Bocce Ball Hats

Bocce looks simple and is not. Players roll heavy balls toward a small target ball called the pallino, and the closest ball scores. It is played in backyards, Italian-American clubs and, increasingly, on brewery courts: the Richmond Bocce League plays at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery in teams of three or four, and Dogfish Head sponsors Philadelphia's Major League Bocce. Figures from the World Bocce League put more than two million Americans playing regularly and 25 million having tried it. The humor comes from the court. Measuring is a genuine point of contention, settled with a pencil, a twig or even a car antenna, and a ball that touches the pallino is said to kiss it, which is where the baci come in. League team names such as Bocce & Roll and Sweet Italian Balls are a genre of their own, and a Walmart tee already sells the Grab Your Balls pun. These bocce hats cover the player who brings a tape measure, the one who only kisses the pallino, the nonno, and the long afternoon of bocce, wine and a nap. Every design is custom embroidered on an unstructured dad hat. Wear one to the league night, or give one to the grandfather who never lets anyone else measure.