Men's Yankee Hats Guide

A Yankee hat is a baseball cap carrying the mark of the New York Yankees — most often the interlocking NY on a navy crown. Baseball team hats are not only baseball caps: a favorite team's logo can be printed, embroidered or embellished onto a wide variety of headwear styles, and team logos have even been put onto cowboy hats. But the classic sports team hat for baseball is the cap itself, and the most popular team logo on such a hat is the Yankees' — which makes this small guide a study of the most recognized cap in sports.

A baseball cap is a type of soft cap with a rounded crown and a stiff peak projecting in front, and the front of the cap typically contains the designs or logos of sports teams. The cap is part of the traditional baseball uniform, worn by players with the brim pointing forward to shield the eyes from the sun; since the 1980s its varieties have also become a common fashion accessory, worn by Yankees fans everywhere to show team spirit.

The Interlocking NY

The insignia has a documented history worth knowing before you buy, because three major versions of it are in use at once. The interlocking NY was originally designed by Tiffany & Co. and struck on a medal of honor presented in 1877 to John McDowell, a New York City police officer shot in the line of duty. Through the team's years as the Highlanders, the logo was variations of a stylized N and Y lying separately on either side of the jersey's breast; the two locked for one season in 1905, but not in the way used today, and it was not until 1909 that the team changed to the familiar interlocking NY that became the cap insignia and has remained it ever since.

Today's three versions differ in proportion. The cap insignia keeps the N and Y at about the same size and unadorned. The home jersey logo — first on the breast in 1912, back for good in 1936 — makes the Y larger, the letters more blocky and the curves more exaggerated. The print logo, used extensively in marketing, painted behind home plate at the Stadium and worn on batting helmets, makes the N larger and more curved, with large serifs. The primary team logo is a separate mark: created in 1947 by sports artist Henry Alonzo Keller, it sets 'Yankees' in red script against a baseball, a red bat forming the vertical line of the K and an Uncle Sam hat hanging from the barrel.

Fitted, Snapback and Stretch-Fit

Two primary hat styles organize the market: fitted and snapback. Fitted baseball caps, those without an adjuster, are normally sewn in six sections and may be topped with a matching fabric-covered button — also called a squatchee — on the crown. Metal grommets or fabric eyelets are often sewn near the top of each section for ventilation, some rear sections are made of net-like mesh for extra airflow, and the peak is typically stiffened by a sewn-in piece of paperboard or stiff plastic. A fitted cap is bought by head size, so measure before you order.

Formerly baseball caps only came in standard hat sizes; since 1980 they have also been available in a one-size form with an adjustment strap in the back — plastic, Velcro or elastic. The style commonly called snapback has become increasingly popular as a fashion accessory, and advances in textiles have added the stretch-fit hat, which uses Lycra or rubber to keep a fitted look while adjusting within sizes. Two wearing notes: caps are often worn backwards on purpose, and catchers wear them backwards to accommodate the facemask.

Materials, Underbrims and Patches

Major and minor league players wear classic-style caps made of wool — or, more recently, polyester — with the team's logo usually embroidered into the fabric. The Yankees stopped wearing wool caps, along with all MLB teams, beginning in 2007; the newer caps have a black underbrim to reduce glare and a more three-dimensional MLB logo on the back. Underbrim color is a quick dating tool for older caps: an MLB logo first appeared on the back of Yankees caps in 1992, the team was one of the last to wear a green underbrim, and it did not switch to gray until 1994.

Side and back patches mark the special editions. The Yankees and Atlanta Braves were the first teams to wear World Series patches sewn on the cap's side, in 1996; the #39 was sewn on the back in 1998 for Darryl Strawberry during his illness; anniversary patches marked the American League's 100th in 2001 and the club's own 100th in 2003; and the 2009 inaugural-season patch at the new Yankee Stadium sat on the back of the cap — the first time in MLB history a patch shared that spot with the MLB logo. Beginning with the 2014 season, MLB pitchers have also been permitted a special reinforced cap to protect against line drives.

Choosing and Caring for a Yankees Cap

Choose the closure first: fitted for the clean on-field look and an exact size, snapback for one-size gifting and a flatter fashion profile, stretch-fit between the two. Then choose the crown — structured crowns hold the classic silhouette, unstructured crowns slouch — and the fabric: polyester performance crowns for summer games, wool-blend and knit Yankees hats for cold ones, since popular Yankees headwear includes knit hats as well as caps.

Care follows the construction. Spot-clean embroidered caps rather than machine washing, keep the stiffened peak dry and unbent, and store the cap on a form or stuffed so the six-section crown keeps its shape. A cap bought for its insignia deserves to be judged like one: check that the interlocking NY is embroidered, centered, and the right version for the garment — cap, jersey or print marks are not interchangeable among collectors.

Special-Edition Caps: A Chronology

During a July 4, 2008 game against the Boston Red Sox, the Yankees wore a special stars-and-stripes cap with an American flag pattern inside the interlocking NY — thought to be the first time in their history the Yankees had worn a special-edition cap; all other MLB teams sported similar designs inside their cap logos. As a Memorial Day promotion the Yankees donned red caps with stars-and-stripes logos for a May 25, 2009 game against the Texas Rangers, and wore them again on July 4, 2009 against Toronto and on September 11, 2009 against Baltimore — the latter being the game in which Derek Jeter earned his 2,722nd base hit, breaking the franchise record held by Lou Gehrig. During the 2010 season the Yankees wore special off-white caps with stars-and-stripes logos on Memorial Day, Independence Day weekend and Patriot Day, with proceeds from sales supporting Welcome Back Veterans, a non-profit targeting veterans’ needs including mental health and job training. For Memorial Day 2013, all of Major League Baseball wore caps and jerseys featuring an authentic military digital camouflage design licensed from the United States Marine Corps; the Yankees, playing on the road at Citi Field, wore camouflage caps with a white NY and jerseys with camouflage lettering and numbers.

The New York Yankees are based in the Bronx and compete in MLB as a member of the American League East. In the 1901 season the club began play in the AL as the Baltimore Orioles; Frank Farrell and Bill Devery purchased the franchise and moved it to New York City, renaming the club the New York Highlanders, and the Highlanders were officially renamed the Yankees in 1913. One footnote has absolutely nothing to do with baseball: “Yankee Doodle went to town, a-riding on a pony, stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni” — the well-known American song whose early versions date back to the Seven Years’ War and the American Revolution.