MLB x Negro League Baseball (Homestead Grays x Pirates 7/24)

[coco1997]

On 6/10/2023 at 11:44 PM, JG36 said:

Love the English O alternate, and the lark on ball logo works really well. 

Thanks! Hope you continue to follow along.

 

First team of the week is the Philadelphia Stars!

PHILA STARS HOME:

 

PHILA STARS ROAD:

 

Notes:
 

- Since the Phillies once had a "P" logo with a star anyway, it made sense to recreate that logo and build the Stars' identity around it. 

- Decided to mix things up a bit and go mono blue for the road set as opposed to standard gray.

 

C&C appreciated! We'll stay in Pennsylvania for the next team. 

[Coiler]

Red pinstripes! My favorite

[coco1997]

17 hours ago, Coiler said:

Red pinstripes! My favorite

 

Happy to hear!

Next up are the Pittsburgh Crawfords!

CRAWFORDS HOME:

 

CRAWFORDS ROAD:

 

CRAWFORDS HOME ALT:

 

CRAWFORDS ROAD ALT:

 

Notes:

 

- I opted against a pinstriped look for the Crawfords to differentiate them more from the Phila Stars.

- The original Crawfords used a "C" on their caps, but when I tried that out it looked awkward, so I just used the Pirates "P."

- Since there's no obvious imagery associated with the term "crawfords," I went with a basic roundel for the sleeve patch, inspired by the Pirates' current alternate logo. 

 

C&C appreciated! I'll have another team up soon. 

[VampyrRabbit]

So does Bucs X Crawfords mean a Nats X Homestead Grays Uniform set?

Would love to see the Pittsburgh Crawfords go sleeveless and with a matching Pittsburgh script for the change, never been a fan of the cursive road script with the odd droop just over halfway through.

[Paul Lucas]

I second what the Rabbit said, I’d love to see your Crawfords go sleeveless. Btdubs, I’m really digging the Series. Very creative and well done as always. Great job, Brother!

[coco1997]

On 6/15/2023 at 8:06 PM, Paul Lucas said:

I second what the Rabbit said, I’d love to see your Crawfords go sleeveless. Btdubs, I’m really digging the Series. Very creative and well done as always. Great job, Brother!

Thanks, man!
 

On 6/15/2023 at 6:41 PM, VampyrRabbit said:

So does Bucs X Crawfords mean a Nats X Homestead Grays Uniform set?

 

 

On 6/15/2023 at 6:41 PM, VampyrRabbit said:

Would love to see the Pittsburgh Crawfords go sleeveless and with a matching Pittsburgh script for the change, never been a fan of the cursive road script with the odd droop just over halfway through.

 

Somehow, I knew you'd say that . Here you go:

 

 

 

I deliberately used the script for the road jersey to evoke the script from the original Crawfords unis. The sleeveless suggestion was a good one, but I definitely still prefer the script "Pittsburgh." What do you think?

[coco1997]

With it being Juneteenth, today feels as any to post the Kansas City Monarchs!

MONARCHS HOME:

 

MONARCHS ROAD:

 

MONARCHS HOME ALT:

 

MONARCHS ROAD ALT:

 

Notes:
 

- For Jackie Robinson's first professional team, I tried out a few different color combos (including royal blue & gold and navy blue & red) before settling on royal blue and red. I'm still not 100% sold on this particular scheme, so I'm open to suggestions. 

- Inspired by this excellent Ebbets Field Flannels pullover design, I went with a red top with monogram crest for the home alt.

- Yes, I did consider going powder blue for the road set, but the royal blue and red made it look more Chicago than Kansas City. 

 

C&C appreciated! 

[coco1997]

Decided to be generous today and post both New York teams, so here are the Black Yankees and Royal Giants!

BLACK YANKEES HOME:

 

BLACK YANKEES ROAD:

 

Notes:
- This one's a pretty straightforward swap of the Yankees' dark navy for black while using the Black Yankees' clever bowler-wearing "NY" logo for the home jersey's chest logo. 

- As with the real Yankees, no alts.

ROYAL GIANTS HOME:

 

ROYAL GIANTS ROAD:

 

ROYAL GIANTS HOME/ROAD ALT:

 

Notes:

 

- For Brooklyn, I used the "Giants" script from San Francisco's current orange alts, as it matches the Mets' wordmark fairly well. 

- The road jersey uses an arched "Brooklyn" in the Tuscan style of the Mets' "New York" wordmark. 

- The New York skyline sleeve patch replaces the Mets script with the Royal Giants' "RG" monogram. 

 

C&C appreciated as usual!

[VampyrRabbit]

Never crossed my mind that the Mets home script matched the cursive Giants script, but then again, why wouldn't it?  The uniforms look great.

I think the colour combination for KC is pretty good, and I'd probably like it more than navy and red (overused) and royal blue and gold (get it right and it looks great, get it wrong and it looks chintzy).

[coco1997]

On 6/21/2023 at 7:16 PM, VampyrRabbit said:

Never crossed my mind that the Mets home script matched the cursive Giants script, but then again, why wouldn't it?  The uniforms look great.

I think the colour combination for KC is pretty good, and I'd probably like it more than navy and red (overused) and royal blue and gold (get it right and it looks great, get it wrong and it looks chintzy).

Thanks! To be fair, the "Giants" script doesn't match the Mets one exactly, but it was close enough for the purposes of my concept. 

 

Next up are the Houston Eagles!

EAGLES HOME:

 

EAGLES ROAD:

 

EAGLES HOME ALT:

 

EAGLES ROAD ALT:

 

Notes:

 

- Houston was sort of a last-minute addition to this series but actually wound up being one of my favorites. The Eagles spent the majority of their existence in Newark, but due to their brief stay in Houston at the end of the 1940s, I opted to include them.

- The primary logo swaps out the star behind the Astros' block "H" for Houston/Newark's flying eagle logo. 

- I used Houston's 2005-12 road script for the away jersey as a nod to the classic style script used on the Eagles' jerseys. 

- Triple striping on the primary home & road jerseys reflects the style worn by the real-life Eagles, while more Astros-esque single striping is used on the alts. 

 

C&C appreciated! 

[WillLanigan]

I think the “Houston” script is gorgeous and underutilized.  Great use of it here!  Haven’t commented much but I’m absolutely loving this series!!

[Coiler]

Like the off-white for the Crawfords and all of the Monarchs and Eagles. The New York teams are a little too close to their real MLB counterparts but aren't exactly "bad".

[coco1997]

On 6/23/2023 at 5:02 PM, Yee Yee Go 'Stros! said:

I think the “Houston” script is gorgeous and underutilized.  Great use of it here!  Haven’t commented much but I’m absolutely loving this series!!

Thanks, man! I hope you continue following along.

 

2 minutes ago, Coiler said:

Like the off-white for the Crawfords and all of the Monarchs and Eagles. The New York teams are a little too close to their real MLB counterparts but aren't exactly "bad".

Thanks. And yeah, there's not a ton you can do with a Yankees-inspired concept since they have probably the plainest (yet most iconic) uniforms in the game. 

 

Up today are the Cleveland Buckeyes!

 

BUCKEYES HOME:

BUCKEYES ROAD:

 

BUCKEYES HOME/ROAD ALT:

 

Notes:

 

- Yes, the Buckeyes are crossed with the Indians, not the Guardians, since the Buckeyes' look lends itself better to Cleveland's former identity than their current one. 

- I made the shift from navy blue to brown, the color of actual buckeyes. 

- One of my absolute favorite features in uniform design is when a script tail contains the team's name, so that's what I did here. 

 

As always, C&C appreciated! 

[VampyrRabbit]

I think a brown cap with a red bill would fit the alt better than a red cap with a brown bill.

[coco1997]

On 6/25/2023 at 4:05 PM, VampyrRabbit said:

I think a brown cap with a red bill would fit the alt better than a red cap with a brown bill.

That was actually my original plan, but then I decided I didn't want the Buckeyes to look too much like Cincinnati, to whom I also gave a black cap with red bill. And besides, the red-crowned design is inspired by this look. 

Today's team is the Boston Blues!

BLUES HOME:

 

BLUES ROAD:

 

BLUES HOME ALT:

 

BLUES ROAD ALT:

 

Notes:

 

- Sadly, there are seemingly zero reference photos of Boston's Negro League club. The good news is this meant I got to take a lot more artistic liberty than usual with the Blues, and so, given the team's name, I opted to use the same color scheme as Boston's City Connect uniforms.

- The one solid photographic evidence of the Blues is the team's gorgeous monogram double "B," which I used on three of the four jerseys' sleeves and put front and center on the road alt.

 

C&C appreciated as always!

[Coiler]

Like the Buckeyes Brown and especially the Blues. Blue and yellow actually fits the Braves mid-1930s too, so it has a double connection.

[coco1997]

On 6/30/2023 at 2:10 PM, Coiler said:

Like the Buckeyes Brown and especially the Blues. Blue and yellow actually fits the Braves mid-1930s too, so it has a double connection.

Thanks! I made that realization about the 1930s Braves, as well. 

 

Finishing off the week with the Atlanta Black Crackers!

BLACK CRACKERS HOME:

 

BLACK CRACKERS ROAD:

 

BLACK CRACKERS HOME ALT:

 

BLACK CRACKERS ROAD ALT:

 

Notes:

 

- Many probably (understandably) assume that "Black Crackers" is a racial reference, but in doing some research I discovered that the name may have in fact referred to the Atlanta Firecrackers, a minor league team from the late 1800s. With that in mind, a firecracker design is placed on the jersey sleeves to evoke the feathers of the mid-70s Braves. 

- I decided to swap out navy for black to achieve a more Atlanta-centric color scheme. 

- The home primary wound up being inspired by the Braves' City Connect uniforms, with the the team logo on the breast of the jersey rather than a script across the front of it. 

 

C&C appreciated! Just a few more teams left. 

[Coiler]

Love the black and white!

(For a non-Negro League team in either Houston or central Florida, you could a similar design with a Saturn V or something to symbolize the space launch industry)

[coco1997]

On 7/1/2023 at 8:20 AM, Coiler said:

Love the black and white!

(For a non-Negro League team in either Houston or central Florida, you could a similar design with a Saturn V or something to symbolize the space launch industry)

Thanks! And that's a good suggestion about the Saturn V angle.

 

Back today with the Denver White Elephants!

WHITE ELEPHANTS HOME:

 

WHITE ELEPHANTS ROAD:

 

WHITE ELEPHANTS HOME/ROAD ALT:

 

Notes:

 

- The White Elephants were a semi-professional Negro League team that played from 1915-35. The team wore green pinstriped uniforms with a very Oakland A's-esque white elephant within a green diamond on the chest. 

- Because of the angular nature "W" and "E," (unlike the Rockies' more rounded "C" and "R") I couldn't figure out a good way to connect the letters as a monogram. Any suggestions are welcome. 

- The sleeve design is a composite of the Rockies' BP and Philadelphia A's 1921-23 primary logo. 

 

C&C appreciated! 

[coco1997]

Next up are the Chicago Union Giants!

UNION GIANTS HOME:


UNION GIANTS ROAD:

 

UNION GIANTS HOME/ROAD ALT:

Notes:
 

- The Union Giants, like the Eagles, were another late addition to this project. I had forgotten that Chicago actually had two Negro League teams (though the Union Giants predated the American Giants) and given that the Cubs threw back to them in 2017, it only seemed right to include the Giants. 

- The rounded, interlocking "CUG" is meant to evoke the iconic Cubs logo. 

- In a hypothetical world where both the Union and American Giants inhabited Chicago, I'd probably put the latter team in navy and silver to avoid too many similarities to the Union Giants. 

- The unique red banner-type design across the front of the road jersey is inspired by the uniforms of the Leland Giants, the successor to the Union Giants.  
- Big thanks to @Carolingian Steamroller for the consult on this one!

 

As always, C&C appreciated!