The Quad Cities River Bandits unveiled two new cap designs Friday — one that will serve as an alternate cap for home games, and another that will be worn on Throwback Thursdays.
The new alternate cap follows the trend of focusing on a mascot’s eyes — in this case, Rascal the River Bandit. The logo on the cap glows in the dark, turning from white during the day to a glowing green at night.
The River Bandits are also bringing back the fan-favorite bandana baseball logo as a Throwback Thursday cap and jersey for the 2017 season. The River Bandits will wear these caps and jerseys during all Thursday home games this year, including Opening Day on April 6.
Some notable future major-leaguers wore the throwback logo when it was first used by the River Bandits from 1992 to 2003. They include Joe Mauer (2002), Justin Morneau (2001), Billy Wagner (1994), Richard Hidalgo (1994), Orlando Palmeiro (1992) and Mark Sweeney (1992).
On a side note, this logo is a personal favorite of mine. The River Bandits used it when I first started going to their games in the early 2000s, and I had a window-cling version of it on my car at that time. I was disappointed when it disappeared during the Swing of the Quad Cities years, and was glad to see an updated version of it come into use when the River Bandits nickname returned. For me, however, the nostalgia factor of the original “bandana baseball” logo makes it the best version.
* The Lansing Lugnuts recently unveiled new baseball caps, too. You can see them here.