Denver Bears

[totc]

When the Bears had that " db " logo (1980s), whose farm team was it?

[tulanebc]

I distinctly remember the Z's moving to UNO Maestri Field as our FIRST minor league team since the Pelicans in the 70's who played in the mausoleum-like Superdome (the team moved and became the Louisville Redbirds), but the Z's never displaced an existing AA team, there never was one here before they came. There WAS an ownership group headed by Saints owner Tom Benson who wanted to place an AA team here, but Z's owner Rob Couhig won some kind of lawsuit, and Benson kept the name "Pelicans" and ANY derivative of that name in the event he might secure a minor league franchise, hence why the New Orleans Zephyrs have maintained a name that has NO local connection to the city apart from a long since dead roller coaster at the old Pontchartrain Beach amusement park.

P.S....Jeff Cirillo was pretty damn good back then...didn't mind being a Brew Crew affiliate....

Of topic, but I was wondering what that old amusement park was outside of New Orleans whenever I was there for the bowl game the week before Christmas. I think that it was also close to a closed down business park, too.

I believe you are thinking about Six Flags Jazzland, which will never re-open again due to damage suffered from Katrina. Pontchartrain Beach closed in 1982 after being open for 60 years.

[rams80]

When the Bears had that " db " logo (1980s), whose farm team was it?

According to Mike McCann's site...Chicago White Sox (2 years removed from being an Expos affiliate, though.)

[foxpro]

[Gothamite]

Ugh. I hate that phony "retro" jersey.

Just realized, in the upper left hand corner - what team creates a logo of their mascot missing a pitch?

[leedsunited]

I distinctly remember the Z's moving to UNO Maestri Field as our FIRST minor league team since the Pelicans in the 70's who played in the mausoleum-like Superdome (the team moved and became the Louisville Redbirds), but the Z's never displaced an existing AA team, there never was one here before they came. There WAS an ownership group headed by Saints owner Tom Benson who wanted to place an AA team here, but Z's owner Rob Couhig won some kind of lawsuit, and Benson kept the name "Pelicans" and ANY derivative of that name in the event he might secure a minor league franchise, hence why the New Orleans Zephyrs have maintained a name that has NO local connection to the city apart from a long since dead roller coaster at the old Pontchartrain Beach amusement park.

P.S....Jeff Cirillo was pretty damn good back then...didn't mind being a Brew Crew affiliate....

Of topic, but I was wondering what that old amusement park was outside of New Orleans whenever I was there for the bowl game the week before Christmas. I think that it was also close to a closed down business park, too.

I believe you are thinking about Six Flags Jazzland, which will never re-open again due to damage suffered from Katrina. Pontchartrain Beach closed in 1982 after being open for 60 years.

Speaking of Jazzland, here's a great photoalbum of the park after Katrina. And yeah, Six Flags is trying to get out of their lease for the site. It was already one of the least-profitable parks for the company, now they're jumpin' ship.

http://interthemepark.shutterfly.com/action/

[tulanebc]

Wow...to think it looks pretty much the same, minus the many acres of water...I can wonder what will happen to the land and the park....it was a great opportunity for the city that's just now going to waste.

[darkhaha]

Here's a great article on Denver baseball in this month's 5280 magazine.

[darkhaha]

Recently came across some photos of the Denver Bears in the 1950s. Here's the unique "strike-zone" uniform that was briefly (and grudgingly) worn in 1952:

Here's a shot of the unis that were worn in the early and mid-50s:

Dig the colored belt loops and pockets!

[Gothamite]

And dig those HUGE numbers.

[jhans203]

They changed the name to Zephyrs (means mountain wind) to be more unique and regional during their pursuit of the MLB expansion franchise.

Just a correction on the word 'Zephyr' it does not mean 'Mountain Wind' it means 'West Wind.' The definition below is from Webster. It fits Denver nevertheless, but my point is that if it meant 'Mountain Wind' then the old Chicago Zephyrs nickname wouldn't make sense because of the lack of mountains in Illinois.

===

Main Entry: zeph·yr

Pronunciation: 'ze-f&r

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English Zephirus, west wind (personified), from Latin Zephyrus, god of the west wind & zephyrus west wind, zephyr, from Greek Zephyros & zephyros

1 a : a breeze from the west b : a gentle breeze

2 : any of various lightweight fabrics and articles of clothing

[cranium]

Wow, a strike zone uniform. I had never heard of the idea. I does look dorky as hell, but just wait for Nike to make it the Oregon Ducks new baseball uni. Ha Ha!!

[winghaz]

Billy Martin was a manager of the Denver Bears before he became manager of the Minnesota Twins in 1969 (the Bears were the farm team of the Twins at the time). I'd love to see a picture of Billy Martin in a Denver Bears uniform.

[darkhaha]

Billy Martin was a manager of the Denver Bears before he became manager of the Minnesota Twins in 1969 (the Bears were the farm team of the Twins at the time). I'd love to see a picture of Billy Martin in a Denver Bears uniform.

Here ya go:

[Jarred Revolver]

I REALLY like the look of that program with the Astros on page 1. SO cool!

[BallWonk]

If the Bears weren't an Expos affiliate when they used that "db" logo, the fans should get a refund.

As to the strike zone uniforms ... wow. I've long used strike-zone definition as a factor when judging uniforms, and this shows just how badly a uniform can screw up on that front. That's just begging to have the high strike called against Denver batters. It defines a zone above the armpits!

Truly outstanding jersey-script design should provide subtle visual clues to lower the strike zone.

(I've often toyed with the theory that the widespread adoption of jersey-front uniforms explains the disappearance of the high strike. By breaking up the blank space between the bottom of the lettering and the belt, jersey-front numbers make the space right above the belt the highest visual landmark for the umpire to judge pitches against.)

[Gothamite]

Wow. That's an interesting idea. I'll have to consider that at length.

I'm confused - were those uniforms specifically designed to illustrate the strike zone, or is it just a name added because it was an unintended consequence of the design?

[roxfan00]

Another picture of old Bears Stadium aka Mile High Stadium.

[darkhaha]

Wow. That's an interesting idea. I'll have to consider that at length.

I'm confused - were those uniforms specifically designed to illustrate the strike zone, or is it just a name added because it was an unintended consequence of the design?

Here's a quote from "The Denver Bears: From Sandlots to Sellouts" by Mark S. Foster:

"Bob Howsam [the Bears' General Manager] attempted to capitalize on the centennial of Denver's settlement by dressing the players in replicas of the 1859 uniforms [on opening day, 1959]... They hated the uniforms, which brought back memories of a similar sartorial experiment during the 1952 season. In that year Howsam had given a brief trial to predominantly white home uniforms, colored blue above the letters and below the knee cap. The idea was to help the umpires call balls and strikes. To the great relief of the players, both uniform experiments were short-lived."

This brings me to a question about the Bears' colors. I attended my first Bears game in 1966, and I distinctly remember their colors being navy and red. I have it confirmed from Jim Burris, the long-time Bears GM, that the colors were navy and red when he took over in 1965. The above story would suggest that at least one of their colors was navy (or some other shade of blue) even back in 1952.

So for many years I assumed that their colors had ALWAYS been navy and red, at least since the re-formation in 1947. But awhile back I saw what is purported to be a 1962 Bears ballcap on the Ebbets Field Flannels site that is brown with an orange "D". I know for sure it's not the DESIGN that the '62 Bears used, as that was the last year of dark caps with a white old English D. I'm just wondering where they got information that the Bears' colors were brown and orange at around that time, because I can't find any evidence to indicate this (obviously, I wish we had some color photos from that era, but I don't know of any).

If anyone has any knowledge or info on this topic I'd love to hear it...

[Gothamite]

I don't know - Ebbets has been pretty good overall, but they're not perfect.

So we know the uniforms were blue in 1952 and 1965, but that doesn't mean anything about the years in between.

According to Wikipedia, the Bears' affiliation over this period was:

1952-1954 Pittsburgh Pirates

1955-1958 New York Yankees

1959 None

1960-1962 Detroit Tigers

1963-1964 Milwaukee Braves

1965-1968 Minnesota Twins

So it would not surprise me to learn they changed their colors a couple of times along the way as the affiliation shifted. Some teams used the colors of the parent club, others did not.

Makes sense that they would be using the Detroit-style "D" in 1962, if they were still a Tiger farm team.