mad hatters

before ken griffey jr ticked off the establishment by wearing his hat backwards, there were several players who got away with it without suffering the wrath of buck showalter and the purists who saw the improper display of hat-manship as a sign of the decline of western civilization.  i argue that they should instead focus on the stirrups, but what do i know.  at the very least, they could have gone after some of the documented non-catchers to commit the offense many years before jr dared to disrespect the game.

like jerry morales.

not once in his career did morales play catcher.  i would imagine that joe torre saw him shortly after this picture was taken and read him the riot act.  no wonder morales only spent one year in new york - they just wouldn't tolerate this sort of uniform abomination.

so, then, what was going on in saint louis?

technically, mike ramsey is wearing his hat properly.  it's the helmet that's backwards.  perhaps he's going for the sherlock holmes look and trying to create his own deerstalker hat. surely someone would have admonished mr. ramsey for making such a mockery of the game and its headwear!

finally, there is jeffrey leonard.

no, i wouldn't have said anything to him, either.