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

[Victormrey]

Incredible set for the Chicago UG! I specially like the road uni, the red sash makes it stand out and is quite unique.

It reminds me of the Red Stripe beer label 

[coco1997]

On 7/6/2023 at 12:24 PM, Victormrey said:

Incredible set for the Chicago UG! I specially like the road uni, the red sash makes it stand out and is quite unique.

It reminds me of the Red Stripe beer label 

Thank you! And great observation about the red sash, haha. 

 

Finishing the week with the St. Paul Colored Gophers!

COLORED GOPHERS HOME:

 

COLORED GOPHERS ROAD:

 

COLORED GOPHERS HOME/ROAD ALT:

 

Notes:
 

- The Colored Gophers were a barnstorming team who played from 1907-14, and though they are not formally considered part of the official "Negro Leagues," the Twins nevertheless paid tribute to them in 2019 as well as on several other occasions. 

- Light brown is added as a secondary color to keep the Gophers from being a boring all-navy team.

- I tweaked the serifs on the ornate "StPG" monogram to match the Twins' new logos and wordmarks as well as created a new "St. Paul" wordmark in that same style. 

 

C&C appreciated! Just a handful of teams left at this point. 

[coco1997]

Next up are the Los Angeles White Sox!
 

WHITE SOX HOME:

 

WHITE SOX ROAD:

 

WHITE SOX HOME/ROAD ALT:

 

Notes:

 

- The L.A. White Sox, like the Larks, existed for just three months in 1946 before the West Coast Negro Baseball Association dissolved due to lack of funding and poor attendance. 

- Sadly, no photos of the Sox' actual uniforms appear to exist, so these designs are somewhat based on the jerseys sold on Royal Retros' website. 

- Sky blue replaces red for the TV numbers and is also used on the sleeve design. 

- The road set is inspired by the Dodgers' (IMO, superior) early 2000s road uniforms, complete with white trim and placket piping. 

 

C&C appreciated. The next few teams are based on BIG cats before I wrap up the series. 

[Coiler]

Love both Denver and Chicago. Chicago especially has that mixture of retro and 80s White Sox with the big stripe.

[coco1997]

On 7/11/2023 at 5:39 PM, Coiler said:

Love both Denver and Chicago. Chicago especially has that mixture of retro and 80s White Sox with the big stripe.

Thanks! The Union Giants were a late addition the series, but I'm really glad I decided to include them. 
 

Up today are the San Diego Tigers!
 

SAN DIEGO TIGERS HOME:

 

SAN DIEGO TIGERS ROAD:

 

SAN DIEGO TIGERS HOME/ROAD ALT:

 

Notes:

 

- Like the Larks and Los Angeles White Sox, the Tigers existed for just three months in 1946 as members of the West Coast Negro Baseball Association. Sadly, like most West Coast Negro teams, there are essentially zero photos of the Tigers in circulation. The only one I could dig up is unusable, as you can see.

- Inspired by both the Detroit Tigers and '90s-early 2000s Padres, I went with a navy & orange color scheme and also worked up a new "TIGERS" wordmark in the style of the current Padres' identity.

- The sleeve patch combines the Padres' SD monogram with Detroit's 1994-2005 prowling tiger primary logo. Here's a closer look at that logo. 

C&C appreciated! 

[Coiler]

This I'm the least wild about, to be honest. It just looks like a slightly different colored version of one of the blandest Padres periods. If you have to do a lot of it from scratch, you might as well go hog wild with literal tiger-style stripes up and down the uniform.

[coco1997]

3 hours ago, Coiler said:

This I'm the least wild about, to be honest. It just looks like a slightly different colored version of one of the blandest Padres periods. If you have to do a lot of it from scratch, you might as well go hog wild with literal tiger-style stripes up and down the uniform.

Thanks. I appreciate the feedback, but your suggestion wouldn't really be in keeping with what I've done throughout this series. I went with navy & orange because they're both what the original Tigers probably used and former Padres colors, and, because I wanted SD to look as different from my Cincinnati Tigers concept as possible, pinstripes were a must. 

 

Anyway, next up are the Forth Worth Black Panthers!
 

BLACK PANTHERS HOME:

 

BLACK PANTHERS ROAD:

 

BLACK PANTHERS HOME/ROAD ALT:

 

Notes:

 

- The Fort Worth Black Panthers played in the Texas Colored League from 1920-24 and were honored by the Rangers back in 2014. 

- My Black Panthers set wound up being primarily influenced by the Rangers' City Connect look (which itself took inspiration from the Black Panthers) with a Blackletter-style "BP" in place of the "TX" on the front of the jersey and cap. 

- Speaking of City Connect, the sleeve logo combines the Rangers' horseshoe Texas and "peagle" logo (with its wings clipped) from that set. 

- I figure the black alt could be worn both at home and on the road (with gray pants). 

 

C&C appreciated! The final team in the series will be up soon. 

[Coiler]

Love the aesthetics of the uniform, but I have doubts about a black uniform in Texas heat...

[WillLanigan]

A couple things.  One, I’d love to see an “FW” or “FtW” logo.  Also, I feel like if you have dark pants at home, you need dark pants on the road to match, especially since the jersey is mostly the same.  Good looking concept though!  
 

Haven’t commented, but love the L.A. White Sox!  It just looks like an instant classic uniform.  Great work on this series!!

[coco1997]

On 7/15/2023 at 6:25 PM, Coiler said:

Love the aesthetics of the uniform, but I have doubts about a black uniform in Texas heat...

Good point. Let's imagine the Black Panthers play at Globe Life Field so they can keep the roof closed and the park nice and air conditioned on those brutally hot Texas summer days. 

 

On 7/15/2023 at 11:04 PM, Yee Yee Go 'Stros! said:

A couple things.  One, I’d love to see an “FW” or “FtW” logo.  Also, I feel like if you have dark pants at home, you need dark pants on the road to match, especially since the jersey is mostly the same.  Good looking concept though!  
 

Haven’t commented, but love the L.A. White Sox!  It just looks like an instant classic uniform.  Great work on this series!!

Thanks! I don't necessarily agree that the road uniform needs black pants just because the home set has them, but here's your suggestion. I also added a "FtW" mark in the same style as the "BP": 

 

Let me know what you think!

[WillLanigan]

1 hour ago, coco1997 said:

Good point. Let's imagine the Black Panthers play at Globe Life Field so they can keep the roof closed and the park nice and air conditioned on those brutally hot Texas summer days. 

 

Thanks! I don't necessarily agree that the road uniform needs black pants just because the home set has them, but here's your suggestion. I also added a "FtW" mark in the same style as the "BP": 

 

Let me know what you think!

I think it looks better this way, but that's just my personal opinion.  You're the designer!  Keep up the great work as always!!

[coco1997]

22 hours ago, Yee Yee Go 'Stros! said:

I think it looks better this way, but that's just my personal opinion.  You're the designer!  Keep up the great work as always!!

The black pants definitely look good with the gray jersey! And great suggestion to add a "FtW" logo. 

Wrapping up the series today with one of the most well-known Negro League teams, the Washington Grays!

 

GRAYS HOME:

 

GRAYS ROAD:

 

GRAYS HOME ALT:

 

GRAYS ROAD ALT:

Notes:

 

- As @VampyrRabbit correctly guessed, the Homestead Grays are crossed with the Nationals, who threw back to the Grays in 2012. The Pirates have also played as the Grays on several occasions, due to the team originally being based in Pittsburgh.  

- Because the original Grays uniforms were more navy than actual gray, I went with a dual-color scheme and paired navy with a much lighter shade of gray. 

- One feature of the Grays' uniforms that I absolutely had to include was the thick, distinctive T-bars. The Nationals' primary logo is also tweaked to include the name "Grays."

C&C appreciated! For reference, here are the four teams that did not have Negro League equivalents:
 

- Anaheim

- Arizona

- Tampa Bay

- Toronto

 

Thank you to everyone who followed along and commented!

[coco1997]

Decided to crank out one more team and, following up on my previous post, try the Grays in the style of the Pirates:

HOMESTEAD GRAYS HOME:

HOMESTEAD GRAYS ROAD:

HOMESTEAD GRAYS HOME/ROAD ALT:

Notes:
 

- As mentioned in my previous post, the Grays originated in Homestead, Pennsylvania but played several home games at D.C's Griffith Stadium throughout the 1940s, hence the dual-city identity. 

- My goal here was to make the Homestead Grays as different from Washington's design as possible while keeping the same basic color scheme. We therefore get pinstriped, sleeveless uniforms (which are sure to please @VampyrRabbit ) with gray wordmarks and numbers in the style of the Pirates. 

 

C&C appreciated! 

[Coiler]

Like the Grays. For a really weird look you could take the contemporary Pirates (black and yellow) and Expos/Nationals (various shades of blue and red) and have half the uniform be grayish yellow and the the other half grayish red, with a grayish blue hat.