New Era Alphabet Challenge - L

Today's cap representing Letter L is another that was a challenge. Not because I had a tough time choosing. I only have three. But of the three I had to choose from, all three have logos which nearly drown out the letter, and two of them are same team, same logo, just different colorways. So I went with the one which I've always liked best:

The former logo of the Lancaster JetHawks of the California League.

Back before life caught up with me I actually attended three or four JetHawks games per season. Lancaster is around an hour from where I live, so it was a nice little drive, but always a nice park to watch games. And by that, I mean there's nothing else to look at but the games. No real view out there to look at. Also a lot of wind. And it can be hot in the summer. You know, take my word for it, it's a nice place to catch a game.

So anyway, as I've mentioned I went through this phase where I was really into buying minor league baseball jerseys. The JetHawks jerseys, both home and road, were to die for. I had to have them. They went with this futuristic, yet retro Jetsons kind of look in the font. Very pleasing to the eyes.

Sleeveless home jersey.

Lancaster road jersey.

And of course they had to be #19. Both of these jerseys were worn by a pitcher named AJ Shappi, who made it as high as a few games with Tucson in the PCL in 2008. I love both of these jerseys. And I've said that I'm looking to purge a good percentage of my jersey collection, I can say that these two will not be available for sale.

But back to the cap, I always thought it was really unfortunate that Lancaster never chose to integrate this font or style into the cap logo. In fact, as you'll see momentarily, the cap that went with these jerseys was actually the original cap in a different color scheme. Those jerseys were completely different. They looked like this:

Must have been a 90s thing.

And here are the other two letter L caps I have, including the JetHawks cap that goes with this jersey.

The other cap is the defunct Lethbridge Black Diamonds.

Several years ago Lancaster rebranded completely, and now have a cap which does not feature any letter. I have not yet picked up that cap, but I'm sure I will someday. It has been far too long since I've been out that way for a game.      

On the whole, I like the Lancaster franchise, but there is always this bittersweet feeling I have towards them. You see, they were relocated there in 1996 after spending three years in Riverside, CA as the Riverside Pilots. The story behind my feeling regarding that is a long and sad one which I will save for another time.

For now, representing Letter L are the Lancaster JetHawks.