Prior to becoming the name of a Major League ballclub the Baltimore Orioles were a storied minor league franchise adopting the black/orange color scheme of the Maryland state bird and entering the Eastern League in 1903. The ballclub moved briefly to Richmond in 1914 after competition from the Baltimore Terrapins of the Federal League forced manager Jack Dunn first to sell star Babe Ruth and then to relocate to Richmond. When the Federal League ended Dunn returned to Baltimore and rejoined the International League with the Orioles where the team would play until 1953 along the way fielding some of the greatest minor league teams ever. The Orioles teams in 1936 1937 and 1940 all made the playoffs. Presented here is an incredibly rare official Wilson cap dating to the 1939-43 era worn by an Orioles player. The thick black cap ifeatures orange piping and a stylized standing Oriole an extremely crude illustration by today's standards. There is no identifying information on the cap that can tie it to a particular player but the evidence of heavy use suggests it was one of the team's more important players; it clearly saw a lot of action. The 1939 Orioles were managed by Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby who gave way to Tommy Thomas in 1940 for the team's playoff appearance. Perhaps due to the war a great deal of players who passed through the Orioles made their way to the Major Leagues the most notable likely being Sherm Lollar who played with the 1943-45 teams before moving up to Cleveland. Regardless memorabilia from those early Orioles teams is difficult to find and game-worn uniforms rarely make themselves available. A 1944-46 Frankie Skaff Orioles uniform from Ted Patterson's legendary collection realized $3 900 in our August 2020 auction; according to MEARS this cap predates that uniform and is the earliest piece of Orioles memorabilia we have handled from Ted's legendary collection. Clear evidence of heavy wear can be found throughout with a few small holes in the hat fraying to the piping small patches of fabric worn away at the squatchee and the right edge of the brim. Despite all this the cap presents amazingly well. An exceptional piece a gorgeous document of the early Orioles of the International League. LOA from MEARS.