At FriarFest they had all the promotions on display so you could see them for the upcoming season. I took one look at the floppy hat and I asked to speak to the guy who makes the decisions on this stuff. Turned out that the guy I asked was the guy who made the decisions. "Why can't you just make a floppy hat that people like?" I told him about the great hat in 99 or 2000 that was reversable. One side light tan and the other side dark blue. Swinging Friar on the front of one side and the interlocking SD on the other. It was classic, comfortable and cool. I still wear that hat when I'm out in the sun for a long time. Day games in the summer especially.
Since then they have these hats with chin straps and buttons and crazy friar designs. Remember the bright orange one? Has anybody worn that hat since? That year some genius in the marketing department decided the Padres slogan was going to be "Oraaaange-rific!". Okay I made that up, but everything was bright orange. Then they got into these Austrailian outback hats with the brim that buttons to the side. Including the leather chin strap. The only time I'd wear this is if I was hunting dingos.
The guy told me that they have to mix up the hats to keep people interested, but I swear if they just put out some classic hats, people would wear them. I told him he should check with me in the future since I obviously consider myself an expert.
Update [2006-2-22 13:15:41 by jbox]:
Here's Jonny Dub with the hat I like. Extra Gaslamp Points if you can name the other dude in the picture.