With St. Patricks Day right around the corner, we’ve seen the release of the 2017 St. Patricks Day hat. This year has introduced several changes and we’ll review the hat and those changes in this post.
The most notable changes are on the outside of the hat so we’ll start there. We’ll be displaying both the 2016 and 2017 hat for comparison. New for the 2017 hat is a dark green brim. This is a departure from last year which had a matching Kelly Green brim. The brim, while still poly, does not have a matching pattern to the rest of the hat like we saw in the 2016 hat.
Another obvious change is the addition of the New Era logo which is a new addition that we saw in the playoffs last season to all on-field hats. This change rolls over into 2017 as we’ve discussed in previous blogs. Another new addition is the Chromaflex patch that we’ve seen in All-Star game hats and Spring Training hats in the past. While they do add a bit of flare to hats, I’m not a huge fan of their use. I personally prefer embroidered patches or what we saw last year, an embossed 4 leaf clover with NL centered in the 4 leaf clover.
Another change on the outside of the cap is the color of the top button, or squatchee. In 2016, the squatchee was Kelly Green like the rest of the hat. The squatchee from 2016 also utilized the same material and pattern as the rest of the hat. The squatchee on the 2017 hat matches the dark green color of the brim. The pattern matches the brim as well.
The MLB batterman logo on the back of the hat hasn’t changed however the color is no longer Kelly Green. It has been replaced with the dark green used on the squatchee and brim.
Now that we’ve covered the outside of the hat, lets take a look at the changes on the inside of the hat. The most noticeable change is the color of the sweatband and the New Era strips on the inside of the crown. In 2016, both were black. For 2017, both are now gray.
The next big change on the inside of the hat is the tags, or lack thereof in this case. New Era has always utilized a tag for their logo, size, and to mark the cap as an on-field /authentic hat. New Era has departed from this with the 2017 hat and printed the size and the authentic collection tag directly onto the sweatband of the cap. The New Era tag remains as a typical sewn in tag. As far as I know, this is the first time this has been utilized in a New Era on-field/authentic hat .
Despite several changes to the 2017 St. Patricks Day hat, I still like the over all look. I think the use of dual colors is a nice touch. The white New Era logo on the side of the cap doesn’t bother me as a little bit of white adds to the hat in my opinion. I’ve always liked the use of white and green together. I’m curious however to see how well the printed information on the sweatband holds up. I’d expect to see cracking and pealing with heavy wear. So if you’d like to keep your 2017 St. Patricks Day Hat in prime condition, I’d suggest breaking it out for St. Patricks Day and a special occasion here and there.
Till next time, happy hat collecting!
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