KC Royals stick to tradition with new spring training caps

With spring training set to launch this weekend when the Chicago Cubs open their Arizona complex gates to pitchers and catchers on Sunday, it came as no surprise that Major League Baseball has revealed the new caps each big league team will wear during camp. But while some clubs will sport flashy new lids, the Kansas City Royals won't stray from tradition when they open spring training on February 12.

Simply put, the design of Kansas City's caps is, well, simple.

As shown here, the main body of the Royals' new hats are light (powder?) blue, the brims are a darker and well-known-to-fans shade of blue, and the main emblem varies little from the the "KC" that the Royals wore for their first-ever season in 1969. An Arizona emblem appears on the cap's right side.

Kansas City fans can, of course, purchase various versions of the new cap from multiple vendors, including the club's official website.

The choice of spring cap reflects KC Royals tradition

No one should be shocked that the Royals aren't deviating from their style norms. This is, after all, a franchise that rarely experiments with new uniform styles and eschews major changes. Yes, the Royals ventured into the world of sleeveless jerseys years ago, but the change didn't last long and they typically adopt drastically different Royal togs only for special reasons (City Connect, for example) and events.

The team's new spring cap departs in no way from the organization's well-established practice of leaning toward the conservative. The two shades of blue are franchise staples and a Royals cap just wouldn't be a Royals cap without the familiar and customary "KC". It's hard, then, to argue with this cap's sheer simplicity.

How does Kansas City's cap compare to other clubs' hats?

The Royals aren't the only major league team that won't get far off the beaten cap path this spring. As the link above proves, most clubs' caps feature their respective traditional emblems, albeit with some color changes.

Aside from some striking color choices, only a scattered few clubs will wear hats with more unique designs. Despite some isolated social media chatter suggesting their change of home venue will trigger a new team name, the Athletics' retention of their historic "A's" emblem signals just the opposite. But time will tell.