Forrest Gump, Green Day, Lisa Marie marrying Michael Jackson and Bad Luck Blue?

     The year of 1994 was full of famous and infamous  pop culture legends such as Nirvana, Beastie Boys, and OJ in the White Bronco.

     However, my favorite memory of 1994 starts and ends with one item: a Phillies cap now known as "Bad luck Blue".

     My Phillies had lost the 1993 World Series to the Toronto Blue Jays but were returning a promising line up.  In 1994, New Era had just won the right to be the official supplier of on-field caps to every team with MLB.

      New Era's lone competitor, Sports Specialties, would never recover and soon rest in peace.

      A little research into this cap yielded the following info: Prior to the start of the 1994 season, Blue was supposed to be worn eighteen times on home-day games at Veterans Stadium.  The Phils opened on the road that year (April 4, at Colorado), with the home opener coming seven days later again versus Colorado.  Blue lost her home opener to the Rockies by a score of 8-7.  In the lineup that day were the likes of Dykstra, Daulton (3-run HR), Kruk, Hollins, Eisenreich, and Stocker.  Danny Jackson got the start and Roger Mason took the loss.

     After the home opener, the Phillies  were 3-4 and it was  the beginning of the end for Blue.  The Phillies players hated the caps,and a writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer mentioned that an unnamed player snarled and stated, "I do not want to talk about the blue caps."  By the end of June, the Phils were 0-4 in games where Blue was worn. Darren Daulton had a closed door meeting with management and expressed the team's displeasure with the new cap.   Soon after, Lenny Dykstra appeared on the Tonight Show and shredded several of the Blue caps. (Salter)  An agreement was reached, where Blue's appearances were reduced from eighteen down to nine.  Blue's last appearance was a 5-1 loss at the hands of the Pirates on August 4th.  She was scheduled to appear again on August 18th, but MLB went on strike on August 12th.  She finished with a record of 1-7.

     While Blue was rejected by the players, she sure was a hit with the fans.  Records indicate that she was the third highest seller of  all  on-field caps and had sold 120,000 by the end of May.(Caldwell)  Only the Rangers (their first year in new red cap) and Astros (their first year in a new black cap) outsold Blue.

The year before Blue appeared, the Phillies ranked 16th out of 28 MLB teams in cap sales. With Blue in the line-up in 1994 they were 5th out of 28.  Hmmmmm.

      Needless to say, Blue was never worn on the field again and has become known as "Bad Luck Blue."  Personally, I believe the stinging loss from the 1993 World Series to the BLUE Jays had something to do with the animosity towards the cap.  To me, the real Bad Luck Blue has to be the Montreal Expos cap of 1994 (the team wore their all blue cap in 1994 as the pinwheel was retired in 1992).  Remember this team?  Floyd, Walker, Grissom, Hill, and Pedro Martinez? If there was not a strike in 1994, Montreal would probably have a World Series and more importantly a current  MLB team.

      On the final day of the strike- shortened 1994 season, the Phillies would finish twenty games behind first place Montreal. There would be no World Series.  Lenny Dyskstra would become a convicted felon, encounter financial ruin and multiple televised meltdowns.  Darren Daulton wouldn't fare much better: DUI, spousal abuse, and jail time.  Daulton would pen, "If They Only Knew"in 2007 in which he would discuss living in other dimensions, reincarnation, and out of body experiences. Montreal did not fare much better.  Star players quickly went elsewhere, ideas for a new stadium never got off the ground and the Expos divorced also....from the city of Montreal.  They would relocate and become the Washington Nationals in 2005.

      Blue is my favorite cap to wear for many reasons; she is unique but much more.  She reminds me of my younger years when I was care free and somewhat naive, when I actually believed that ball players were perfect on and off the field.  All this changed in 1994.

Caldwell, Dave. "To Cap It All, They Sell. Phils' Hated Headgear Going Like Hotcakes." Philly-archives. N.p., 28 June 1994. Web. 02 May 2016. http://articles.philly.com/1994-06-28/news/25830987_1_blue-caps-centerfielder-lenny-dykstra-phils.

Salter, Rosa. "Hat Trick Phillies Fans Can't Figure Out Reason For New Blue Caps." Tribunedigital-mcall. N.p., 20 June 1994. Web. 02 May 2016. http://articles.mcall.com/1994-06-20/features/2971552_1_blue-phillies-caps.