Baseball Cap: How did it go from being a sports item to being a key piece of urban culture?

We give way to the great story behind the baseball cap, also known as “baseball cap” or just “baseball cap”, a An accessory that has become a classic in sports, but also a garment that is still very much in force today.

This model of cap is as typical as baseball itself, a sport that, according to legend, was formally invented in Cooperstown, New York, in 1839 by Abner Doubleday.

But the truth is that playing the game with a “stick” and a ball is millennial. Records show that ancient cultures played this game as a ceremony, but also for fun, and later spread throughout Europe during the Middle Ages. Once a similar game was popularized in England and moved to the United States where it developed its peak.

The first rules of the game, formerly known as Knickerbocker were finally published in 1845 by Alexander Cartwright, who founded the “Knockerbocker Base Ball Club” in New York. These rules became the foundation of modern baseball.

It is thus that baseball has had its development mainly in the United States, so much so that for many years it was also referred to since its inception as The New York Game. It is, in fact, the country's national sport, and the fans of its major league teams are comparable to soccer in Spain. The competitiveness is huge!

Hence, just like in soccer, fans of baseball teams began to use some garments in support of the teams in their city, which were formed professionally over the years.

But… which came first? The baseball or the cap?

Ball games older than baseball (such as cricket) already used makeshift hats to protect themselves from the sun, and in the case of sports in the United States it was the same. At some point, baseball players in the USA had the power to choose which hat to wear for competitions and they brought out their creativity by creating prototypes of hats with visors.

The first team to get a proper cap prototype was the Detroit Tigers, who were also the first to display their emblem on their caps, and from then on, the teams continued this dynamic.

Of course, manufacturers set out to create the 'perfect' cap for the 'perfect game', and managed to nail down the legendary baseball cap design we wear today, which they sold not only to players, but also consumers, for its usefulness and because with the emblem attached they supported their favorite teams.

One of the most legendary hat manufacturing companies in America was New Era, originally founded in 1920 by Ehrhardt Koch, who started the “E.hoch Cap Company”, in Buffalo, New York.

Koch was a German-American who knew what he was doing. After working for the Miller Brother's Cap Company for more than 15 years, he gained enough experience to start his own business and produce some 60 caps.000 baseball caps annually with just 14 employees. Years later, in 1934, he became "New Era" and got his first contract with the Cleveland Indians, officially entering the world of baseball.

This is how the paradox of the game and the baseball cap began: Companies that produced caps, professional and non-professional teams that needed to wear them, and sports fans who craved their own cap to wear with the logo, initials or mascot of your favorite teams.

From then on, society did its job. The cap, which from the beginning is a useful garment invented to protect us from the sun -and which has existed since the Egyptians and other ancient civilizations covered their heads with artifacts to avoid sunburns- little by little ceased to "belong" to baseball players, and it became popular in itself to offer urban fashion a new way to express their personality.

And it is that baseball caps say a lot about us. From the model you wear to the badge you wear. They are a cap model that also did not stop there. In his time, the famous trucker caps were also developed, which were also used to display company logos as a form of advertising and which today, together with the baseball caps, are part of culture and urban fashion.

What differentiates the baseball caps from the rest is that they do not have a fastener on the back and they also incorporated flat visors instead of curved ones over time. Today the caps of this style, or with clips to graduate in size, have been used in many sports such as tennis or golf, as well as part of the attire in other artistic disciplines, such as In the case of film directors (replacing their classic berets), always as a method of protection from the sun's rays, but also as a way of differentiating themselves from the rest.

You can find countless models on the market, which have increased their production and have made this garment very popular due to its utility, comfort, and style. Currently, many urban outfits wear this cap as part of their ideal looks, to add their own personal style to each individual who wears them.

The truth is that it is quite a fascinating story. Baseball caps have evolved in a special way over time, improving their styles, and allowing us cap fans to find the one that looks and identifies us best. And you, are you a fan of baseball caps?