Townball II: The Holy Land

[Big Yellow Flag]

Howdy! A really long while ago, I did a concept series around here, creating uniforms for town team baseball in New York City (as opposed to where it's currently popular). I've since moved to Israel to finish college and eat falafel, and since townball actually exists here (in American football, but whatever), and I wanted to get back into concepts, I figured reviving the idea with a new series in my new home would be kind of fun. I'll be focusing on cities with big Anglo populations (lots of baseball fans) and the college cities (lots of athletes who want to play sports) in a slightly more organized (but still not that organized) method than last time.

 

You'll see the league logo down below, based heavily on the WBC Israel logo (in that it's their star and a T for townball based on their I), but you won't see that again except in the corners of future concepts. There'll be a concept up in a few minutes, and regular posting for the most part (although finals are coming up, yeesh).

 

[Big Yellow Flag]

Modiin-Maccabim-Re'ut

 

Background: Modiin (the much shorter version of the name) is a lovely city just on the Israel side of the Green Line, founded in 1993 (Modiin), 1985 (Maccabim), 1987 (Re'ut), and 2003 (merged together) near (though probably not on) the site of the ancient city of Modiin, home of the Maccabees (of Chanukah fame). It's a mix of religious and secular Jews mostly, Israeli-born Israelis and Anglos, and almost all well-off, because it's not cheap. It is, however, very nice and green and clean.

 

Logo and colors: An M for Modiin (and Maccabim) appears, big and bold, crowned by a Chanukiah in reference to the history of the name. The colors come from the city's current municipal logo, which is... Not great. I went green-heavy both because they went green-heavy and because it's really a very green place. Lots of plants and nature.

 

Cap: Nothing crazy. Green crown with a red brim for a very traditional (and slightly too Christmas-y? 'Tis the season, I suppose) look. The logo appears, with the green M turned white so it stands out (an early draft with a red M white crown blended in too much). The blue eyelets will be a recurring feature, just like the belt loops in the original series.

 

Jersey: We're going to see a lot more color-over-white looks here, being outside the realm of traditional baseball and in a place where people like colorful jerseys. The green is back, with red sleeve trimming. The name of the city is emblazoned in white across the chest, with the M crowned like the logo (crowning all the letters, and just the M and the N, were deemed too busy), above a uniform number in white. All very nice and simple.

 

Pants: A thick green stripe down the leg on both sides. The belt loops, as is traditional, are Israel Blue and White, which you'll see on all the teams. Red belt, because we were a little bit low on red.

 

Socks: The stirrups use the Chanukiah from the logo as stripes, three of them (for the three merged cities) in a red-white-red pattern (because it looked good).

 

So yeah, that's that. Comments very much appreciated. Up next: Beit Shemesh (probably).

[Big Yellow Flag]

Apologies for the delay here, it's been a week of technological chaos. We progress onwards! I know I said Beit Shemesh, but...

 

Be'er Sheva

 

 

Background: Be'er Sheva (also spelled Beersheba, which is less correct but easier to type) is a relatively large city (for Israel) down south, colloquially refered to as the Capital of the Negev, which is that really deserty bit that takes up most of southern Israel.  It's mentioned in the Bible; Abraham creates a treaty with Avimelech there about some wells, and Isaac later comes back and re-digs the seven wells his father dug. In fact, the name of the city means either Seven Wells or Well(s) of the Oath, both of which refer to those stories. Today, the city has shifted from the well industry to high tech and chess.

 

Logo and colors: The logo combines a B (for Be'er) with the number 7, which has been a big part of the city's branding for almost ten years now (an alternate version appears with a 7Bs). The purple comes from the city's non-heraldic "coat of arms," while I used Columbia Blue as a base for the whole well thing and so that I could give them a pale blue uniform (we're back in the seventies, apparently).

 

Cap: A nice purple crown, Israel eyelets, and a light blue 7B to match a light blue brim. Early drafts did have a blue crown, purple brim, but I thought it made the whole look overly blue, so we flipped that.

 

Jersey: As I said above, we went back to the '70s ('80s? '90s?) for this look. A nice light well-y blue, the name across the chest in purple with a number. The sleeves are capped in purple, and the left sleeve has the alternate logo (7Bs instead of just 7B).

 

Pants: They're still light blue, but I left them stripeless so I could go crazy on the socks. The belt is purple, and the Israel loops blend in way too much, something I didn't consider when I started but don't overly mind.

 

Socks: Like I said. Seven wells, 7 in the logo (both municipal and townball), seven nice white stripes. Thicker stripes looked a little too circus tent-y, which is fine in the right place, but this wasn't it, so I kept them thin and modest. Light blue sannies, which I suppose is what happens when uniforms are designed by A's fans.

 

So yeah, that's that. Comments very much appreciated. Up next: Tzfat, I think.

[Whittier S]

Think about how the text comes across the seams of the jersey. Here, it would be easier to reproduce in fabric if you just put Be'er on one side of the button placket and Sheva on the other.

[Big Yellow Flag]

2 hours ago, Whittier S said:

Think about how the text comes across the seams of the jersey. Here, it would be easier to reproduce in fabric if you just put Be'er on one side of the button placket and Sheva on the other.

Attempts were made, but the spacing never looked right. The R overlapping the button flap would be a problem, but I'm pretty sure the S on the other side would be fine (albeit maybe a bit bumpy).

[Whittier S]

With the right program, you could kern the text to get around that. There's an awful lot of space around that alef that doesn't need to be there and would buy you that space you need. Seeing as it looks like you're using Paint, I recommend typing each letter individually, rather than in a text block, so you can kern by hand.

[Big Yellow Flag]

An update is coming on Be'er Sheva (in re: the text), but in the meantime...

 

Tzfat

 

 

Background: Tzfat (also spelled Safed) is a city in the north, one of the oldest cities in the country. When I say old, I mean non-Biblical sources indicate it was built by one of Noah's sons. It was also part of the Kingdom of Jersualem when the Crusaders did that sort of thing. My point, it's been there for a really, really long time. As a result, it's got a ton of weird history and identities: It's one of the holiest cities in Israel, having been home to really famous rabbis like the AriZal and Yosef Karo, and it's home to a ton of hippies, and it's home to a huge artists' quarter with all sorts of really cool art. In other words, if you want to get inspired and talk to G-d, and then get high and "talk to G-d," Tzfat is the city for you.

 

Logo and colors: Because of the weird and vaguely dichotomous identities of the city, as well its age, I went with something very basic and classic. The blue and silver come from the blue doors of the city (it's a thing) and the silver you'll see across both the Jewish Quarter and the Artists' Colony, in the art and the traditional judaica (the shades come from the city coat of arms). The logo is just a tzadi (the first letter in Tzfat) - the only way to represent the entire city all in one, without catering to any specific sector. It also represents a very old and very beautiful city.

 

Cap: Sticking with the motif, blue crown, silver brim, and the logo letter in silver. Nothing flashy, very traditional.

 

Jersey: Sticking with the same motifs throughout, we have a lovely blue jersey with two silver stripes on on the sleeves. The name of the city appears in big letters across the chest, in Hebrew (a first for the series). The number is in gold, an homage to the stone makeup of the city (again, shade from the coat of arms), on the opposite side so that it appears under the end of the name (as is tradition).

 

Pants: Our first team to use gray as a team color (probably not the last) wears home gray pants (also road gray pants, because it's just the one look). The two stripes from the jerseys continue, although they're in blue so they don't blend into the gray of the pants.

 

Socks: They're blue, with the double stripe back in silver. The sannies are gold, because colored sannies are gorgeous, carrying the gold from the numbers down and tying it all together.

 

Up next: ... Beit Shemesh? Something? We'll see!

 

[Big Yellow Flag]

Still not Beit Shemesh (I know the logo I want and I can't get it right), but check this out!

 

Raanana

 

 

Background: Raanana is actually a majority-Israeli city, but that fact would surprise most American Jews and quite a few Israelis. It's thought of as one of the most American/Anglo cities in the country (I celebrated the 4th of July here a very long time ago), one where you're as likely to hear a Long Island accent as an Israeli accent. If you have a Jewish friend (especially a religious one), ask them, they probably have a relative who lives there. For such an American city, with such a strong New York influence... We've got a bit of Yankees influence here. I know, I hate it, too, but it works.

 

Logo and colors: We're in black and white. The stark simplicity is in stark contrast to the city's last attempt at baseball, but there's a reason for that: this one looks cool. The logo is a very simple R from a font that I found that looked kind of Yankees-y, and I quite like the little swoop.

 

Cap: I wanted to make sure that this team, for all of its Yankees influence, could be distinguished from their American counterparts from a bit of distance, so they've got a nice white brim (also I really don't like monochrome caps). It's got the R, and we move to the jersey.

 

Jersey: From here to the end of the pants, it's basically just Yankees. Instead of NY, it's got an R, but that's pretty much it in terms of difference.

 

Pants: As above, it's Yankees to the bottom. The belt loops are different, of course, Israel colors in accordance to the rules here.

 

Socks: Here, as with the cap, we have a bit of difference. Raanana is a WHO-designated Green City, and they're pretty darned proud of it. As part of the attempt to differentiate subtly from a difference, I've defaced the plain black socks with a thick white stripe bearing a thinner green stripe for what I think is a nice look.

 

Up next... Let's find out!

[Big Yellow Flag]

It's been less than a year since this started, so that means it's still fresh, right? What's the Best By on a Concepts series?

 

Anyway, point is, after a ton of graphic issues, health stuff, life stuff, whatever, I don't need to bore you, I've updated all four concepts so far, done better on a new template. There are some minor changes here and there, which I'll review, and then we'll have new stuff coming soon (maybe even tonight?).

 

 

Tzfat

Updates: Stripes off the sleeves to accommodate the new league wide sleeve patch (I figured out how to make them work later on, you'll see). Gold gets more emphasis, and everything is in a more aesthetically pleasing font.

 

Raanana

Updates: I've been spending a lot of time in Ra'anana lately, and while it's still very much Yankeeville, there are a lot of fans from New York (National League), Boston, and Los Angeles (National League), none of whom wear pinstripes, but all of whom have very basic and classy uniforms like the original inspirations. The pinstripes are therefore gone, replaced with sleeve hems (told you I figured that out) and a pants stripe. Also, a cleaner font on the chest.

 

Modi'in

Updates: Added an apostrophe in the name, which is supposed to be there grammatically but I couldn't get to work last time. That's it.

 

Be'er Sheva

Updates: It's just too long to fit across the chest, so the 7B replaces it and the Seven Wells Blue gets even more play.

 

That's all four on a better template and just better done all around. Next up is Beit Shemesh!

[Big Yellow Flag]

I told you it was coming soon. Truth be told, this was half done before I decide to post the refreshes separately. Pretty cool.

 

Beit Shemesh

 

Background: Fun fact, I used to live here years ago. The reigning and only champions of Israeli baseball (the IBL 2007), Beit Shemesh is a city with lots of different communities crammed in there. Within one city (which is really, like, six cities, but they pretend, so it's cool), we have Jews at every level of observance and ideology, and each one comes in two flavors: Israeli and Anglo. I happen to love Beit Shemesh (trust me, not everyone does), but given all the different populations and the frequently tense interactions, I thought it best to focus on the name, and Beit Shemesh is kind of perfect for that: It's the House of the (Rising) Sun.

 

Logo and colors: The Beit Shemesh Blue Sox were that winning IBL entry back then (Jeez, that was 12 years ago?), and I kept their logo setup (interlocked Bet-Shin, but more White Sox than Yankees) and blue and white, but given the bad blood that resulted from the old league (and that blood is baaaad), everything else had to go. Gone is the all blue and white, gone are the pinstripes, gone is all that Yankees influence. Yellow is added in for the sun, and the letters are put on a sun (you'll understand why when you see their old chest logo).

 

Cap: Like I said, I wanted to get away from all the Blomberg Yankees influences. The sun-BS appears here on a blue crown, and the brim is turned yellow to make everything look nice and non-New York.

 

Jersey: As I said, no more Yankees, lots more blue. The logo appears to replace the old script, as mentioned, and we see our first vest. This is done for two reasons: One, because it hasn't happened before, and two, because Beit Shemesh is one of the more charedi (those people in hats and jackets) friendly Anglo cities, so I thought mirroring and flipping the black over white to white over blue looked nice.

 

Pants: Gold belt held up by the Israel loops. Kept them pretty plain because the socks are fun.

 

Socks: Blue stirrups over white, because colored sanitaries have been heavily used throughout the first four. The stirrups are decorated with a dancetty (that's a heraldic term, heraldry is pretty cool, guys!) stripe to bring some sun down to the feet.

 

Up next: I have no idea, but there WILL be a next! That's pretty cool. See you all then!

[Big Yellow Flag]

Rechovot

 

Background: South of Tel Aviv, Rechovot was founded in 1890 by Jews returning to Israel from Eastern Europe. That's pretty cool. It has three main communities - Ethiopians, Yemenites, and Russians, as well as growing community of religious Anglos - and two big things going for it: Oranges, and the Weizmann Institute. A lot of oranges, and a lot of scientists. I've tried to reflect that in the design, because, well, there isn't much going on there outside of that. Hell, even the city's seal has a microscope and oranges.

 

Logo and colors: The colors come from those two big things in the city. Technically speaking, the Institute's colors are black and white, but they use a nice pale blue on most of their materials, so I kept it, along with a nice tangerine for those big groves. The logo is formed of a lower-case r and a standard ר, which is the first letter of the name in both languages and which together form a nice face little icon which looks just the right amount of nerdy (I think).

 

Cap: Pretty darn standard. Blue cap, orange bill, logo. That was easy. Let's move on.

 

Jersey: The logo on the chest, mostly because I couldn't decide which language to use. On the other side, the uniform number in blue goes in a nice white circle that mimics the logo. Cool!

 

Pants: Clean white with two blue stripes down the pants.

 

Socks: Tangerine stirrups over white, which a nice stripe formed by overlapping logos. It would be a bit harder to make out on the field, but I think of it as a way for the players to carry their hometown pride all the way down, more for them than for the fans.

 

Next in a few minutes (it's already done and uploaded), Efrat!

[Big Yellow Flag]

Okay, it was a few extra minutes, lunch. all good.

 

Efrat

 

Background: Efrat is a lovely little city in Samaria which (in my experience) is among the more Anglo places in Israel. Hell, when I spent a weekend there, there were multiple people wearing cowboy boots (and I was only one of them!). It's a very lovely place, I always tell people they should spend some time there. The name comes a Biblical city which was likely much closer to Beit Lechem, and it means fruitful (Fruit in Hebrew is Peri, we're learning things). It's also a girl's name, though if my experience with my ex is any indication... Never mind. Let's move on!

 

Logo and colors: I asked my friend who lives in Efrat what colors she most associates with Efrat, she told me dusty green and light dusty blue, so... I did that. Figured she'd know best, right? The green is dark and I made the blue so light as to approximate gray. Like what the Padres do (used to do? We'll see) with their warm gray sand, but in the opposite direction. A cold gray, you see. The logo is the letter E for Efrat in a font I simply felt fit the city and my time there (which is repeated across the chest), with an apple stem for the whole fruitful thing.

 

Cap: Green crown, all-blue logo, blue brim, moving along.

 

Jersey: Green with a blue logo and blue pipes on the sleeves. Really nothing overly complicated. 

 

Pants: Blue pants. I think the blue is definitely light enough and pale enough to be a nice gray look for the squad, but still bring in the blue element. A nice green stripe ties it all together.

 

Socks: A crisp green stirrup over the same blue-gray socks. Ease pease. No fancy stripe because, honestly, I couldn't think of anything clever and didn't want to add something for no reason.

 

Next up: Who's to say?

 

 

[NashConcepts]

Love this series, it even inspired me to create my own... Really like Rechovot's new unis, not so keen about the logo

[Big Yellow Flag]

I'm quite bored today. Can't you tell? School starts in two weeks more, don't worry.

 

Ariel

 

Background: Ariel is another lovely place. One of the biggest Jewish cities in Samaria, it's also a very young place, mostly but not entirely religious. Big university town (University of Ariel), and the Anglo speaking population has really only taken off in the last twelve years or so.The name translates from Hebrew as "Lion of G-d," but the Arabs in the area used to call it Jabel Mawat, which means the Mountain of Death, because the ground was notoriously inhospitable (things have changed since). Visiting Ariel, you'd be shocked that the place, which is very modern and very much a city, was founded in 1978 with no electricity but a small generator to keep the lights of the school turned on.

 

Logo and colors: The colors come directly from the city's coat of arms, by which I mean I took an eyedropper tool and clicked on the darn thing. They look nice together. I also brought in a lot of white, because the blues needed it and it looks pretty sweet. For the logo, I started by looking for a font where the A could suggest a mountain, because I really liked the Mountain of Death thing, and then decided to give it a halo, both to reinforce the Death part and to bring in a bit of G-d from the Hebrew name. They're basically the Israeli Angels, and I like it (even as an A's fan).

 

Jersey: Dark blue vest, light blue sleeves, for no reason but that it looks nice to me. We see super complicated sleeve stripes, dark-white-light-white-dark, which we'll see (we've seen? The image is above you) repeated throughout. The text says ARIEL in big bold white capitals, with the halo repeated on the A (again, like the angels). Also, the jersey number has a light blue circle around it, repeating the halo motif.

 

Pants: White pants, dark blue belt, and the fancy stripe. Yum.

 

Socks: Light blue stirrups, white blue socks, fancy stripe. Easy breezy beautiful.

 

Next: Who's to say? I have a list of cities and I just pick out of a hat.

[Big Yellow Flag]

12 minutes ago, YankeeBaseball0934f said:

Love this series, it even inspired me to create my own... Really like Rechovot's new unis, not so keen about the logo

Yeah! Sorry I never replied to your PM, by the way, took an extended hiatus from the site in general. Rechovot is definitely a bit weird. I felt that its non-standardness and kinda-weirdness is made up for by the meaning behind it, especially as the first bilingual logo, but it's 100% not for everyone. 

 

Glad you're following again!

[Big Yellow Flag]

I don't know if you can tell, but we're still on summer break here, and I''m really bored.

 

Herzliya

 

Introduction: Home, sweet home. I actually live here! So cool. Herzliya was founded as a little agricultural settlement in 1924, which is a very long time ago, but it bears no resemblance at all to that sleepy town today. Now? It's one of the richest and best educated cities in the country, right on the beach (I can walk into the Mediterranean forty minutes after I lock my door, so cool). The name comes from Theodore Herzl, the founder of modern political Zionism, but we don't really talk about that so much anymore (there's a kind of cool statue of him along a highway, and he's featured in a Buy Local campaign, and... That's it). Nowadays, it's all high-tech, beach, people who are too rich for Tel Aviv, and IDC Herzliya, which is where I go to school, Israel's first and only private university and a well-respected school. The city is primarily secular, with some religious pockets, and almost entirely Israeli born and raised, but there's a small Anglo community based in the university.

 

Logo and colors: "BYF (it's pronounced Biff)," I hear you saying, "Every other team has gotten such nice custom lettermarks. What's the deal here?" I'll tell you! As I said, the native population is almost exclusively Israeli speakers and quite wealthy, so anyone playing on this team is coming from the student population (and if they're looking for a third base coach... I'm right here). The way I saw it, a transient population of players and supporters would jump at the chance to wear this basically-Astros look, and someone could probably quietly fund it. The standard (dark) blue and the yellow come from the city coat of arms, which is everywhere. The star's from there, too, and the "seven stars" theme is big (it's the name of the main mall, for instance). H+stars, it made sense.

 

Cap: Yellow crown, H-star with a sweet outline, blue brim. Ease pease.

 

Jersey: Here I had some fun. Trying to think of what college kids would like, I went a bit crazy. We've got the H-star on the breast and then tequila sunrise in blue for those beautiful beaches. It also appears on the sleeves (and elsewhere). Jersey number, I couldn't find a serifed font I liked for it, so I settled for a heavy font that looks pretty over the two deepest blues.

 

Pants: Still simple. If you look closely, you'll see that it matches the blue sunrise (which also sounds like a cocktail), but the sunrise jerseys were never really known for visibility.

 

Socks: Staying crazy here, the stirrups have the same striping pattern. Is it a bit silly? Yeah, probably. Would it be hard to produce? I think so, no real idea. Does it look cool? I'd certainly wear it.

 

There you have it! The craziest look yet (and probably ever in this series). Next... Who knows.

[Big Yellow Flag]

Plans fell through because public transportation is dumb. Y'all know that that means!

 

Tel Mond

 

Introduction: Tel Mond is... Well, I'm not sure how it got on my list of Anglo-friendly cities. Tel Mond definitely has an immigrant-heavy population, but those immigrants in large part came from Yemen, not the Anglosphere, and so I'm confused. Moving on! Originally founded by Alfred Mond (Tel means Hill, Mond means... Mond), 1st Baron Melchett, in 1929, Tel Mond grew by subsuming a bunch of towns founded by Yemenite immigrants and turned itself into a mini-city and regional player. Al, by then the former British Minister of Health, bought some land, planted a bunch of orange trees, and then kind of... Lived there. All the Yemenites came in later. Another thing that came later? Their one and only sister city, and I swear this is important to the concept: Sarasota, Florida.

 

Logo and colors: Honestly, Tel Mond doesn't have much going on. It's kind of just a... Place, you know the kind. Nothing hugely differentiating, nothing super fancy, etc. But I realized, rather than focusing on just Tel Mond, this team could be a uniting factor for Yemenites around the country (kind of like Team Israel is for Jews around the world, woohoo Olympics!). So I've given it a bit of a Yemenite twist, mostly in the colors. The logo is therefore pretty simple, a TM for Tel Mond (or, as I like to imagine fans would dub it, the Teimani Mob) over a "fess wavy," which is a heraldic term and is derived from the "fountain proper" on the arms of the Baron Melchett. This serves as an homage to the man who founded the city that became this huge settlement for that community.

 

Cap: Like I said, Sarasota. I wanted something that would differentiate the team's look beyond just logo on hat, logo on jersey, so I took a nod from their sister city's ballclub, and the hats are modeled on the old Oriole's caps. Front panel look, but that panel is red (O's used orange) instead of white. Also, the brim is white, because... It looks cool, sue me.

 

Jersey: The logo is featured on the left breast, the number is on the right. Both feature the same underlining fess wavy, which I realize now looks like eyeblack, but I like it. The fess also appears on both sleeves, because it's a pretty simple design element that keeps the whole thing tied together.

 

Pants: White pants, red belt, thick black stripe. I originally made it wavy, but decided that would be even more of a mess than eyeblack logos on the chest (I'm 95% sure I'm right).

 

Socks: Red stirrups, white socks, black wavy stripe with white. Easy peasy.

 

Up next, because I actually know this time: we're going north! To Alaska Karmiel.

[Big Yellow Flag]

I told you! North to Karmiel or back to the 90s, though, I'm not sure. This might be one of my favorites so far. Lessdo it.

 

Karmiel

 

Introduction: Karmiel was established in 1964, and it's aaaallll the way north. Not far from the border, it became an official city (as opposed to a settlement or town) in the eighties, and really took off with an explosion of immigrants moving in during the nineties, so maybe the colors and look isn't totally off-base (it wasn't intentional) I swear. Karmiel means the Vineyards of G-d, which has nothing to do with the design, I just think it's nice, and it's situated in the Beit HaKerem Valley, smack in the middle of the Galil region, which does come back in the design. Let's get to it.

 

Logo and colors:  I started with a red flower, which comes from the city's Coat of Arms, and went with one that looked more sun-like than standard (to match the sun that's also on that Coat of Arms, they're really good for inspiration, guys), and then gave it a gold K for Karmiel that fit. It came out a little nineties, but I rolled with it. The shades of both the red and gold come from the same Coat of Arms, as does the green which we'll see later.

 

Cap: It came out a drop McDonald's-y, which I can eat now, that's pretty cool. Red crown to contrast with the bright gold jersey, gold crown because monochrome caps are boring, the logo is color-flipped and the button is green to bring it all together. Neat-o!

 

Jersey: Here's that bright gold jersey I was just talking about.  Big logo on the chest because while the font I used I quite liked for the K, it became a bit much when I scrawled Karmiel across the whole thing. No number, because reasons. The sleeves bear dancetty stripes in green with white outlines to mimic the mountains around Karmiel and on the city's Coat of Arms, they're very green in both places (seriously, it's gorgeous up there, go visit).

 

Pants: Here we have some fun. Gold belt because why not. The stripes on the pants mimic the stripes on the sock, through without the mountains, so they're red-white-green-white-red, and the uniform number appears on the right thigh, because once you're in the nineties, might as well go all out.

 

Socks: Red stirrups over white socks. That stripe from the sleeves combines with the stripe from the pants, green outlined in white over red, for a classy look to tie it all together.

 

Up next: Netanya, as soon as my challah comes out of the oven! It's already done, so cool.

[Big Yellow Flag]

Told you it was already done.

 

Netanya

 

Introduction: This concept almost looked very, very different. Netanya, interestingly, was named after Nathan Strauss, the founder and owner of Macy's Department Store, who had been giving away a large portion of his fortune to projects in the Land of Israel. The founders figured if it was named for him, he'd help them out, but he was out of cash, so they just... Kept it. I was originally planning on a Macy's design, but Netanya was also the "host" of an IBL 2007 team, and I went in that direction, instead. Netanya bills itself as "The Israeli Riviera," so I figured they deserved a slightly classy design.

 

Logo and colors: The Netanya Tigers had great colors and awful design. If you don't believe me, click these. I kept the colors and the Tigers inspiration, but everything else is gone. The team and cap logo is the letter Nun bisected with a double-curved line intended to suggest both whiskers and a river, while also mimicking the wheat sheaves found on the city's flag. The specific orange used comes from that same flag, but the ugly blue they use is replaced by the one used by Detroit. The script on the chest is straight-up Tigers BP (do they still wear those, actually?).

 

Cap: Blue crown, orange bill, orange button, Tiger Nun (sounds like an action movie). Let's do it.

 

Jersey: Like I said, Tigers BP. Orange, Netanya in a big looping script angled across the chest, big bold chest number in blue, sleeves capped in blue to add a splash of color.

 

Pants: Double the stripes and turn the belt orange, then move on.

 

Socks: Standard issue blue with a splash of orange.

 

Up next: Zichron! I have some fun ideas.

[Big Yellow Flag]

When I said "fun ideas," I meant... This. Exactly this. This might be the first one to work out perfectly compared to what I thought of. Nice!

 

Zichron Yaakov

 

Introduction: Zichron Yaakov was founded in 1882, so it's a very, very, very old kind of place. It's also very important to pre-State Israeli history: before and during World War I, it was home to the NILI spy ring, which was actually just three siblings and a friend of theirs spying on the Ottomans to help the British efforts in the Land of Israel and in Europe. The spy ring was broken, and all four members died (two were hanged, one committed suicide while being tortured, one was shot escaping to British lines). The town still exists, having grown a bit since then, and is 20% Anglo, so it's a good candidate for a team, and there's a lot to play with in terms of history.

 

Logo and colors: We start with a simple, bold, serifed Z for Zichron (Zichron Yaakov means the Memory of Jacob, but most people just call it Zichron, so I ignored the Y). The circles are multifaceted in meaning, representing spyglasses, baseballs, and the two famous families whose children gave their lives to support their People way back at the very beginning (NILI still being a point of pride up there). The brown comes from the town's Coat of Arms, and between that and my plans for the logo seen above, I started getting very Mystery, Alaska vibes, so I... Rolled with them. Brown and white with black, big letter, very fitting for a team from way up in the north.

 

Cap: White crown (because I love white crowns), brown Z and brim with a black outline on the logo.

 

Jersey: I told you Mystery, Alaska, didn't I? Brown jersey, logo in black with a thick white outline (as thick as I could without it looking smudged). Number on the other side in the same colors. Nothing crazy, flying under the radar, pay no attention to the spy behind the curtain.

 

Pants: Brown belt, because I didn't want to shove more colors in there. The stripe is brown-white-brown and represents walking a dangerous path between two potential enemies and also wearing pants with cool stripes.

 

Socks: Brown stirrups, white socks, and the reversed stripe from the pants.

 

Next up... Shiloh. No ideas for that one yet.