Detroit Tigers cap to receive 4th of July makeover

This is the cap the Detroit Tigers will wear in their July 4th meeting with the Tampa Rays at Comerica Park.

When the Detroit Tigers face the Tampa Bay Rays at Comerica Park on the evening of July 4th, they’ll be sporting a (temporary) new look.

As is the standard practice for MLB on the 4th of July (and Memorial Day), every team will be wearing a hat decked out in red, white, and blue. This year’s design features different versions for American League and National League teams.

As you can see above right, the AL caps, including the one for the Tigers, will be primarily red, with a navy blue bill. The NL versions are the opposite, with a primary navy color and red bills. Both versions have an American flag star offset by the team’s respective logo in white outlined by navy.

The cap the St. Louis Cardinals will wear on the 4th of July.

Whenever baseball does these themed caps, it seemingly messes with some teams’ colors and perhaps commits a fashion faux pas. The Tigers will sport their usual white home uniforms with the navy blue Olde English D, numbers, names, and piping on the jersey and pants. And then they’ll have this out-of-place red cap to top it off.

Conversely, a team like the St. Louis Cardinals, known for the red hue of their uniforms, will be sporting a mostly navy hat (above left), which could be equally jarring.

You’d think MLB would put a little more thought and effort into this and allow the teams with blue colors to keep blue, teams with red colors to have red, and split the difference between the non-red and blue teams.

2013 4th of July hats

I will concede that I do like the 4th of July caps from this year better than last year’s (at right)–though that’s not saying much–and they are much better than the ones worn this Memorial Day–all in camouflage.

Still while some may view the frequent cap switcharoo as patriotic, others will see it for what it is–a cash grab. The screen shots of these caps were all pulled off the MLB Shop. The 2014 versions cost $37.99 while the 2013’s are available at the bargain basement price of $23.97

So, just like the furniture stores and appliance outlets, MLB is also having a “crazy” holiday special–only this one will run ya about $40.