Minor/Independent/Collegiate League Baseball Logo/Uniform Changes

[Totems!!]

True shame that they're ditching the Zephyrs name. It never quite fit New Orleans but its one of my all time favorite names going back to their days in Denver. I remember getting a Denver Zephyrs card back in the day and loving the name but having no idea what the hell a Zephyr was...had to look it up in the dictionary but I was still a bit confused. Sad day but hopefully it will make a comeback somewhere someday soon.

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

4 hours ago, Totems!! said:

True shame that they're ditching the Zephyrs name. It never quite fit New Orleans but its one of my all time favorite names going back to their days in Denver. I remember getting a Denver Zephyrs card back in the day and loving the name but having no idea what the hell a Zephyr was...had to look it up in the dictionary but I was still a bit confused. Sad day but hopefully it will make a comeback somewhere someday soon.

 

My New Orleans Zephyrs hat from around 1995.

 

[MCM0313]

4 hours ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

My New Orleans Zephyrs hat from around 1995.

 

Every picture you post, my eyes are immediately occupied by that epic moustache. 

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

1 hour ago, MCM0313 said:

Every picture you post, my eyes are immediately occupied by that epic moustache. 

 

My fate was sealed the first time I saw the 1972 Oakland A's.

[WavePunter]

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but the Columbia Fireflies have the worst number font in history (although their ballpark is gorgeous)

[Brian in Boston]

Sadly, the identity change in New Orleans comes after the city's NBA franchise has adopted the traditional minor-pro baseball sobriquet Pelicans.

[WSU151]

The AFL's VooDoo identity would work amazingly well for MiLB.  

[tron1013]

I am betting it will be the New Orleans Nutria, they won't even have to change the mascot:

 

 

 

Alternatively, I think the Crescent City Krewe would be a pretty good option.

[Sykotyk]

Please just stay away from the SouthEast Louisiana MetroDawggzz or something horrific like that.

 

New Orleans Jazz. Now, that I would be okay with. A nice little F-U to the NBA at the same time.

[hjwii]

It won't be the Pelicans... Tom Benson bought those rights 25 years ago and would never give it up.  And, that's a shame. because the city had a Pelicans baseball team for some 75 years, and is the perfect baseball moniker.

 

And, it won;t be the Nutria.  We all love Boudreaux as a physical mascot, but not as the name of the team.

 

It'll no doubt be very regional. But, I hope it's not a "singular" name like Jazz or Brass or Funk or Krewe or Gumbo.  And I pray they don;t use purple/gold/green as their color scheme.

 

I would like to see them use the St. Charles Avenue streetcars.  Use olive/dark green and maroon as their colors, and the same number font that is used on the streetcars.  Throw a baseball in place of the headlight, or the wheels.  Maybe incorporate the tracks as piping or something.

 

Just a thought...

[uuh70]

How about New Orleans Spirit

 

Using a Purple/red color scheme

[rvrdgsfn]

On 3/11/2016 at 7:33 PM, Gothamite said:

I vote for "Angry Young Men."  Put this guy on the cap. 

 

Plus the theme song to boot
 

 

[TBGKon]

I'm really hoping for Crescents.  I know it doesn't fit the recent fun and catchy to be marketable (like Yard Goats, Fireflies, etc) but it does have history in NOLA.

[mjd77]

On 4/25/2016 at 10:57 PM, WavePunter said:

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but the Columbia Fireflies have the worst number font in history (although their ballpark is gorgeous)

 

Definitely looks like something out of the 90's.

[B-Rich]

Re: The Zephyrs name change, here is a local's point of view....

 

This is a bunch of stupidity, BS, and to be blunt, a cash grab by new owners.

As they put it in their announcement, "After nearly a quarter of a century".. with more than a generation growing up with the name and older locals clearly used to it... why change now?

 

On 4/23/2016 at 3:34 AM, Totems!! said:

True shame that they're ditching the Zephyrs name. It never quite fit New Orleans....

Not true. If you are New Orleanian, it fit quite well, and the whole deal about "a name that finally reflects the city it represents, as the "Zephyrs" name carried over with the franchise when it arrived from Denver in 1993" is BS.  Anyone who was around back in 1993 when the team was moved from Denver remembers that this was discussed back then, and the fact that we had a beloved and iconic roller coaster with the same name made the "Zephyrs" name fit perfectly.

 

Not without imitators, either-- the Brooklyn Cyclones of the New York-Penn name adopted that name (in honor of the roller coaster nearby at Coney Island) in 2001.

Frankly, the whole image/ mascot thing took a wrong turn with the addition of the Boudreaux/nutria thing back when they moved into the new stadium. For awhile there, Boudreaux was even in the actual logo, taking a bite out of the wordmark.... In the early days they had a mustachoied big-head mascot called "Zydeco Zeke" which was much better.

Then, the new owners have the gall to say, "It will also serve as a continuation of the momentum the franchise has built in recent months, including a record-setting attendance for the Mumford & Sons concert.  How does a concert crowd at the stadium have anything to do with the franchise's momentum? Did the Saints experience momentum after the Rolling Stones' largest indoor concert in the Superdome back in 1981?

The name-the-team campaign is supposed to run for not even two weeks-- from April 25th to May 6?  Sounds like a set-up, and a new name is already lined up...  And they've got the Brandiose firm working on it, so you can expect something stupid and cutesy like the Biloxi Shuckers, Montgomery Biscuits, Lansing Lugnuts, or Omaha Storm Chasers... Take an inanimate object or concept and anthropomorphize it by putting eyes on it...  I can see it now, freakin' beignets with eyes on them:

 

And again, those in charge have even admitted it's essentially a quick cash grab, with money to be made off the sale of new merch.  From an Article in The New Orleans Advocate:

 

“It’s nothing new to baseball,” said Pete Barrouquere, who covered the team as a sportswriter and now is a fan who will be on the panel. “It’s a merchandizing thing, probably."

(owner) "Schwechheimer said the sale of new team apparel will bring a much-needed infusion of cash."

 

 

[LAWeaver]

On 2/25/2016 at 9:28 AM, conesbeans said:

 

^^Ignore the quote box. 

 

Sucks to see the Zephyrs identity going away. I absolutely love their logo package. One of the best in the AAA level. 

[SJAnfield]

http://ballparkdigest.com/2016/04/29/atlantic-league-unveils-catching-gear-design/

 

Atlantic League rolling out new catching gear with Rawling. Reminds me of 90s hockey and baseball experiments. 

[FinsUp1214]

13 minutes ago, SJAnfield said:

http://ballparkdigest.com/2016/04/29/atlantic-league-unveils-catching-gear-design/

 

Atlantic League rolling out new catching gear with Rawling. Reminds me of 90s hockey and baseball experiments. 

 

As a sucker for hockey goalie masks, I love the idea of the goalie-esque catcher's mask designs - I remember Brian Schnieder having a really cool one when he played for the Nationals a few years back - but there's really no reason to extend it to the rest of the gear. Those chest protectors look more Fisher-Price than professional baseball....okay maybe a stretch, but for some reason I instantly thought "something I'd see in the Walmart kids aisles".

[The_Admiral]

I thought New Orleans liked good music. What are they doing setting records for Mumford and Sons?

[MCM0313]

So the front page of the mothership had an article about the brand-new Savannah Bananas who will begin play this summer in the Coastal Plain League, an amateur summer collegiate baseball league. I looked on Wikipedia and there are quite a few interesting team nicknames and color schemes in that league. Some of the team nicknames alone are worth the price of admission: besides the Bananas, they have the Asheboro Copperheads ("Texas orange" and white), High Point-Thomasville HiToms (red and navy, but what a name), Lexington County Blowfish (red and blue), Edenton Steamers (teal, black and white, with a clam for a logo), Fayetteville Swampdogs (navy blue and fluorescent green), Holly Springs Salamanders (Vegas gold and steel blue), Peninsula Pilots (orange, navy blue and light blue, with a bird wearing flying goggles for a logo), and Wilson Tobs (short for Tobacconists, wearing athletic gold (yellow) and black, with a tobacco worm for their mascot). There are several more, but those were the most interesting nicknames I found. Low-level baseball branding is fun.