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.
In this episode of “Personal Stories About Ballcaps,” we pay attention to the cap of the Brussels Kangaroos.
Since the Belgian Baseball Federation decided to merge Baseball 1 and Baseball 2, as the two highest leagues were called in Belgium, into one big twelve team division, named Division 1, the Brussels Kangaroos acted at the highest stage of Belgian baseball. Since I have set a goal to visit all the facilities of Belgian Division 1 clubs, I attended my first game in Brussels in 2021. It caught my eye that the flagship team of the Kangaroos wore different caps than the other teams of the club.
I walked around to take the inevitable photos, and at one point someone said to me in unadulterated Dutch: “Welkom in Brussel” (Welcome to Brussels). Surprised, I looked aside and it appeared to be the team manager of the club, who is a Dutch native, but who works and lives in Brussels for years because of his job.
After the double header against the Brasschaat Braves, this team manager and I kept in contact through Facebook Messenger. Eventually, I asked him if he could arrange a cap of the flagship team; one for myself and one for a friend of mine, who is an avid baseball cap collector as well. Of course I told him I would pay for it.
Eventually, in March 2022, the Kangaroos played a practice game in Borgerhout against the local Squirrels. I went there and met the team manager again. He brought the two caps for me.
For sure this new cap looks a lot different as the club’s regular cap. This new one is beyond the ordinary. It sports a roundel with the club logo at the front of the cap and “ye olde English” K, which is on the front of the regular caps of the club, at the back. On the side of the new cap is embroidered “Since 1989.”
I was in possession of the regular cap of the Kangaroos already. That one is a navy, mesh cap with the old English K embroidered at the front. It is one of my favorites.
I loved my stay at the Brussels Kangaroos. It is a nice club, a true melting pot of cultures, mainly because there are many expats. On a regular game day, you can see people from Belgium, Japan, the United States and South- and Central America. Unfortunately, after the 2022 season, the club lost many players and decided to step down to Division 2.
Dutch Baseball Hangout 
You must be logged in to post a comment.