Portland Beavers 2008-2010

The Portland Beavers have a vast history that were part of four different incarnations over the years, each being a rebirth of a team that has since left the vicinity but picking up after its predecessor. The Beavers' history began in 1903 as one of the first of the Pacific Coast League teams and continued to run until 1917 when the team took a one year hiatus from the Pacific Coast League to join the Class B Pacific Coast International League; regardless of this move they became a PCL team in 1919 and were so until 1972.

Six after the Beavers withdrew from existence, they once again sprung up in Portland to become the second true incarnation of the team, and this team stood strong until 1993 when the Beavers' owner evidently moved them to Salt Lake City and forced them to become the Salt Lake Buzz, now the Bees. The city of Portland was once again without baseball until the year 2000, this was until the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to switch affiliates leaving the Dodgers with Las Vegas and the Padres with Albuquerque, so the Padres decided to move the team up to Portland and create a brand new Beavers team.

The 2000-2010 Beavers were the first in Beavers history to really utilize the team's rich history in their favour, always wearing 1903 patches on their shoulders they boldly celebrated that their team has just as much history behind them as most of the current Major League teams, however come the 2010 season the city of Portland and the Beavers couldn't come to an agreement on a new stadium, due to the fact that Portland General Electric Park was being converted into a primarily soccer stadium which forced the Beavers out. Without a stadium and the 2011 season looming, the Portland Beavers had reached an unfortunate set of events that forced them out of town, with several cities up for bid it eventually fell upon the shoulders of Tucson, AZ to take upon the team.

With the 2011 and the Beavers moving the Tucson, it is unlikely that Portland will be able to regain a stadium in the upcoming years, and with a stadium situation in Escondido, CA under question and a lack of attendance in Tucson the team's most recent incarnation has a questionable future, but the possibility of Portland regaining another Beavers team is always a possibility, perhaps in the Major Leagues next time.

The Portland Beavers have and always will be one of my favourite baseball teams, minor and major league. This is a team wish so much rich history and a team that is naturally a Pacific Coaster as I am, it's hard not to have an affinity for such a team as this. After attending a Portland Beavers game in 2009 while visiting a friend up in the Greater Portland Area, I always regretted not going into the team shop and at least checking out their cap selection, but come a few years later I finally came upon this cap after repeated hunting online to acquire the cap that has eluded me for the past year.

The Beavers cap is a dark blue base that includes a stylized “P” on the front, included with Lucky the Beaver embroidered right on the front. This “P” has a pale blue outline to it and has a beige interior which blends extremely well with the outline and the base of the cap, it allows the logo to really pop on the front although the logo and letter may not be exactly clear without up close investigation. The “P” in a sense isn't completed on the underside of the loop, and to complete this the designers decided to use Lucky's beaver tail to do so, which may mask the letter and cause confusion to those who do not know this is a cap from Portland and is styled with a “P”. The space in the letter is also gone due to the fact that Lucky's head is covering it, the beaver has a great amount of detail in the face and even utilizes two different thread colours to increase the realism of the beaver along with the dimensions of threading and directions they can take. Lucky is also completely with a blue cap which is most likely a throwback to the original Beavers uniforms, along with the jersey top that he appears to be wearing that has been stitched in crème threading.

The detail on this beavers cap is what really draws it to me, this cap once again amazes me with what can be done with a needle and thread when introduced to a ballcap. This cap doesn't appear to be the style that would be desired from a passive fan or just a hat collector, but would most likely be most appreciated by those who were original fans of the team or those who love baseball history.