Brian in Boston

Technically speaking, it took Dallas seven years to get three teams. Dallas Cowboys / National Football League / 1960-present Dallas Chaparrals / American Basketball Association / 1967-1970, 1971-1973 Dallas Tornado / United Soccer Association-North American Soccer League / 1967-1981 You really shouldn't dismiss the Chaparrals and Tornado. The Chaps spent 5 campaigns (six, when you count their 1970-71 season split between Dallas, Fort Worth, and Lubbock) in a league that lasted 9 seasons and forced a merger with the NBA. As for the Tornado, they played 15 seasons competing at what was the top tier of professional soccer in the United States and Canada at the time. We now return you to discussion of Major League Baseball's asinine Tampa Bay-Montréal 2-city "solution", already in progress.

Cue Major League Baseball's next 2-city solution: the Oakland-Mexico City A's-tecs.

Why stop at Tampa and Montreal? Let's throw Charlotte, Las Vegas, Mexico City, Nashville, Portland, and Vancouver into the mix. After all, imagine how sought after tickets would be if a Major League Baseball team's 81-game home schedule was divided amongst eight home markets? Think about the ticket scarcity when your team is only in town for ten* "home" games a season! I give you... The Bingo Sternberg Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings!!! * Whichever market sells out its guaranteed ten game regular-season ticket inventory the quickest is awarded the opportunity... to foist the 81st "home" date of the season onto one of the other seven cities.

The true comedy in that bit - at least for those familiar with Southern California geography - is that the three communities were never linked by the same passenger rail line. Also, over the course of The Jack Benny Program's history - both on radio and television - Benny, Blanc, and the show's creative team hit upon the idea of gradually extending the pause that the train conductor would insert between the beginning and ending of the name Cucamonga. If memory serves, the record was set on the television version of the show, with a full five or six minutes of dialogue taking place amongst various cast-members between Blanc's initially intoning, "Train now leaving on Track 5 for Anaheim, Azusa, and Cuc..." and eventually bellowing, "... amonga!!!" By the way, it's Azusa... with an S.

Which one takes the place of Brentwood and which takes the place of Van Nuys? Or don't you take into account nuances like population, land area, demographics and the such when you elect to hold forth about the City of Los Angeles and its sphere of influence over other communities in Southern California? I mean... "Orange County may well have its own vibe, but so does Malibu. So does Brentwood. So does Santa Monica. So does does Van Nuys, gods help them." "And as OC (mercifully) browns..." "If it wasn’t so close to LA, Anaheim would be Bakersfield." Do you have any idea how smug, condescending, and dismissive these tossed-off assessments sound? Honestly... "browns"? "When I lived there... " Oh, now I get it. You put in your time in Southern California and now believe yourself to be some sort of cultural anthropologist with a special insight into what makes the entirety of the region tick... as only someone ensconced in New York can. It might be time to retire "Gothamite" and adopt the handle "Alvy Singer".

Brentwood and Van Nuys aren't smaller cities orbiting a larger one. They're neighborhoods in a large city.

Anaheim is an independent municipality in Orange County that ranges anywhere from 2-1/2 to 27 times as populous as the City of Los Angeles neighborhoods (Brentwood and Van Nuys) and LA County independent cities (Malibu and Santa Monica) that you lump it in with here. Anaheim ranges anywhere from 2-1/2 times to 6 times as large in total land area as the neighborhoods and cities you cite. Look, Anaheim may not be New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, or Phoenix, but it isn't Malibu, Brentwood, Santa Monica, or Van Nuys, either. Hell, if we're all in on naming Anaheim's MLB team the Los Angeles Angels, why not dub Oakland's MLB team the San Francisco A's? After all, San Francisco's more populous than Oakland, it's the Bay Area municipality with the higher profile, and the Athletics' ballpark is closer to downtown San Francisco than the Angels' is to downtown Los Angeles.

The Clearwater Beach Dog appears to be the more well-kept canine cousin of the San Diego Surf Dawg.

Dallas Cavalry (Dark Blue Sky Blue Dark Yellow) or Dallas Stampede (Slate Blue Bronze Black) Houston Roughnecks (Columbia Blue Red Silver) Los Angeles Condors (Black Pink Pale Orange) or Los Angeles Shock (Neon Lime Sky Blue Orange) New York Gargoyles (Black Pewter Deep Red) St. Louis Centaurs (Purple Gold Black) Seattle Steelheads (Olive Silver Red) Tampa Bay Tiger Sharks (Orange Black Silver) Washington Force (Red White Blue)

With the PawSox set to relocate to Worcester following the 2020 International League season, the City of Pawtucket and State of Rhode Island issued a request for proposals to redevelop the site of McCoy Stadium site. Of the six responses to the RFP, two centered on returning professional baseball to the facility. Frank Boulton, founder and CEO of the Long Island Ducks, proposes bringing an independent Atlantic League franchise to the facility. Meanwhile, Minor League Baseball for Pawtucket - a group of local investors that includes current PawSox minority owner and vice chairman Mike Tamburro - is seeking to bring another affiliated team to McCoy Stadium. Given affiliated professional baseball's territorial rules, the only minor league ownership group with rights to place a team in McCoy is the PawSox leadership. That scenario will continue after the Triple A franchise's relocation to Worcester, as Worcester County falls within the same geographic territory as the Pawtucket, RI market. So, in order for an affiliated MiLB franchise to set-up shop at McCoy following the PawSox relocation to Worcester, the PawSox ownership group would either have to cede their territorial rights to Pawtucket and McCoy to another owner/operator, or elect to own and operate a lower classification Pawtucket-based team themselves. Given the current stability of the Eastern League and its franchises, the chances of Pawtucket landing a Double A franchise are slim to none. It's far more likely that a New York-Penn League team would be targeted for McCoy Stadium. The Batavia Muckdogs are league-owned and the NY-PL would love to unload the franchise. The Auburn Doubledays are municipally-owned, but the City of Auburn has been shopping the team since 2016.

Of the three names that the Pawtucket Red Sox Baseball Club filed for trademark protection back in February - Ruby Legs, Wicked Worms, and Worcesters - the only one that strikes me as being at all decent is the Worcester Ruby Legs. It not only references one of the names used by the city's National League team from 1880 through 1882, but it also serves as a variation on Red Sox. Wicked Worms - a play on Worcester's "Wormtown" nickname - is awful, while Worcester Worcesters sounds ridiculous.

Norwich Nine The modern City of Norwich, Connecticut has its roots in the 1659 settlement of Norwichtown, a village founded upon a plot of land "nine miles square". It was within this nine square mile plot that the community's original 35 settlers - including the Reverend James Fitch, Thomas Leffingwell, and Major John Mason - laid out the Norwichtown Green and established the first center of the community. Norwich Nine not only pays homage to the size of that original plot of land, but has an old-time sound to it that fits with the long history of Connecticut and New England. It conjures up images of ballplayers taking to the diamond in pillbox caps, collared lace-up or shield-front jerseys, baggy pants, and knee-high stockings.

The Stallions name is not only already used by a professional sports franchise, it's currently being sported by a team in the other alternative football league.

The Westfield Starfires' jerseys don't, in fact, feature horizontal stripes. The player in this photo is wearing a horizontal-striped polo shirt under his jersey.

The Futures Collegiate Baseball League expansion franchise that has been granted to Westfield, Massachusetts has unveiled its identity. The team will be known as the Westfield Starfires.The name is a nod to the fact that Barnes Air National Guard Base - located at Westfield's Barnes Municipal Airport - is home to the 104th Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard. From 1954 to 1957, members of the unit flew Lockheed F-94A jet aircraft, the first operational U.S. Air Force fighters to be equipped with afterburners, and precursor to the F-94C Starfire variant.

The Futures Collegiate Baseball League expansion franchise that has been granted to Westfield, Massachusetts has unveiled its identity. The team will be known as the Westfield Starfires. The name is a nod to the fact that Barnes Air National Guard Base - located at Westfield's Barnes Municipal Airport - is home to the 104th Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard. From 1954 to 1957, members of the unit flew Lockheed F-94A jet aircraft, the first operational U.S. Air Force fighters to be equipped with afterburners, and precursor to the F-94C Starfire variant.

Long Beach is, indeed, in Los Angeles County.

As I wrote elsewhere... "Claw marks EVERYwhere. The white jersey paired with the RED pants is a choice. The grizzly in the various logos seems a bit... stiff... disjointed... awkwardly-rendered. All in all, I could give a passing grade to the grey road uni that Vanilla Ice is sporting, but the rest adds up to a BIG swing-and-a-miss in my estimation. Well... Brandiose did have the Traverse City Pit Spitters unveiled yesterday. So, at least they have THAT goin' for them."

Wow! That's... that's something, alright. Claw marks EVERYwhere. The white jersey paired with the RED pants is a choice. The grizzly in the various logos seems a bit... stiff... disjointed... awkwardly-rendered. All in all, I could give a passing grade to the grey road uni that Vanilla Ice is sporting, but the rest adds up to a BIG swing-and-a-miss in my estimation. Well... Brandiose did have the Traverse City Pit Spitters unveiled yesterday. So, at least they have THAT goin' for them.

The Missoula Osprey of the Rookie Advanced level Pioneer League have announced that they will be rebranding in time for the team's 2020 season. Missoula Osprey "Name-the-Team" Promotion Previous baseball teams in the market were the Missoula Highlanders (Union Association, 1911-1913) and the Missoula Timberjacks (Pioneer League, 1956-1960). That said, I think I'd go with either the Missoula Cutthroats or the Missoula Smokejumpers.

Remove the "ICE" wordmark from the logo, update the depiction of the creature so that it appears more emaciated, and rename the team the Winnipeg Wendigo. Then again, maybe a human being transformed into a cannibalistic monster by a malevolent spirit from indigenous North American folklore isn't exactly where a junior hockey team wants to turn to for branding inspiration.

They really did find that sweet-spot. Or, is it the "tart-spot" where cherries grown in the Traverse City area are concerned?

I have to concur. Brandiose, exhibiting a bit of restraint, has crafted a logo package that easily establishes the Pit Spitters identity as the class of the Northwoods League. In fact, I'd have to say that it's a "Top Ten" logo package in all of collegiate summer baseball, and arguably also tops that list. To be honest, this work is better than the logos many minor-pro baseball teams are sporting... including some that Brandiose has designed.

My goodness, the new Lacrosse Loggers logo is an overwrought piece of work.

If team management and the folks at Brandiose were so hellbent on drawing upon a Mardi Gras tradition in their efforts to rebrand New Orleans' Triple A baseball franchise, why not just dub the team the New Orleans Cake Babies? Why, instead, opt to go with a name - Baby Cakes - which, as you point out, is "simply more recognizable and familiar to people as a fringe-level term of endearment" to people outside of the team's home market? Now, quite obviously, the decision was made in the hopes of maximizing revenue-generation via souvenir sales to as widespread a consumer audience as possible. Unfortunately, in chasing the almighty dollar, a cultural hallmark of New Orleans was bastardized in order to make it more palatable to those consumers who live well outside the municipality. Therein, to my mind, lies the problem with the modern age of minor league sports branding and souvenir sales. Yes, teams are willing to invest more time, effort, and cold, hard cash into creatively branding themselves. Yes, teams are festooning an ever-growing variety of licensed products with their brands. Why? In order to generate significant revenue by selling the s**t out of said products. However, to truly maximize revenue, teams are feeling driven to adopt identities that are increasingly outlandish... and, in many cases, targeted towards a national (indeed, potentially international) audience, rather than the fans in their own home market. On the one hand, as a sports branding enthusiast and someone who relishes the opportunity to purchase memorabilia emblazoned with well-designed logos, I have reason to celebrate these developments. On the other, I lament the fact that it often seems as though teams - and the branding professionals they hire - are increasingly less interested in catering to the tastes/preferences of hometown fans, than they are in making a splash with the creation of the next over-the-top, "something-for-everyone" team identity.