oakland years. I’ll be giving my input on the on-field caps and their changes through the years. For a (semi-accurate) review of the A’s caps and uniforms, check out Dressed to the Nines.
What should also be mentioned with this piece is that between 1968 and 1980, the A’s manager and on-field coaches would wear a white version of the uniform cap. The white coaches’ cap was introduced by owner Charlie Finley at the same time as the white shoes when the Oakland Athletics were still in Kansas City. In 1981 under manager Billy Martin, the coaching staff started wearing the same on-field cap as the players.
1968-1969
After arriving from Kansas City, the A’s had to abandon their “KC” emblemed cap and went to the script ‘A’ – similar to their Philadelphia years – but with a Kelly green cap, which was now the team’s primary color.
1970
This cap was worn for only one season, but the move from the script ‘A’ to “A’s” was added to the cap and uniform to reflect the fact that Finley was in the process of officially changing the team’s name to the “A’s” from “Athletics.”
*This year also saw an all-gold cap worn with the uniform for a handful of games. It was usually worn during the second game of a double header when the A’s wore the gold uniform, but the Athletics never received MLB permission for it to be an official uniform cap.
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1971-1981
The Oakland Athletics introduced the gold bill to their cap. In 1973, there was a minor change to the cap and uniform – on the left side of the ‘A’, a “serif” was added. Since that year, the “A’s” emblem on the cap has remained unchanged.
1982-Present day
The A’s cap went from a shade of Kelly green to its now more recognizable hunter green color. Though now used as the “home cap”, this baseball cap has been part of the Athletics’ repertoire for 35 seasons, one of the longest running in MLB.
1993 (Road Cap)
Like many other MLB clubs at the time, the Athletics introduced a road cap for all away games. This cap is a solid green (no gold bill) with the white “A’s” emblem. This cap only lasted one season.
1994-2013 (Road Cap)
Since there was no white on the Athletics’ road uniform, and with the introduction of a green alternate jersey with gold “Athletics” script, the A’s road cap changed its emblem to a gold “A’s” on the front.
2000 (Alternate)
With certain teams (the New York Mets and Kansas City Royals to name a few) seeking an identity change to basically black-for-black-sake, the A’s drank the Kool-Aid and introduced a black alternate jersey and a solid black cap with an “A’s” in green with a white outline. Since black wasn’t part of the team’s main colors, aesthetic issues started to surface when it clashed with other gear such as helmets and jackets. By 2001, the black uniform was gone. There’s good reason this uni/cap lasted only one season; the cap (along with the alternate jersey) had to be one of the ugliest in Oakland Athletics’ history.
2008-2010 (Alternate)
In 2008, black returned to the team, this time with the cap logo “A’s” written in white with gold highlights. Though slightly better than the 2000 look, it too died a deserving death and was removed after two seasons of very limited wear.
2014-Present (Road Cap)
The A’s new road cap was introduced with its new green alternate jersey at FanFest in 2014. The solid hunter green cap features “A’s” written in white with gold highlights giving it more “pop” than the previous road cap worn for 20 seasons.
Throughout the years there have also been MLB special caps worn for July 4, Memorial Day, and an array of batting practice caps.
Next: A's 2016 Preview: Reliever Liam Hendriks