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 Stuttgart Reds.
This story begins in February 2022. I was planning a vacation to Germany for the month of May. My intention was to go to visit some places I visited with my parents, but still a bit more than a walk down Memory Lane. Of course the plan was to attend a few baseball games too.
In that same period, I met a nice lady. Almost three years after my divorce, I longed for some friendship, for a person I could do some fun things with, like visiting cities, museums, etc., as my friends all live in the Amsterdam area, and I don’t see them every week. But the friendship turned in something more serious. Eventually, in April, my partner asked if I would like it if she would join me on my vacation. My answer was affirmative. Perhaps a bit early, but at the age of fifty-five, with a shipload of life experience, you know when something’s good. So we started to look for hotels and reserved rooms.
The tour started in Ulm, where we visited a game of the IT-Sure Falcons. Of course, the intention was to buy a cap over there, but unfortunately, they only sold snapbacks, not my favorite type of cap, so I passed on that one. After staying two days in beautiful Ulm, we went to Dinkelsbühl, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Ebnisee, Schwäbisch Hall, Tübingen, Stuttgart, and the Rhine Valley.
In Stuttgart, we attended a game of the local baseball club, the Stuttgart Reds. The club sold New Era fitted caps at the entrance, so that was one trophy to bring home.
The Reds took on the Mainz Athletics in a double header (game one was a 9-2 victory for the Athletics, the Reds won game two 8-6). I was able to have a chat with Iris Drobny, who I met in 2017 during the European Champions Cup in Regensburg. She is a very talented photographer. I like to make photos, but my photos do not even come close to hers.
During the baseball games we attended in Ulm and Stuttgart, I explained how the game of baseball works. And guess what? My partner understood the game and liked it too. So next to visiting (old) cities and museums, having the same taste regarding music, having the same kind of humor, we have something more in common. Talk about being soulmates.
What I like about this cap of the Stuttgart Reds is the two-tone colour setting. The prancing horse is a part of the coat of arms of the city of Stuttgart. The TVC logo on the back is the abbreviation of Turnverein Cannstatt (gymnastics club Cannstatt). Bad Cannstatt is a part of Stuttgart and is situated at the opposite side of the Neckar river. The baseball club is part of a so-called omnisports club, a club that practices more than one sport, which is rather common in Germany.
Not only is this cap a nice addition to my collection, it is a fine souvenir of a great vacation too.
Dutch Baseball Hangout 
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