The Memorial Day hat is the second oldest uniform tradition in MLB. Starting as a shared cap for Memorial Day and 4th Of July in 2012, a standalone Memorial Day cap and uniform set emerged in 2013 and has gone through many iterations of desert and forest Marine camouflage until this year. Rumor had it that the licensing for Marine digital camouflage usage in the Memorial Day caps would expire, and the following cap appears to be indicative of that being somewhat true. The Padres obtained their permission to use the Marine (and presumably Navy) camouflages straight from the Marine Corps (and Navy, respectively).
Olive green crown and border detail
Black interlocking SD and New Era flag
Camouflage brim and squatcho
This year’s Memorial day strays away from the digital camouflage and goes to the standard “blotch” camouflage. The brim material, however, is new to on-fields: the brim is camouflage ripstop nylon. Ripstop is a nylon sewn with a noticeable crosshatch pattern meant to be resistant to tearing. The feel of the material is smooth and it offers a very subtle sheen when caught by light. The squatcho can vary in color: my example is brown, though you may find green or black.
On the wearer’s right are rubber black stars, presumably meant to mimic the stars of a 5-star general meant to represent the 5 branches of the military (thanks, Tony and Sportslogos.net). This is an interesting addition to an on-field which are generally devoid of designs outside of a patch. Check out Toronto’s version with maple leaves (leafs?) in lieu of stars.
The rear of the cap features the MLB Batterman logo in olive green and black.
The underbrim is also ripstop. A surprise I didn’t see (pun intended) is the sweatband. The sweatband is done up in matching camouflage. This year appears to be the year of printed sweatbands.
Here’s a closer look at the sweatband detail. As with the Mother’s Day cap (and probably all subsequent Special Event caps) the Authentic and size tags are replaced by a printed version of each directly on the sweatband itself. Note also the gray taping.
You can find your own version of this cap at your local cap retailer. This is usually the 2nd or 3rd best-selling cap of the Special Events/Holiday caps behind the 4th of July version and the Father’s Day cap.
Because Memorial Day is a 3-day weekend, the Padres will sport the away look on Saturday the 27th and Sunday the 28th in DC versus the Nationals and the home uni on Memorial Day proper (the 29th) against the Cubs.