I went to bed too early last night and woke up too late this morning to make a proper acknowledgement of this item, but better late than never:
The idea came from fan Dave Lanham of Calvert County, Md., who e-mailed team president Stan Kasten early Tuesday morning. Kasten, who was busy most of the day, didn't see the e-mail until later in the afternoon, but he thought Lanham had a great idea and passed it on to general manager Jim Bowden. The team also received the approval from the Commissioner's Office. . . .
After the game, outfielder Chris Snelling donated his Virginia Tech cap to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Snelling had the best game of the day for Washington, going 2-for-3 with an RBI triple. Zimmerman, Acta, pitchers Chad Cordero and Jon Rauch, first baseman Dmitri Young and outfielder Kory Casto signed their caps and donated them to the Virginia Tech athletic department.
Today, I had occasion to speak with a friend who is a Tech graduate and a current faculty member (though not in the engineering department). My friend brought up the hat tribute and spoke emotionally about how much gestures like this mean in the Blacksburg community. It's a comparatively small gesture, of course, but little things add up. Bravo to all involved on the idea, implementation, and permission from the top.