JoeShade™

Why Do Baseball Players Wear Their Hats Backwards?

Written by E Kennedy on January 31, 2013

You’ve probably asked yourself this one after popping open your sports umbrella and sitting down to watch the game

baseball umbrella, portable sports umbrella

Are you sitting under your sports umbrella watching a baseball game and wondering why baseball players like Ken Griffey, Jr. wear their hats backwards?

Baseball has been around for a long time, and with it have comes a lot of unexplained habits. For example, I bet while you’ve been sitting under your sports umbrella watching a baseball game you’ve asked yourself the question “why do baseball players wear their hats backwards?” I’ve thought about this question a million times to myself when I’m popping open my portable baseball umbrella and beginning to watch a game. Us girls may not have come to a consensus yet on whether we like it or not- take a poll and its a pretty even split down the middle about if guys can really rock a backwards hat!- but no matter how you feel about it, men are wearing this style a lot on the field today. So if you find this question still sticking in your mind, let’s take a quick trip back into the history of hats, because the answer to this particular question may surprise you!

Hat Fashions Have Parents Sitting Under Their Baseball Umbrellas, Baffled

Nowadays, you see men walking around in baseball hats both on and off the field! If you head over to your local mall you’ll see a bunch of guys wearing baseball hats, and in too many different fashionable styles to count. In the 90’s we got particularly creative: you saw fellas rockin’ the sideways hat, the hat in their pocket, and of course the backwards look. Now men will pay a hefty price just to buy a hat with a large sticker on the front that in some inexplicable way makes it more valuable (I’m sorry guys, you lost me on that trend!) And the different types of hat trends don’t even end there. We haven’t even discussed how guys like to wear the bills of their hats! Guys will keep them in mint condition, or they will work for months to twist in the corners of the bill so that it has a worn-in appearance like they’ve been out on the field all day. I think parents sitting on the sidelines under their baseball umbrellas are all a little confused about the 1,000’s of ways in which their sons choose to wear their hats.

So Why Do Baseball Players Wear Their Hats Backwards?

Nowadays, its so common to see someone in a baseball hat flipped around, but I bet you didn’t know that this fashion statement all started on the baseball field. The reason behind it is that catchers could never fit their catcher’s mask over their hat so they started turning their hats around when they would put on their mask. However, I would not recommend this trick on the sideline. If you’re outside at the game a hat is a great idea, but the bill is what protects your face, and UV radiation is not something you want to be hitting your face. So next time you’re at the game, make sure to not act like a catcher and keep that hat facing forward. Also, make sure to sit under a UV umbrella so that your even more safe from the sun!

Although I’m sure we’ve got a few more baseball hat trends ahead of us, it’s pretty crazy to see how a game created over 150 years ago started this particular fashion craze!

So what’s your vote? How do you like to wear your hat, or what’s your favorite style to see men sporting? Leave us a comment below, we’d love to hear!