Rays seem ready to dump Devil

[Audiodrama]

One of the more troubling aspects of these jerseys, IMO, is the giant "RAYS" on the away set. I understand that you have to keep your uni's basic when you introduce them or whatever, but for the love of god, put TAMPA BAY on the away set! (But, I suppose considering the plethora of issues with this re-branding, that's the least of their problems.)

[TruColor]

...someone pointed out that as a kid watching the Indians on TV, he thought their colors were purple and red, and I nodded silently because I experienced the same thing once. But the shade of cap we're talking about is actually very close to the color of blue fabric that's supposed to be in the American flag, and it doesn't look anything like purple if there's any actual purple in the room to compare it with. Trick of the lighting, not bad uniform design. (Which still leaves plenty of actual poor uniform design to complain about here!)...

I'm assuming you are referring to the Indians back in the '70s through the '80s. They used a standard Blue and Red for the logos, but came up with a funky, darker Purple/Blue for the uniforms. I know for a fact that the creators of the Cooperstown Collection had a tough time recreating that color, since it wasn't ever listed in any of the Style Guides. This color of course, is much different than the current Navy:

[luisart47]

So another navy team! How brilliant! That way they can stand out from the other teams quite nicely!

Both 1998 expansion teams have done a terrible job in their look, 10 years and already a change of look? And they come out with this?

Lame! For both! Lame!

[TBGKon]

One of the more troubling aspects of these jerseys, IMO, is the giant "RAYS" on the away set. I understand that you have to keep your uni's basic when you introduce them or whatever, but for the love of god, put TAMPA BAY on the away set! (But, I suppose considering the plethora of issues with this re-branding, that's the least of their problems.)

I think this is a way of including other markets (probably Orlando/Central Florida) to Rays baseball. The Rays also aren't the first team to put the team name on the roadies:

- Angels

- Brewers

- Orioles

- Phillies

- Cardinals

I as a Rays fan have really came around to these unis since the leak a few months back. They aren't as bad as the leaked images looked. Could the have been better, yes, but I really don't mind them at all. I plan on going out and getting a road uni and a cap soon.

[boardname]

Snooze central. How boring.

[luisart47]

One of the more troubling aspects of these jerseys, IMO, is the giant "RAYS" on the away set. I understand that you have to keep your uni's basic when you introduce them or whatever, but for the love of god, put TAMPA BAY on the away set! (But, I suppose considering the plethora of issues with this re-branding, that's the least of their problems.)

I think this is a way of including other markets (probably Orlando/Central Florida) to Rays baseball. The Rays also aren't the first team to put the team name on the roadies:

- Angels

- Brewers

- Orioles

- Phillies

- Cardinals

I as a Rays fan have really came around to these unis since the leak a few months back. They aren't as bad as the leaked images looked. Could the have been better, yes, but I really don't mind them at all. I plan on going out and getting a road uni and a cap soon.

The Mariners wear "Seattle" in their road unis and that doesn't make less favorable in markets like Idaho, Alaska, or even Oregon. Everybody knows they play in Seattle, but since they are the closest team to all of them, they root for the Mariners.

That excuse seems stupid to me.

[leopard88]

The Mariners wear "Seattle" in their road unis and that doesn't make less favorable in markets like Idaho, Alaska, or even Oregon. Everybody knows they play in Seattle, but since they are the closest team to all of them, they root for the Mariners.

That excuse seems stupid to me.

Try telling that to Peter Angelos.

[rmackman]

Is it just me or does it seem like teams are rebranding themselves faster and faster now? A team used to hold an identity for about 10-15 years or so, and now it feels like every five years everyone's got to rebrand.

[Shroinke]

Snooze central. How boring.

Haha, it's a tribute to their city as a former New York minor league team:

They look like Yankees that have yet to earn their pinstripes

[DDR]

As uninspired as these uniforms are on paper, at the very least, we have to admit that they do look much better on the players, right?

[leopard88]

As uninspired as these uniforms are on paper, at the very least, we have to admit that they do look much better on the players, right?

I'm willing to admit that.

[DDR]

As uninspired as these uniforms are on paper, at the very least, we have to admit that they do look much better on the players, right?

I'm willing to admit that.

Well, good. Now that it's been seconded, we can vote on it.

I SMELL A POLL!!!!!

[ZapRowsdower8]

I was a huge fan of what they had before. Green is my favorite color and it is so underused in pro sports, so it makes me sad to see them dump it, but I don't hate these. But are they boring? Yes.

Minor things that would make them better IMO.

1) Put "Tampa Bay" on the roads.

2) Make the caps "pop" more. Maybe add the sun burst to the cap? Personally, I love when teams with multiple letters on their caps use different colors for each letter. (Think the Twins TC cap or the old Padres navy caps with the white S and orange D.) Navy cap with a light blue T and yellow B?

[SabreGuy]

Haha, it's a tribute to their city as a former New York minor league team:

They look like Yankees that have yet to earn their pinstripes

And now that you mention it, that TB looks a lot like the TY Tampa Yankees logo, no?

[patsox]

The uniforms could have been a lot worse, and I don't have too much of a problem with those, I guess. But that hat really needs something else.

[Survival79]

I'm pretty sure this is the only photo I've seen of the new BP cap. Does anyone know if they'll also wear the BP cap with the "Bonnie Blue" visor that was in the leaked images?

[powersurge]

Two tweaks, and the Devil Rays first uniforms would have been damned nice looking. This is their second sartorial giant step backwards. Look for new new "Rays" uniforms in 2011.Well, at least Jesus is happy with the name change...

Yeah....when they open up the 2011 season playing in Las Vegas.

[Survival79]

This article provides background on the branding process, particularly why they couldn't become the Stingrays.

Devil Be Gone: Rays Choose New Identity

By Marc Lancaster, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 9, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - No one needed to tell Stuart Sternberg back in the fall of 2005 that the baseball team he had just purchased came with a well-entrenched image problem.

Years of ineptitude on the field compounded by a ballpark experience that was never considered particularly fan-friendly made it difficult to cozy up to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Few wanted to associate themselves with the local major-league team, and it was difficult to blame them.

Sternberg set out to attack that apathy, instituting free parking and giving Tropicana Field an overhaul, but he also put the most basic elements of the franchise's identity on the table. The new management group couldn't snap its fingers and produce a serious pennant contender, but it could explore other avenues that might lead the public to embrace the Devil Rays.

High on that list was changing the very name of the team, and in conjunction with that, its look. Within two months of Sternberg's arrival, team executives began working with Interbrand, a New York-based corporate image-maker, to sort through potential alternatives to the name "Devil Rays."

Throughout a process that began with more than a million computer-generated possibilities that were progressively narrowed down, the most intuitive option - "Rays" - remained at the back of everyone's mind. But it took awhile for everything to come full circle.

Interbrand's computers came up with a boundless menu of choices. They were broken down into categories - types of animals, weather patterns, historical references (such as Yankees or Dodgers). Filters were applied to narrow the list.

"We didn't want to have the same name as any other professional sports teams," team president Matt Silverman said, "so we couldn't be the Kings because of Sacramento, we couldn't be the Titans because of Tennessee. We also didn't want to have the same name as a major college."

They eventually whittled the possibilities to about 50 names and began the laborious process of determining which ones could be used without infringing upon other brands.

"It was surprising to me how difficult legally it is to come up with a new name and have it work in all the different trademark categories," Silverman said. "We couldn't become the Stingrays because of Schwinn-brand Sting-Ray bicycles and the Corvette Stingray - we wouldn't have been able to do the type of merchandising that baseball requires us to do."

Among the finalists were the Cannons, Renegades, Tropics and Wave. They also considered the Dukes.

In the end, though, the consensus was that none of those choices resonated like "Rays."

Any trepidation the team might have felt about maintaining a nominal link to the past it was trying to shed was tempered by one factor in particular: It wasn't the Rays that seemed to keep people at a distance; it was the Devil.

"We even had research that showed when fans spoke glowingly about the organization, they used Rays," Silverman said. "When they were being critical of the organization, they referred to us as the Devil Rays.

"We did focus groups, and we found that pattern prevalent in all the focus groups."

By mid-2006, team executives had settled on Rays and turned to Major League Baseball for assistance in designing new uniforms. Their challenge was to build a look around a moniker fans already tended to use while still making it fresh. They chose to de-emphasize the aquatic creature aspect and center their marketing on rays of light. The new jerseys feature a sunburst on the right chest, and there was much talk of "energy" during Thursday night's rollout event.

But the predominant color in the new scheme is a dark blue complemented by light blue shading that emerged from nothing more scientific than the fact that Sternberg insisted on that color. The styling is absent any flashy elements, which appealed to those who will spend the most time in the new jerseys.

"I just like how simple they are," pitcher Scott Kazmir said. "It's professional."

Added outfielder B.J. Upton: "I love the colors. They're just classic uniforms."

The players seemed genuinely impressed with the final product, and the Rays' brain trust hopes that pride will spread throughout the offices of Tropicana Field and beyond.

"I think this gives us, as an organization, an identity," Sternberg said. "It was something where we were tied to the past, and the past wasn't something we necessarily wanted to be known for.

"Nobody's running and hiding from it, and we're proud of certain aspects of it, but this was something that the organization was really able to put their arms around."

[NorthStar74]

HMM I was wondering how the Rays would trot out the looks and etc.. hmm I dont know if it would work charmingly for me... but maybe in time it will grow on me.. but I am really fold of the old Devil Rays cap look from 1998...that one I really like... oh well....

[Gothamite]

"It was surprising to me how difficult legally it is to come up with a new name and have it work in all the different trademark categories," Silverman said. "We couldn't become the Stingrays because of Schwinn-brand Sting-Ray bicycles and the Corvette Stingray - we wouldn't have been able to do the type of merchandising that baseball requires us to do."

So how is it that the NFL, hardly a slouch in the merchandising department, could introduce teams like Panthers and Jaguars in relatively recent years?