This series is inspired by the must read book “All Caps, Stories That Justify an Outrageous Hat Collection” by Craig Colby. Craig wrote this book about the many caps he has and the stories behind it. Anyhow, this series will be about the caps I own and the stories behind them.
This episode of “Personal Stories About Ball Caps” is about the former cap of T&A San Marino.
In 2017, the European Champions Cup was played in Regensburg at the beautiful Armin-Wolf-Arena, home of the Regensburg Legionäre. One of the contestants was T&A San Marino, which was the third representative of the Italian Baseball League. Back then, San Marino had a special status. No matter at which spot the team ended in the IBL, the team could represent San Marino, which is a tiny independent state completely surrounded by Italy. The other teams of the IBL were Rimini Pirates and Fortitudo Bologna.
I managed to acquire a press card, so I could enter the field of play during warm ups and the press room somewhere next to the batting cages next to the first base line. It was another nice experience to be this privileged. I met some new people, but also old acquaintances like Tim Collins, the play by play announcer of the Munich-Haar Disciples.
Anyhow, much to my surprise, the caps of San Marino were for sale in the fan shop of the Regensburg Legionäre. 
Since I didn’t want to spend too much money on merchandise, I had to choose between this one or the cap of the Regensburg Legionäre. After a long deliberation, I decided to buy the San Marino cap. Some time later, I would be able to acquire the Regensburg one. In fact, I managed to buy the all black Regensburg cap together with the burgundy alternate a few years later, thanks to a friend of mine.
The back of this cap sports the flag of San Marino, though it is not very well detailed, as the real flag contains a coat of arms saying Libertas (Freedom). 
San Marino finished in third place behind champion Curaçao Neptunus and runner up Fortitudo Bologna.
In the preliminary round, San Marino took on Rimini Pirates. These teams are archrivals, which showed during the game. In the ninth inning, Carlos Infante crashed into the catcher at home plate, and that caused a bench clearing brawl, which you can see below.
About three years ago, T&A San Marino changed its looks. The club got rid of this fine cap and replaced it with something I don’t really like. The weird thing is that the bird of prey (I am not sure what kind of bird it is) disappeared from the front of the cap, but is still sported at the right sleeve of the jersey.
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