Los Angeles Dons Custon Snapback Cap

The Los Angeles Dons were an American football team in the now defunct All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949 that played in the Los Angeles Coliseum.

For most of their existence, the Dons compiled an average record, and never qualified for the AAFC playoffs. The Dons' high points were their two victories over the Cleveland Browns. (The Browns won all four AAFC titles and amassed a four-year record of 52-4-3 which included a perfect season. Their dominance is generally considered the biggest reason why the AAFC folded.) Unlike the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, and Baltimore Colts, the Dons were not one of the AAFC teams that remained intact when the AAFC merged with the National Football League in 1950: they merged with the crosstown Rams of the older league after the 1949 season.

The leader of the ownership group was Benjamin Lindheimer, a Chicago real estate and race track executive. Other owners included Louis B. Mayer, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Don Ameche.^[2]

One Dons player, William Radovich, formerly of the NFL Detroit Lions, filed a lawsuit against the NFL after being blacklisted from playing or working in it afterwards. It led to the Supreme Court ruling that professional football, unlike baseball, was subject to antitrust laws.

The Dons best seasons were from 1946–1948, although they never reached the playoffs. In 1949 the AAFC merged with the NFL, but the Dons were not one of the three teams admitted to the NFL. Those teams were the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, and the Baltimore Colts.

369th Infantry Regiment Custom Snapback

The 369th Infantry Regiment, formerly the 15th New York National Guard Regiment, was an infantry regiment of the United States Army that saw action in World War I and World War II. The 369th Infantry is known for being the first African-American regiment to serve with the American Expeditionary Force during World War I. The regiment was nicknamed the Harlem Hellfighters and the Black Rattlers, in addition to several other nicknames.

Chicago Cougars Custom Snapback Cap

The Chicago Cougars were an original franchise in the World Hockey Association from 1972 to 1975. The Cougars played their home games in the dilapidated International Amphitheatre. During the 1974 Avco Cup Finals against Gordie Howe and the Houston Aeros, the team's two home games were played at the Randhurst Twin Ice Arena in suburban Mount Prospect. This was because a presentation of Peter Pan starring gynmast Cathy Rigby was booked into the Amphitheatre and thus made the arena unavailable for the playoffs (see Peter Pan Incident, below).

Just prior to the their third season, the team was sold to Cougars players Ralph Backstrom, Dave Dryden, and player-coach Pat Stapleton after the original owners, Walter and Jordon Kaiser, were unable to secure funds to build a new arena. The land for the arena, originally named the O'Hare Sports Arena, was sold to the village of Rosemont and became the Rosemont Horizon (now the Allstate Arena). This building is the now the home of the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League.

They were placed in the Western Division for their first season (1972–73) and transferred to the Eastern Division for their final two seasons (1973–74 and 1974–75).

Montreal Shamrocks Custom Snapback Cap

The Montreal Shamrocks were an amateur, later professional, men's ice hockey club in existence from 1886, merging with the Montreal Crystals club in 1896. They won the Stanley Cup ice hockey championship in 1899 and 1900. The club was a founding member of the National Hockey Association (NHA), the predecessor of today's National Hockey League.

Indianapolis ABCs Custom Fitted Cap

The Indianapolis ABCs were a Negro League baseball team that played both as an independent club and as a charter member of the first Negro National League (NNL). They claimed the western championship of black baseball in 1915 and 1916, and finished second in the 1922 NNL. Among their best players were Hall of Famers Oscar Charleston and Ben Taylor.

Originally organized by the American Brewing Company (thus "A.B.C.s") in the early 1900s, the team was purchased by Thomas Bowser, a white bail bondsman, in 1912. Two years later, C. I. Taylor, formerly of the Birmingham Giants and West Baden Sprudels, purchased a half-interest in the ABCs, and became the team's manager. Taylor stocked the ABCs with his brothers Ben, John, and Jim, all among the best African-American players in baseball. Taylor was a noted judge of young talent; some of the well-known players he brought to the big time included center fielder Charleston, second baseman Bingo DeMoss, third baseman/outfielder Dave Malarcher, outfielder George Shively, and pitchers Dizzy Dismukes, Jim Jeffries, and Dicta Johnson.

The Broadway Blueshirts Pennant Custom Snapback Cap

"Broadway Blueshirts", a common nickname for the New York Rangers.

Logo is hand screened felt to look like it was taken from old pennant

Boston Minutemen Custom Snapback

The Boston Minutemen were a soccer team based out of Boston that played in the NASL. They played from 1974 to 1976. Their home fields included Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough, Veterans Memorial Stadium in Quincy and Sargent Field in New Bedford.

Portuguese legend Eusébio played for the Minutemen in 1975 as did famed American player Shep Messing.

The Minutemen started well, winning the Northern Division title in their first season and drawing over 9000 fans a match to Alumni Stadium, good for 5th highest in the league. They lost in the playoffs to eventual league champion Los Angeles Aztecs. When Eusebio came to Boston in 1975 (by which time the team had relocated to Nickerson Field) it seemed as though things would continue to look up. Though the team would win the Northern Division title again for the second time in as many seasons, attendance curiously fell to around 4000 - half of what it had been. In the playoffs the Minutemen lost to Miami in extra time.

For the 1976 season, team owner John Sterge announced the Minutemen would relocate again, this time to Harvard Stadium, but that deal collapsed before the start of the season and the team ended up playing in a hodge-podge of grounds: Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough, Veteran's Memorial Stadium in Quincy, and Sargent Field in New Bedford. By this time Sterge was having financial difficulties (which ended in action by the Securities and Exchange Commission) and was compelled to sell off many of his players, including Eusebio, who went to the eventual champions Toronto Metros-Croatia. Attendance plummeted, the Minutemen lost their last 12 matches, and after the season they folded.

Los Angeles White Sox Custom Snapback Cap

The West Coast Negro Baseball League only operated for part of the 1946 season. Its objective was for teams composed of black ballplayers to play games in stadiums used by teams in the Pacific Coast League while their regular occupants were playing on the road. The league comprised six teams located in Seattle, WA, Portland, OR, San Francisco, CA, Oakland, CA, Los Angeles, CA and San Diego, CA. It folded in July of its only year of operation.

Black Panther Custom Fitted Cap ( New Era)

The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was an African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982. The Black Panther Party achieved national and international notoriety through its involvement in the Black Power movement and in U.S. politics of the 1960s and 70s. The anti-racism of that time is today considered one of the most significant social, political and cultural currents in U.S. history. The group's "provocative rhetoric, militant posture, and cultural and political flourishes permanently altered the contours of American Identity."

Miami Marlins ( IL ) Custom Snapback Cap

Miami Marlins of International League custom snapback. Colorway of current Florida Marlins, soon to be Miami Marlins.

California Golden Seals Custom Snapback

The California Golden Seals were a team in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1967–76. Initially named California Seals, the team was renamed Oakland Seals part-way through the 1967–68 season, and then to California Golden Seals in 1970. The Seals were one of six teams added to the league as part of the 1967 NHL expansion. Based in Oakland, California, they played their home games at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena.

Vintage 1960's patch on deadstock 80's sanpback.

Baltimore Skipjacks Custom Snapback Cap

The Baltimore Skipjacks were a minor professional ice hockey team in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League and the American Hockey League. They played in Baltimore, Maryland, at the Baltimore Arena.

The Nisei Baseball Project

SAN FERNANDO

ACES, 1933

LOS ANGLES

NIPPON, 1931

STOCKTON

YAMOTO, 1928

Seattle Cherry, 1910
Project t-shirt



The Nisei Baseball Project is based on early Japenese American Baseball Teams. Support it here.

Washington Senators Custom Fitted Cap

The team was founded in Kansas City in 1894 as a Western League team and would move to Washington, D.C., in 1901 as one of the eight original teams of the American League, named the Washington Senators or Washington Nationals. Although the Washington team endured long bouts of mediocrity (immortalized in the Broadway musical Damn Yankees), they had a period of prolonged success in the 1920s and 1930s, led by Hall-of-Famers Bucky Harris, Goose Goslin, Sam Rice, Joe Cronin, and above all Walter Johnson. Manager Clark Griffith joined the team in 1912 and became the team's owner in 1920. The franchise remained under Griffith family ownership until 1984.

In 1960, Major League Baseball granted the city of Minneapolis an expansion team. Washington owner Calvin Griffith, Clark's nephew and adopted son, requested that he be allowed to move his team to Minneapolis and instead give Washington the expansion team. Upon league approval, the team moved to Minnesota after the 1960 season, setting up shop in Metropolitan Stadium, while Washington fielded a brand new "Washington Senators" (which later became the Texas Rangers prior to the 1972 season).

761st Custom Fitted Cap

The 761^st Tank Battalion, was a United States Army tank battalion during World War II. The unit was one of three battalions serving from the U.S. 5th Tank Group. The unit was also made up of black soldiers (Buffalo Soldiers), who by Federal law were not permitted to serve alongside white troops. (The US Army did not officially desegregate until after World War II). They were known as the “Black Panthers” after their unit's distinctive insignia. Their motto was “Come out fighting”.

Newark Tornadoes Custom Fitted Cap

The Orange Tornadoes can trace their roots back to the Orange Athletic Club. The Orange A.C. was originally an amateur football team that began play in 1887. The team's first ever game was a 36-0 loss to Seton Hall University football team. By the 1890s the Orange became a semi-pro team. In 1892, the team practiced under electric lights at night to prepare for an October 8 game against Rutgers College. The Orange A. C. would go on to win that game 22-10. In 1893, the team went on to win the mythical American Football Union Championship, after posting an 8-2 record. In 1902 the Orange A. C. played against Philadelphia Phillies and the Philadelphia Athletics of the first National Football League. The team also played in World Series of Football in that year, at Madison Square Garden. These games were the first indoor football games. In 1902 Orange lost to All-Syracuse team, 36-0. However the team returned to the World Series of Football in 1903 where the played the Watertown Red & Black and, the eventual champion, the Franklin Athletic Club. Orange lost to Watertown, 11-0, and to Franklin, 12-0. However they did manage to defeat the Oreo Athletic Club of Asbury Park, 22-0, during the 1903 contest.

Honest Abe" American Hero" Custom Fitted Cap

Honest Abe Custom Fitted Cap

Abe still Likes Lebron,Wade, and Bosh. Next year fellas!

Albany Polecats Custom Snapback Cap

The Albany Polecats were a minor league baseball team in Albany, Georgia. They were a low-A class team that played in the South Atlantic League, and were a farm team of both the Montreal Expos and the Baltimore Orioles during the franchise's tenure in Albany. They played all of their home games at the Paul Eames Sports Complex. While at Paul Eames Sports Complex during their tenure, the stadium was dubbed "Polecat Park", albeit the stadium was named after Paul Eames, a minor league baseball legend. During the team’s four years in the South Atlantic League, the Polecats never finished higher than eighth overall in the fourteen-team league. Coupled with poor attendance by the Polecats, this proved too much to bear for the struggling franchise. Prior the 1996 season, the Albany Polecats were sold and moved north to Salisbury, Maryland, where the franchise became the current-day Delmarva Shorebirds.

Vintage Reggie Jackson Patch Custom Snapback Cap

Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946), nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the New York Yankees, is a former American Major League Baseball right fielder. During a 21-year baseball career, he played from 1967-1987 for four different teams. Jackson currently serves as a special advisor to the New York Yankees. He helped win three consecutive World Series titles as a member of the Oakland Athletics in the early 1970s and also helped win two consecutive titles with the New York Yankees. Jackson was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1993.

The Yankees signed Jackson to a five-year contract, totaling US$2.96 million, on November 29, 1976. Upon arriving in New York, the number 9 that he had worn in Oakland and Baltimore was worn by third baseman Graig Nettles. Jackson asked for number 42, in memory of Jackie Robinson. But manager Billy Martin brought his friend Art Fowler in as pitching coach, and gave him number 42. So, noting that then-all-time home run leader Hank Aaron had just retired, Jackson asked for and received number 44, Aaron's number. On his first day in spring training the following February, however, Jackson wore number 20 (the number of Frank Robinson, who had also just retired) before switching to 44.

Patch is vintage 1978