Beginning on Sunday — Derek Jeter Day at Yankees Stadium — the Yankees will be wearing special Derek Jeter patches on their hats and jerseys for the rest of the season. Derek Jeter will also be presumably wearing the patches. Which is akin to being able to attend your own funeral.

While it may be a great way to sell more merchandise, it comes at a pretty inopportune time as there is a growing narrative that Jeter, who is still technically alive, is effectively killing the Yankees season with his poor play.

Jeter’s never been a good defensive shortstop. Now at 40 — an age at which few men have ever played baseball’s most challenging position on a regular basis– he’s pretty awful.  While his hitting, which used to more than make up for his lack of range in the field, has been shaky all year, it’s fallen off a cliff as of late; Captain Clutch is OPSing .207/.226/.261 in his last 116 plate appearances.

Jeter probably isn’t the worst player in baseball, but he is probably the worst in the American League who plays regularly while batting in the top half of the lineup. (Ryan Howard has that prize in the National League.)

Jeter is the third player to get the full on retirement treatment over the last three years.  While his former teammate Mariano Rivera and Braves third baseman Chipper Jones were still playing at a (legitimate) All-Star levels during their farewell tour, Jeter’s presence may end up costing the over-achieving Yankees a shot at the playoffs.

Maybe once Jeter is memorialized everyday in the Yankees game day duds, manager Joe Girardi will finally be comfortable with batting the 40-year old down in the lineup and giving him a healthy dose of off days. However, with New York sitting five games out of the final wildcard spot, it may be too late to make a difference.

One of baseball longest lasting gifts to culture is the baseball hat. Once just adorning the heads of the men and boys who take to the diamond, the baseball cap has became part of the American costume.

The classic baseball hat is still baseball themed and replicates  the caps worn on the field by Major Leaguers, Minor Leaguers and college players. However the only time you will see this type of hats as the predominant hat among a group is when you are looking at the crowd taking in a game at the ballpark. (Or looking at the players on the field.)

These days baseball hats are just as likely to feature a logo from another sport than they are baseball. And that’s not even getting into the literally ten of thousands different types of non-sports related baseball hats, which include everything from hats with interesting artistic designs to lids that have the name of the latest Hollywood blockbuster embroidered on it. The universe of baseball hats is vast and almost limitless.

But what about the blank baseball hat? The kind that has no logo, symbol or promotional material above the its brim. Is that the kind of hat you’d be interested in wearing?

There are many reasons somebody would want to wear a blank baseball. The simplest are the same as the non-baseball related reasons that you’d want to wear a regular baseball hat. These would include you want to hide your messy hair; you want to protect your eyes from the sun; you think you look better with a hat and/or the color of your hat brings out your eyes or matches other items of clothing.

But then there are also more specific reasons you’d want to wear a blank baseball hat. Maybe you are anxious about advertising something on your head and prefer not to be a walking billboard — whether it be for a baseball team or the local bar and grill. Maybe you think wearing a blank baseball hat is “ironic.” Which would make wearing a blank trucker hat so overwhelmingly ironic that it could allow famous misunderstander of irony Alanis Morissette to  finally get a handle on the word’s definition. Or maybe you just think blank baseball hats look cool.

Whatever your reason for wanting a blank baseball hat you are in luck. They are readily available and usually cost less than regular baseball hats. You can buy large lots of blank baseball hats for little as $1.50 each and a quick tour of Amazon reveals that you can purchase individual adjustable blank baseball hats that look sturdy for as little as $3.50.

Blank baseball hats are available in just about any style and color regular baseball hats are. Famous wearers of blank baseball hats include Dirty Jobs host Mike Rowe.

Rowe, who just about always wears a baseball cap of some kind, is often seen sporting a grey baseball hat that has no logos or embroidery above the brim or anywhere on the hat. That’s blank baseball hat style.

There was a time long, long ago that baseball caps were just used to play baseball in. These days, however, if you own a baseball cap you are much more likely to be wearing it off the diamond. People do all sorts of activities in their baseball cap, including those that will get the cap both dirty from the inside (perspiration) and the outside (dirt, debris, paint and unfortunate bird droppings.)

Before cleaning your baseball cap you have to determine if it is even worth cleaning. If your hat is cheaply made — meaning it has a cardboard brim and loose stitching — you are probably better off just buying another cheap baseball hat, as the inexpensive design and material isn’t likely to survive a thorough washing.

Most baseball caps manufactured  in the last five or ten years are solidly made, however, with plastic brims. And you can and should wash them when needed. The first thing to do when you have a washable hat is simply check for a label with washing instructions. Many have one and if it does you should just follow whatever it says.

For well-made hats that don’t come with washing instructions, remember that cotton, twill and polyester hats can be washed in a washing machine. If the hat is badly stained you should first apply a pre-wash. Don’t use bleach. Never put a baseball hat in the dryer unless you want to give it to a young relative. Instead air dry it. It is a good idea to stick something like a can or pot or a balloon in the hat during drying so it will keep its form. Or if you are really worried about your hat becoming deformed through washing there are special forms that you can stick in the hat before drying.

If you are weary of sticking your favorite lid in fast moving electronic appliance you can also just wash it by hand with warm water and a mild detergent. Then rinse it off with cool water.

Wool hats always need to be hand washed. And when you do so you would be wise to use a detergent that is specifically approved for wool. Don’t scrub too hard. Make sure to hand a dry wool hat as much as possible after washing and always leave it to dry on something head-shaped to avoid deformation. (Drying it on your head is actually a pretty good idea if you don’t mind wet hair.)

Particular care is needed when washing a New Era hat if you want to keep the New Era sticker in tact. The best way to do this is to tape a piece of plastic wrap around the sticker and then scrub the hat with a toothbrush.

Before washing a very old hat (which should be done by hand) perform a color test with whatever detergent you are going to use. Dip a small amount of the detergent on an unseen part of the hat. If the color changes you are going to just have to wash the hat with water. If not, proceed with the detergent.

Some have suggested using a dishwasher instead of a washing machine to clean sturdy hats because a dishwasher should provide a less abrasive wash and also do a bit of heat drying at the end of the cycle. You can also use the dishwasher tray to position the baseball cap in a way that mimics the head.

Baseball caps are for way more than just playing baseball in. They are also a great way to promote your business, charity or cultural event. Promotional baseball hats are a win win situation for everybody. People like baseball caps and they also like free things. So why not stick your logo on a baseball cap and give these lids away at conferences, conventions, fairs or movie openings. You can and should also give these hats to those whom you do business with.

If you’re lucky, and you have a well-designed cap, the recipient of you gift will wear the hat around town and suddenly you have some free advertising.

Well, not exactly free. You do have to pay for the productions of the hats. But luckily that’s not that much. Promotional baseball hats purchased in bulk range from about a dollar to about ten bucks each, depending on the style and quality of the hat. During the process of buying a promotional hat you send the seller the design you want printed on the space above the brim.

There are many websites on the internet that sell promotional hats and you should look no further than the World Wide Web if you are interested in purchasing a lot of promotional baseball caps. When you do, make sure to comparison shop and be mindful of differences in material quality and any hidden fees that might be included in the logo design process of the hat’s production.

Once you get that all straight you are one step closer to making the general public your walking billboards. And that’s a strategy any business owner or person in charge of company’s marketing decisions should be able to get behind. (And underneath.)

We have no idea how many different types of baseball caps there are in the world. A million? That sounds like too many. But surely there are hundreds of thousands. The point is if you want to own a lot of different baseball hats you certainly have the opportunity to.

And if you do own a lot of baseball caps, you will need a place to store them as nobody likes a baseball cap owner who just throws his hats all haphazardly all over the house. There are many different styles of baseball cap racks that can both organize your sports lids and keep your room in order. We’ve listed the different styles of baseball cap racks and an explanation of each of them below. Hopefully this will help you decide which baseball cap rack is right for you and your baseball cap collection.

Baseball cap rack stand tower
This is the granddaddy of all baseball cap racks. It is a solidly built wire tower, often extending more than six feet in the air. The tower will have between eight and fourteen tiers. You can put one baseball or hat on each tier, or up to six caps on each tier if you stack them on top of each other. Meaning some baseball cap hat racks can store over a hundred hats. This type of rack is often used in commercial settings — like a sporting goods shop or college bookstore. But for the serious baseball cap collector it would be appropriate for home use. Baseball cap hat rack stands generally cost between eighty and one hundred and twenty dollars, depending on their size.

Door hanging cap racks Baseball 
You’ve probably seen one of these hanging on the back of the closet of your frattiest bro. Door hanging cap racks are a great way to organize a medium sized baseball cap collections. To set up a door hanging cap rack you strap it to the top of a door. There should also be a lower strap which stabilizes it to the bottom of the door. Then there are clips or hooks on which you can hang between eight and ten hats. (Many door hanging cap racks come in sets of two, so you can strap them next to each other and double the overall capacity.) These type of cap racks will run between about ten and twenty five dollars. However you might want to opt for the more expensive types as the straps on the cheaper ones can be a bit flimsy.

Peg hat rack system
This is the old school way to hang your hats. A peg hat rack systems is made from hardwood or stainless steel and can sometimes be expanded. It is nailed or screwed into the wall and can be positioned vertically or horizontally. The number of pegs depends on the size of the piece. In addition to baseball caps, peg hat racks system can also house more flimsy lids, such as wool hats. These hat racks range in price between $10 and $25 depending on their size and material.

Cap storage bag
Not a hat rack, per see, but it can be used as one. A hat storage bag is primarily a way to transport your hats. (Which is good for a guy who wants to go on vacation and mix things up by wearing a different hat every day.) But when you aren’t using the storage bag to move your caps around it works pretty well as a place to, well, store them. Cap storage bags usually cost between ten and twenty dollars.

These are the basic types of cap racks, but they certainly aren’t the totality of the cap rack market. There are many variations of these hat racks — for example there is hanging hat rack that attaches to a closet rod. There are also cap racks that crazy cap rack geniuses are currently dreaming up and will soon hit the market. You can buy hat racks at brick at mortar retailers like Bed, Bath and Beyond, The Container Store and Dick’s Sporting Goods. There is also a wide selection of baseball cap racks on online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay.

In this day and age, there is no reason not to have a rack to hang your hat on.

Baseball savings is an online one-stop shop for baseball equipment and apparel. It was founded in 2006 and its mailing address is in Wichita, Kansas, where they also have one retail store there. Baseball Savings is the number one baseball only retailer on the Internet.

Baseball Saving is famous for guaranteeing the lowest price on any baseball bat. If you find a lower price on any bat Baseball Savings carries, they will match the price.

According to Baseball Savings they also have the widest selection of bats on the Internet. These include Easton, DeMARINI, Marucci, Mizuno, Louisville Slugger, Nike, Rawlings, RIP-IT, Miken, Anderson, Mattingly and Reebok. The also have every kind of bat from wood to composite to fungo to fast pitch softball to custom. One of the neat things about Baseball Savings website is that there is a an easy to use function which displays bats by association regulations.

So if, for example, your league is under the ASA umbrella you can just click on ASA and see all the bats that meet that association’s standards. This is also a separate section for BBCOR bats, which are used in college and high school baseball and always feature -three drops. (The drop is difference between the bat’s length in inches and weight in ounces.)

When you click on an individual bat Baseball Saving’s website will give you a bullet point list of all the bat’s features which would include what material the bat is made of, its specs and any warranty information.

Of course Baseball savings is about more than just bats. They sell just about any piece equipment that a baseball player would need, including the field equipment that builds and keeps the diamond in shape. The websites also feature just about any item of NCAA or Major League baseball apparel that a fan would want. Additionally the online market place offers a custom logo service that would be great for corporations, charities and events.

If you are in any way dissatisfied with any product you purchase from Baseball Savings you can get a hundred percent refund as long as you return it within a thirty day period and the product is still in its original packaging and in “new, unused and original” condition. The shipping fee, however, is non-refundable. Custom orders, closeouts, demo items and personalized items or not eligible for this refund.

Orders to Baseball Savings can either be done through their website or over the phone. Baseball Savings offers a $6.99 flat rate standard shipping fee. (It is two dollars more for delivery to “rural” areas, seven to fifteen dollars more to ship to Alaska and three to five dollars more to send something to Hawaii.) Next business day shipping is $22.99, and second day is $14.99.

These shipping prices only apply to orders under seventy five pounds. Saturday and Sunday don’t count as shipping days and any order received after noon on Friday will go out on Sunday.

Baseball Savings only charges sales tax when shipping to Kansas, California or Washington State. However your state my require you to report your purchase and then pay the appropriate sales tax on it.

Baseball Warehouse is an online retailer and one stop shop for all of your baseball needs. Baseball Warehouse offers baseball bats, wood baseball bats, baseball gloves, baseball bags, batting helmets, catcher’s gear, custom colors, pitching machines, baseball training aids, baseball clothes, baseball accessories, protective equipment, sunglasses and even umpire gear.

Based out of Columbus, Ohio, Baseball Warehouse has been selling online since the company’s founding in 1996. Because they only sell baseball goods their customer service staff is especially in tune to the needs of the hardball player. They also boast exclusive deals to buy direct from manufacturers like Easton, Rawlings, Under Armour, Minuzzo, Wilson and Louisville Slugger. This, they argue, allows them to offer customers the best price and widest selection possible. On their website, Baseball Warehouse advertises their prices as “up to 50 percent off of MSRP.” (Manufacturer’s suggested retail price.)

On top of that, Baseball Warehouse often runs promotion in which a further 10 or 20 percent are discounted. Before purchasing a good from Baseball Warehouse make sure you Google “Baseball Warehouse Promo code” or “Baseball Warehouse discount” to see if you can find additional savings online. (This is good advice for any of your online purchases.)

Baseball Warehouse accepts Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express and Paypal.

While it doesn’t take a lot of tech savvy to order from their site, Baseball Warehouse also has customer service representatives that can take your order over the phone Monday through Friday between 10 AM and 7 PM Eastern Time. For those who don’t want their orders tracked through the phone or the internet for some reason, Baseball Warehouse features a printable order form that can be mailed in. Through this method you can also pay by check or money order. Baseball Warehouse does not accept cash.

Baseball Warehouse offers a 30 day “no sweat” guarantee which buyers can return any product that doesn’t meet their satisfaction for a “full” refund and return shipping. There is a 20 percent restocking fee for returned items but it is waived if you take the refund in store credit. You don’t have to use store credit immediately.

Baseball Warehouse offers free ground shipping on orders over $99 and all orders received by 3 PM EST standing time are shipped within one business day. Orders can be tracked through the website’s online fulfillment center.

Among the competitors to Baseball Warehouse would be other online baseball specialty sites such as Baseball Express, Baseball Savings and Better Baseball. Using Google or any other search engine to search “baseball equipment” should expose you to new online baseball specialty sites which may have sprung up since this article was written.

You could also opt to buy your equipment directly from the manufacturer’s website. Another alternative to Baseball Warehouse would be to make use of the baseball section of your local sporting good store. Amazon also has a very large selection of baseball equipment and apparel and would be considered a competitor of Baseball Warehouse.

Youth baseball uniforms come in a wide variety of styles and colors. A youth baseball uniform can be as simple as t-shirt with a number on the back that had coarsely painted on with a stencil. Or it can be a replica of exactly what the Major Leaguers are decked out in.

Most youth baseball uniforms are going to fall somewhere between those two extremes.

For the most part, a youth baseball player will get his uniform when he signs up for his team and the cost of the apparel will be included in any registration fees. This is because everybody on the team needs to have the same uniform and it would be almost impossible to achieve this “uniformity” if each parent was deputized to go out into the marketplace and purchase the correct uniform.

However somebody, whether it is the coach or a league official, does have to buy the uniforms as well as make the decision on how elaborate they should be.

This makes economic sense too, for when buying in bulk you can get much better prices on Youth Baseball uniforms. In fact, you should be able to pay less than ten dollars each for the major components of a youth baseball uniform, including the jersey, baseball pant and hat.

There are many websites that cater to these bulk purchases and you should be able to find them simply be searching for “Youth Baseball Uniforms” on your favorite search engine or web browser. A salesperson or representative at your local sport goods store would also be more than happy to help you outfit a youth baseball team.

One of the ways youth teams have traditionally defrayed the costs of their uniforms is through sponsorships. Whether it be a car dealer, the drug or pet store or even the sporting goods store that sold you the duds, local business are often willing to pay the cost of a youth baseball team’s uniforms in exchange for displaying the name of their business and the logo. Sometimes the extent of their deal will also include providing refreshments after the game or a ten percent discount for team members and their parents of the team at the business.

There are some times individual parents do have to purchase Youth Baseball Uniforms, or at least parts of it. Many leagues don’t provide baseball pants or stirrups, but a youngster craving a more 360 degree hardball experience may want them. In this cases your local sport goods store or Amazon should work fine, and the apparel should be fairly inexpensive.

Youth baseball uniforms also make for great Halloween costumes. However in this case you would probably want to get a the pint sized version of your little tykes favorite big league team. You should be able to find these “costumes” at MLB.com as well as the team’s individual website.

Victory Custom Athletics is a Chatsworth, California sporting goods company founded in 1988 with the intention of creating baseball uniforms with extra attention to pattern and design. Operating under the policy that a uniform should perform as well as the athlete, Victory has always emphasized durability, comfort and functional fit in their products. Knowing that the sports uniform business has always been a crowded, Victory has tried to distinguish themselves by focusing on laser-sharp customer service from day one. They also use only the best natural and synthetic materials in their uniform, operating under the mantra a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

Victory baseball uniform feature elastic, snaps, buttons, and zippers which far exceed the industry norm. Bar tacked reinforced belt loops, cover stitch and double standard come standard on Victory products.

Victory baseball pants are made in the USA, just like America’s pastime, and because they are factory direct so there is no dealing with a middleman and you will always know where your order stands.

Victory baseball pants come with pro tunnel belt loops, heavy duty brass zippers, reinforced twill tape in the crotch area, cover stitched seams, non roll elastic waistband, nickel plated, reinforced double knees and a lifetime guarantee. Yup, that’s Big League quality.

Victory baseball offers six styles of pants. Clemson cut, old school, low rise, Manny, traditional tapered and vintage.

Clemson cut is more or less their standard pant. It features a leg that runs down to right above the shoe and a hidden stirrup. A pair of Clemson cuts will run 79.99 dollars for white or grey and $81.99 for pinstripe. Old School features the classic knicker style, with the pant baggy and ending right below the knees. It runs $67.99 and Victory will also sell you the stirrup and sanitary required to pull of the look for about twenty bucks. Low rise is basically just the Clemson cut with a low rise waist and it costs $79.99.

Manny cut, which seems to make reference to the haphazard uniform of former slugger Manny Ramirez, is looser and more flexible above the knees and also runs $79.99. Traditional tapered gives you a sleek tapered look and elastic ankle openings for $73.99. Vintage is similar to old school, but with a tighter fit on the things. It goes for $67.99.

With Victory baseball pants you always have the option of adding trim for an additional ten dollars. Trim colors include white, black, grey, kelly, dark green, teal, victory, royal, blue, navy, purple, scarlet, cardinal, maroon, brown, Texas orange, orange, vegas gold, victory blue and white (which is for the grey pants.)

Additionally, Victory has youth baseball pants in all of these styles and colors. Youth pants cost between fifteen and twenty dollars less than their adult counterparts.

Victory also offers player packs which are by for the most economical way to buy Victory uniforms. All the packs, which are meant to be bought in bulk for a baseball team, are a bit different.  They generally include four or five tops — a mix of jersey, t-shirts, sweatshirts and fleeces — one pair of pants, a pair of practice shorts and sometimes also a bag or belt.

You need to buy a minimum of twelve packs, and if you just buy twelve the cost of each pack will be between two hundred dollars and $275, depending on what is included. If you buy ninety-six packs the price can get as low as $175 each.

Because Victory is factory direct you need to log on their website to make a purchase. Besides pants, you can also buy individual jerseys (which are fully customizable) batting gloves, socks, stirrups, jackets and other baseball apparel.

One of the best ways to show your college pride is to purchase a NCAA baseball hat. Such hats come in all sorts of designs, including stretchfit, snapback, stretchback, one size, mesh bar, trucker and adjustable.

There are two schools of thought when buying a NCAA baseball hat. One is to purchase a hat exactly like your favorite college team wears — an official, on-the field baseball hat. Another is to purchase a baseball style hat that includes the markings of the University but isn’t worn on the field of play by their baseball team.

There are many, many different types of the latter lid. The most traditional non-official baseball hat would simply the name of the college on top of the college’s athletic nickname with a fairly plain background. Variations of this hat would include backgrounds that are camouflaged or plaid or a darker color, like black or burgundy, or that have any other interesting patterns.

Another less-traditional non-official NCAA baseball hat would be representation of the school’s mascot. For example an Oregon Ducks baseball hat with a picture of a duck or Mississippi State baseball hat with an image of a bulldog.

Some college fans would like a put a football twist on their NCAA baseball hat and wear the same lids their favorite college coaches and assistants have on their heads when the walk the sidelines on Saturdays. This is easy to do, as this specific apparel will be available anywhere you can buy NCAA baseball hats.

Most parents would be happy to have their children attend their alma mater and one of the best ways to get your progeny on track to follow in your academic footsteps is to buy them NCAA baseball hat. Whether it be Stanford or UNC or Ole Miss, they will wear that NCAA baseball hat with pride and it will encourage them to get the kind of grades that will one day allow them walk through these schools hallowed halls.

Now there are some NCAA baseball hats that aren’t baseball hats at all. Head toppers like driving caps and fedoras (like Bear Bryant used to wear) are available at most places that would sell regular NCAA baseball hats.

For the youngest of fans, may we suggest a bucket hat? Made for infants, these soft, night cap-like lids have colorful comic renderings of the school’s mascot. For example, the Clemson hat would feature an adorable tiger and the Minnesota hat would be an image of a cheerful golden gopher.

With so many NCAA baseball hats to choose from, it’s hard to pick just one. Luckily you don’t have to. While you may only have one head, there are plenty of places to put your extra hats. We suggest either placing them in the back seat window of your car or hanging them on hooks in your bedroom or den.

The best places to buy NCAA baseball hats are at your local sporting goods store, or on websites such as Amazon Collegebaseballshop or Lids.