MEN WITH MANY HATS: MLB HOPES MORE CHOICES MEAN BIG BUCKS

          While MLB teams "will sell about one million authentic
     field hats" this year, or about 15% of their total
     merchandise business, "some teams are making players wear as
     many as four different styles" during the season, in "hopes
     of luring fans to buy even more," according to Sam Walker of
     the WALL STREET JOURNAL.  The league's 30 teams have
     "unveiled a total of about" 60 new hats since the mid-90s,
     but "some teams are rebelling."  The Dodgers "aren't
     wearing" their new mesh batting-practice hats "because some
     players burned them," and the Rangers have "never worn" the
     mesh hats "because nobody on the team likes them."  But the
     D'Backs "have sported six hat styles with three separate
     logos" since their inaugural '98 season, and the Reds
     dropped a "slow-selling red and white model this year,"
     "abandoning its very name" in favor of three "new caps
     incorporating black."  MLBers "receive a percentage" of all
     hat sales, which have "increased by an average of about" 20%
     a year over the past three years (WALL ST. JOURNAL, 7/15).