MiLB teams with MLB-caliber identities

[coco1997]

9 hours ago, eastfirst107 said:

Now that I think about it, in the early 90s, you could have had a whole league of clubs playing in major-league cities with MLB-caliber identities:

(we're fortunate that the baseball card boom of that era gave us great visual evidence of all of these, and that the cards' photographers tended to take really boring shots of the players.)

 

Those are all great!

So far this thread has been mostly teams from the '80s-present, but can anyone think of any earlier minor league teams, say, from the '30s-60s? 

[ChicagoOakland]

Does the old PCL count? Obviously two identities from there eventually did make it to the big leagues (Los Angeles Angels and San Diego Padres) but man, what I wouldn't give for the San Francisco Seals identity to have made the jump too.

[coco1997]

2 minutes ago, ChicagoOakland said:

Does the old PCL count? Obviously two identities from there eventually did make it to the big leagues (Los Angeles Angels and San Diego Padres) but man, what I wouldn't give for the San Francisco Seals identity to have made the jump too.

 

Absolutely. The Seals had a great look. 

[Gothamite]

Ah, I'd still like to see the Brewers adopt one of their predecessor club's uniforms.  They had some great major league-worthy uniforms.

 

 

[Gothamite]

The Seals did have some great uniforms.  

 

This S-E-A-L-S logo shouldn't work, but somehow does.

 

 

This one would make a great throwback.

 

 

As did this one:

 

 

Although, in fairness, they did have a major clunker or two in their day.

 

[Gothamite]

Hell, the entire PCL had some great looks, from Seattle...

 

 

to San Diego.

 

 

(I love that "g".)

[C-Squared]

5 hours ago, C-Squared said:

 a 90s kid

 

3 hours ago, Gothamite said:

terribly 90s

 

Checks all the boxes for me! 

 

I hope the inventor of the slightly tilted cursive wordmark with an underlining S earns royalties - he'd make bank off this thead alone.

[Sport]

On 3/6/2018 at 11:02 PM, B-Rich said:

 

Are you frickin' kidding me?

 

A "perfect minor league identity"? No one in town wanted a name change to begin with, and polls afterwards showed around 80% of people in the area disapproved of the name.

 

"A lot of local flavor?" The name "Baby Cakes" is not even a thing; it's a derivation made up by out-of towners of a king cake baby.  It would be like me going to Philly and coming up with the name "Steak Cheeses".

 

You are right; the new ownership/management does not take themselves too seriously, to the point of making the team name a laughingstock in their own city.  About the only Cakes merch you see around town is worn by hipster transplants and what I (generously) would term as "idiots".

 

Good to hear. That's what I suspected when it was first introduced and I really couldn't see the locals embracing the name or logos. I think I said at the time "who is this for?" and I believe the answer now is for goofball hat collectors who aren't from New Orleans. That stuff can fly in a market like Montgomery, Alabama, but New Orleans is a big city and although the team is AAA I think a city like New Orleans deserves something with a little more dignity. I also get the sense that New Orleans locals don't appreciate being bashed over the head with constant green/purple/yellow Mardi Gras references, as if that's the only thing the city has going. It's sort of lazy. Would you agree? I mean, the road uniforms have beads dangling off of the city wordmark. The designers really cranked that thing up to 11.

 

I actually like a lot of what Brandiose does - I think what they did with the Pensacola Blue Wahoos is just about a perfect MiLB identity that is the right amount of kitsch, daring color choice but restrained enough to not be obnoxious, local flavor, fun name but isn't silly or demeaning to the players, and isn't embarrassing to local fans. But, "New Orleans Baby Cakes"? That one felt like they took it a step too far and seems like most people agreed. They'd say "yeah well it's selling merch and you're talking about it", and I suppose they're right, but if a majority of the team's customers in the city don't like it then what's even the point. Those are people who are supposed to be supporting this business - shouldn't you try to please them first? 

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the New Orleans team 'New Cokes' everything and has a new name within the next 5 years. A "you spoke and we listened" type event and the team comes out in new unis and logos and they're called like the New Orleans Swamp Otters or whatever. 

[eastfirst107]

13 hours ago, coco1997 said:

 

Those are all great!

So far this thread has been mostly teams from the '80s-present, but can anyone think of any earlier minor league teams, say, from the '30s-60s? 

Toronto Maple Leafs, International League:

Denver Bears, American Association - spectacular shoulder patch here:

Vancouver Mounties, Pacific Coast League:

 

[coco1997]

Can't believe no one's mentioned this one yet. Let's give the New Orleans Pelicans some love, shall we?

 

 

[SFGiants58]

I’d say the International League Baltimore Orioles had a “birds on bat” iteration that was better than anything worn by the Cardinals before or since.

 

[coco1997]

11 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:

I’d say the International League Baltimore Orioles had a “birds on bat” iteration that was better than anything worn by the Cardinals before or since.

 

 

Man, those look great. 

 

For some reason, I can't find any photos of the later (1970s) Pelicans uniforms. 

[mightynine]

On 3/12/2018 at 1:15 PM, McCarthy said:

 

Good to hear. That's what I suspected when it was first introduced and I really couldn't see the locals embracing the name or logos. I think I said at the time "who is this for?" and I believe the answer now is for goofball hat collectors who aren't from New Orleans. That stuff can fly in a market like Montgomery, Alabama, but New Orleans is a big city and although the team is AAA I think a city like New Orleans deserves something with a little more dignity. I also get the sense that New Orleans locals don't appreciate being bashed over the head with constant green/purple/yellow Mardi Gras references, as if that's the only thing the city has going. It's sort of lazy. Would you agree? I mean, the road uniforms have beads dangling off of the city wordmark. The designers really cranked that thing up to 11.

 

I actually like a lot of what Brandiose does - I think what they did with the Pensacola Blue Wahoos is just about a perfect MiLB identity that is the right amount of kitsch, daring color choice but restrained enough to not be obnoxious, local flavor, fun name but isn't silly or demeaning to the players, and isn't embarrassing to local fans. But, "New Orleans Baby Cakes"? That one felt like they took it a step too far and seems like most people agreed. They'd say "yeah well it's selling merch and you're talking about it", and I suppose they're right, but if a majority of the team's customers in the city don't like it then what's even the point. Those are people who are supposed to be supporting this business - shouldn't you try to please them first? 

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the New Orleans team 'New Cokes' everything and has a new name within the next 5 years. A "you spoke and we listened" type event and the team comes out in new unis and logos and they're called like the New Orleans Swamp Otters or whatever. 

 

Just to have a counter-point - I grew up in Metairie, embraced the Zephyrs from the moment they arrived (I was in that number out at UNO before Zephyr Field was built), and wasn't the biggest fan of the Cakes name when it was unveiled (personally, I was pulling for Nite Owls).

 

But since, I've warmed up to it. I'm not the biggest fan of the angry baby primary, but I like other parts of the identity (the N.O. with the King Cake, the "happy" versions of the baby) and understand they probably went Baby Cakes because King Cakes would likely be a trademarking nightmare. And I have seen more Cakes merchandise out and about than I ever did with the Zephyrs - yes, that includes outside the New Orleans area.

 

In the end, the name change brought attention to the team that it needed, and the new owners, whatever you think about their decision on the name, seem far more engaged in the community and interested in making sure the overall product is appealing as well as utilizing the stadium in a year-round fashion, which keeps the team viable. The previous owners were about as absentee as you could get in the end.

[hecticbro]

On 3/7/2018 at 10:37 AM, Lights Out said:

The Fresno Grizzlies also used to have an MLB-caliber identity:

 

 

 

This cap would have been very distinctive among MLB teams:

 

 

That look is absolutely hideous and certainly not MLB-quality. It isn't even TATC worthy.

[eastfirst107]

Houston Buffaloes and Minneapolis Millers:

 

 

[eastfirst107]

5 hours ago, coco1997 said:

For some reason, I can't find any photos of the later (1970s) Pelicans uniforms. 

They were only around for 1 season (1977), so there probably isn't much out there. This may be as good as it gets.)

 

[Gothamite]

2 hours ago, eastfirst107 said:

Houston Buffaloes and Minneapolis Millers:

 

 

 

Disagree on those Buffs.

 

And the Millers is MLB-worthy only because it’s a direct lift of their parent New York Giants, who had a great look. 

[coco1997]

2 hours ago, hecticbro said:

 

That look is absolutely hideous and certainly not MLB-quality. It isn't even TATC worthy.

 

I still can't figure out what that logo is supposed to be. 

[Gman13]

8 minutes ago, coco1997 said:

 

I still can't figure out what that logo is supposed to be. 

 

Me neither.

[Cosmic]

34 minutes ago, coco1997 said:

 

I still can't figure out what that logo is supposed to be. 

I have no idea if this is what they were going for or what the reasoning behind it would be, but the logo reminds me of Frank Lloyd Wright's windows: