Good morning Uni Watchers, it’s Friday — we made it!
Mere days after MLB released the 2025 Batting Practice cap collection, which is running back the 2024 BP caps, MLB has now unveiled new gray BP caps for every team. As you’ll soon see, the new gray caps are basically just color swaps for the BP caps originally introduced in 2024, although there are a couple of exceptions.
Most folks agree that last year’s crop of BP caps were excellent, so it makes sense for MLB to hold them over this season. Of course, without any “new” BP caps, clearly they’d be missing out on a merch opportunity to provide new-for-2025 caps, as there are many out there who will basically purchase any new caps for “their” team (or just as fashion statements), but the gray caps also now provide the opportunity for a “home” and “away” BP cap for each team.
As I have probably mentioned before, I’m not a cap collector in the traditional sense (even though I have well over 200 baseball caps, almost none of those are for any specific team, and I honestly don’t like the look of the 5950 style, plus I wear every cap I own, frequently getting them dirty and sweaty), so I often get confused over whether a cap is for BP, Spring Training (yes, they have the ST identifier on the side) and then there are also “Clubhouse Caps,” which I believe are designed to be worn for post game interviews and the like. If I were to buy a team cap, it would be in the 3930 style with the lower crown.
Be that as it may, here are your 2025 gray BP caps, arranged by league and division.
American League East
BALTIMORE ORIOLES
BOSTON RED SOX
NEW YORK YANKEES
TAMPA BAY RAYS
TORONTO BLUE JAYS
American League Central
CHICAGO WHITE SOX
CLEVELAND GUARDIANS
DETROIT TIGERS
KANSAS CITY ROYALS
MINNESOTA TWINS
American League West
HOUSTON ASTROS
LOS ANGELES ANGELS
ATHLETICS
SEATTLE MARINERS
TEXAS RANGERS
National League East
ATLANTA BRAVES
MIAMI MARLINS
NEW YORK METS
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
WASHINGTON NATIONALS
National League Central
CHICAGO CUBS
CINCINNATI REDS
MILWAUKEE BREWERS
PITTSBURGH PIRATES
(The Pirates 5950 did not appear on the Fanatics site, but there will definitely be a 5950 version.)
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
National League West
ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
COLORADO ROCKIES
LOS ANGELES DODGERS
SAN DIEGO PADRES
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
• The Mets, Braves, Yankees and White Sox each got two gray BP caps.
• The Braves and Dodgers both have a much darker gray base for their BP cap. The Braves also have the lighter gray, while the Dodgers also have a lighter gray cap, but that was a part of the 2024 BP cap release.
• Some of the colors on the new BP caps are odd: For example, the Astros 2024/25 “home” BP cap features their gold/orange/red tequila sunrise colors, but the “road” BP cap features shades of blue, which doesn’t really work with their tequila sunrise color scheme.
• Some teams, like Boston and Washington, feature a bright red crown, which are easily identifiable team colors, but their corresponding gray compatriots look a bit odd when the identifying color is removed.
• I suspect the gray Marlins cap will struggle with visibility issues at any distance.
• The Yankees have two distinct gray BP caps (one has a gray brim, the other midnight blue). Their “home” BP caps both had midnight blue crowns.
There are probably a few things I’m missing, but those are what stood out to me.
Since I consider these to primarily be a merch dump, and they’re not worn during actual game play, I’m fine with the designs, and I know there are many who like them.
Still no news on Spring Training caps, but this Royals Cap (shown in Wednesday’s article) no longer appears on the Fanatics website. I have no idea if that means anything, but I’m keeping an eye on it.
Are you a fan of the new gray BP releases? If you’re a cap collector, will you buy one? Are there any that stand out to you as particularly good (or particularly bad)?
Am I missing anything?
Feel free to express your thoughts down in the comments below!
Guess the Game from the Scoreboard
Guess The Game…
…From The Scoreboard
Today’s scoreboard comes from Jay Beaulieu.
The premise of the game (GTGFTS) is simple: I’ll post a scoreboard and you guys simply identify the game depicted. In the past, I don’t know if I’ve ever completely stumped you (some are easier than others).
Here’s the Scoreboard. In the comments below, try to identify the game (date and location, as well as final score). If anything noteworthy occurred during the game, please add that in (and if you were AT the game, well bonus points for you!):
Please continue sending these in! You’re welcome to send me any scoreboard photos (with answers please), and I’ll keep running them.
Guess the Game from the Uniform
Based on the suggestion of long-time reader/contributor Jimmy Corcoran, we’ve introduced a new “game” on Uni Watch, which is similar to the popular “Guess the Game from the Scoreboard” (GTGFTS), only this one asked readers to identify the game based on the uniforms worn by teams.
Like GTGFTS, readers will be asked to guess the date, location and final score of the game from the clues provided in the photo. Sometimes the game should be somewhat easy to ascertain, while in other instances, it might be quite difficult. There will usually be a visual clue (something odd or unique to one or both of the uniforms) that will make a positive identification of one and only one game possible. Other times, there may be something significant about the game in question, like the last time a particular uniform was ever worn (one of Jimmy’s original suggestions). It’s up to YOU to figure out the game and date.
Today’s GTGFTU comes from Stephen Forrest.
Good luck and please post your guess/answer in the comments below.
And finally…
…that’s going to do it for the early lede. I should have several more articles later today, including what might be my final Ticker — I’m still making slow, but sure, progress with finding new Ticker Assistants. One new TA is on board already, with another likely to join over the weekend.
Speaking of the Ticker — I mentioned I hope to return the Ticker to five days/week (in theory, that should happen in the next couple weeks). I know there were some who expressed concern that Ticker entries (particularly those from more than a couple days prior) were difficult to find. We’ve fixed that.
At the top of any UW article, you’ll see 5 “options” listed beneath the Uni Watch banner. Those read “POSTS,” “ABOUT,” “HOW TO SUPPORT,” “MERCHANDISE” and “CONTACT.”
If you click on the first of those tabs — “POSTS”…
… you’ll see a drop down menu with two options: “Posts” and “Tickers”
Simply click on the “Tickers” option, and that will allow you to browse on any ticker, from the most recent to the least.
On the Mobile version, simply click on the three horizontal bars at the top of the page. That gives you a drop down menu featuring the same five options are are seen on the desktop version. Clicking on “Posts” from that drop down menu will provide you with the same two options: “Posts” or “Tickers.”
Hope that helps!
I should have more Ticker Assistant news on Monday.
Everyone have a good Friday and a better weekend. New Weekend Editor Anthony Emerson will take you through till Monday, and I’ll catch you all then.
Peace,
PH
