Why I like my LA Dodgers hat


I live in Arizona, have never had even the slightest interest in watching sports, even when I lived in Los Angeles in the '80s, but I like my LA Dodgers hat.

I went to a Dodgers game in 1987 on "free hat day" and got my first Dodgers hat. I've never paid much attention to my casual wear (although I worked in a shirt-and-tie) so I tended to wear whatever I had, and never gave any thought to my blue hat that said LA on it when I moved back to Phoenix in 1989. Yes, of course I knew that it was for the Dodgers baseball team, but that wasn't important to me.

So calm down there if you're a Diamondbacks fan, or know about baseball. I know nothing. I have a basic understanding of how to play baseball, since I grew up in the United States, although I was very slow in understanding that you shouldn't run to first base if you hit a popup. Yeah, I wasn't often chosen to play baseball much in school! But I have fond memories of Los Angeles, and I like the color blue.

I just love the fact that the hat says LA, not Dodgers. There's a lot of meaning there for me. Because to this day if you ask me, I'll tell you that I was an Angeleno. And while I was happy to move away when I did, I really never went away mad. I spent my twenties there, and it formed a lot of who I am. I like to tell people that I grew to my full height in Minneapolis, went to college in Tempe, and grew up in Los Angeles.

And for those of you who are familiar with Los Angeles, I know what you're thinking: where? Because only people outside of LA call it LA. LA is just too darned big! So, for you, I lived in Hollywood (near Argyle and Franklin) and also in Canoga Park. And without going into a lot of boring detail, those are in the city limits of Los Angeles, as opposed to Burbank, or Beverly Hills, for example.

I wore my free hat for many, many years, probably long after I should have thrown it out, but it was too important to me, not because of a baseball team, because of Los Angeles. I replaced it with the exact same thing in the '90s, didn't wear it much, but by a few years ago it was looking kinda ratty so I went to sports hat store at Arrowhead Mall and got the one that I have now.

And since I'm writing this right after the Dodgers world series win, I think I'll wear my Dodgers hat a little bit, even though I live in Arizona. And people will think that I'm a fan, that I follow them, have been to more than one game, and that I can even name a player (which I can't), but mostly I'll be remembering living in LA in the 1980s, and how much I like the color blue.
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