PCL Oklahoma Redhawks name change

[mfoster]

They're putting the "City" back into the name, like when they were the 89'ers. They're getting a new logo and colors as well.

Long overdue, at least on the City part. I was never a fan of the state name. At this level it's not as though they're drawing additional fans from Altus, Woodward, Ardmore, and Broken Bow...

http://newsok.com/minor-league-baseball-re.../?tm=1219380803

Minor league baseball: RedHawks get upgraded name, logo, colors

By Matt Patterson - Staff Writer

If you own an Oklahoma RedHawks hat, it's about to become a collector's item.

Beginning in 2009, the Pacific Coast League baseball team will be known as the Oklahoma City RedHawks. A new color scheme, new uniforms and a new logo are also planned, managing partner Scott Pruitt said Thursday.

The new logo will be unveiled Sept. 15 at the Triple-A Championship Game Gala. The changes' public unveiling will be at the the Sept. 16 Triple-A Championship game at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark. Under minor league baseball rules, the changes cannot be announced until the final homestand of the regular season.

"The name change was the top priority,? Pruitt said. "I think the fans questioned, rightfully so, at the beginning, their tax investment wasn't reflected in the team name. We think the benefit is very strong by including Oklahoma City in the name.?

The current colors will be changed from brick red and black, to red and navy blue, similar to the colors used by the Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox. There will be a new logo designed by branding firm Studio Simon, which is based in Louisville, Ky. Pruitt said the company has worked extensively with minor league teams and has also designed Super Bowl logos.

Pruitt said the change in name isn't related to the arrival of the soon-to-be-named Oklahoma City NBA franchise, which will include the city's name in its branding. The Blazers' hockey team and Yard Dawgz' arenafootball2 team include Oklahoma City in their names.

Pruitt and co-owner Bob Funk inherited the team name, logo and color scheme when they purchased the RedHawks in 2004.

"I think if you ask anybody who buys a business, particularly one like ours, you want it to reflect your ownership group,? Pruitt said. "When we bought the club and looked at the identity, we wanted it to reflect who we are. We wanted to do the right thing, so even back then it made a lot of sense to us that it should be Oklahoma City.?

Designer Dan Simon began working on the project in December, bouncing ideas off Pruitt and others in the organization. Some minor league logos have a cartoonish flair to them. Pruitt wanted something different.

"I think the lower you get into the minors, it becomes more and more about selling family entertainment,? Simon said. "But with a Triple-A team, it's one step away from the Major Leagues. It's a different kind of product, so the pendulum swings to the other side. It's still very much about family entertainment, but it's a more professional look.?

Simon said he believes the new logo and color scheme are more evocative than the current one, but fans will always have their own standards.

"I don't want to sound like I'm horn tooting, but our job is to help the client achieve their vision, and I think we nailed that,? he said.

The RedHawks will expand their offerings of merchandise on-line and at its outlet store in Penn Square Mall. The new uniform will feature an "OKC? logo and a new team logo as its secondary mark. The team will have the option of two home uniform combinations, a road uniform and a uniform for batting practice. All of the new logos will be printed on merchandise.

[B-Rich]

I still think '89ers' was a better and more appropriate name...

[mfoster]

I still think '89ers' was a better and more appropriate name...

I'm with you there. I had hoped it might get resurrected for the Windythundermarshenergybisonbarons, but alas...

[BallWonk]

Looking forward to the new logo, but really. The weak link in the name is "RedHawks", not "Oklahoma". And I just don't think that a team named the "Red" anything is going to see a significant merchandising boost by changing its color scheme from red to ... red!

Couldn't the team at least stop torturing the English language and either put a space between "Red" and "Hawks", or at least downcase the "H"? Running words together with caps but no space is what big giant stupid corporations do, not fun little sports teams. PriceWaterhouseCoopers is bad enough, but RedHawks?

As for the switch from black to navy, kind of yay, but really, another red, white, and blue team? With a name like RedHawks, how can the team possibly justify not wearing brick, dark brown, and accents of bright rusty orange? Or red, brown, and sky blue?

Still, I'm thoroughly expecting the new logos and unis to be an upgrade.

[mfoster]

Looking forward to the new logo, but really. The weak link in the name is "RedHawks", not "Oklahoma". And I just don't think that a team named the "Red" anything is going to see a significant merchandising boost by changing its color scheme from red to ... red!

Couldn't the team at least stop torturing the English language and either put a space between "Red" and "Hawks", or at least downcase the "H"? Running words together with caps but no space is what big giant stupid corporations do, not fun little sports teams. PriceWaterhouseCoopers is bad enough, but RedHawks?

As for the switch from black to navy, kind of yay, but really, another red, white, and blue team? With a name like RedHawks, how can the team possibly justify not wearing brick, dark brown, and accents of bright rusty orange? Or red, brown, and sky blue?

Still, I'm thoroughly expecting the new logos and unis to be an upgrade.

The urban legend in OKC is that the RedHawks name/logo was originally conceived for the NHL expansion team. Clay Bennett was the main force behind the NHL bid and had an interest in the 89ers (just another part of the Gaylord empire, of which he is a son-in-law), so that's the common link. I have always had a hard time with the rumor though. First off, Chicago would never have tolerated the name (evidenced by the "Kansas City Mo-Hawks"). Secondly, the interlaced O-R bird logo to me wasn't a jersey crest, but a cap emblem. Since I live in Fort Worth I really don't care anymore... but I'm glad to see the return to OKC...

[winghaz]

Of course, everybody knows the REAL RedHawks are here in Fargo, as in the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks of the Northern League.

[BigMac12]

I'm going out on a limb and say "Oklahoma City Boomers."

[McCall]

I'm going out on a limb and say "Oklahoma City Boomers."

The only change to the name is from "Oklahoma" to "Oklahoma City". They're staying the RedHawks.

[Blackjack76]

The logos have been unveiled...this should make the Thunder's ownership group cry....

http://downloads.newsok.com/flash_video/th...c_redhawks_uni/

[-kj]

It's decent, but I can't help but feel like I've seen it all before.

[oukingpen]

Obviously our minor league team went with a professional agency other than Ackerman to design their logo. Looks far better than the Thunders.

[Ez Street]

I think I like the old set better. That's just me though.

It's ok, but nothing to fantastic.

The bird logo reminds me of another logo....can't place it.....

I like the OKC logo, but the colors are to overdone. Although being the AAA team of the Rangers, it works.

[oukingpen]

Redhawks updated their site and have linkable images of the new logos...

[Herk]

I really like the OKC logo, but honestly the name RedHawks still sucks.

[TrueYankee26]

Redhawks updated their site and have linkable images of the new logos...

THOSE ARE SWEET!

[Steve-O]

Simon or Bosack?

[slapshot]

Dan Simon. Play the link Blackjack posted and you can hear him talk about the branding process.

People may not like the final product, but this is how you do a team's identity.

Listening, Thunder?

[Steve-O]

Great work again. This identity at least FEELS complete. I really like the set, not a huge fan of the RedHawk's eye but it is well done. OKC Thunder would have been a lot smarter to go with something that is as classy as this. The OKC RedHawks look far more professional than their NBA team.

[BallWonk]

Fantastic logos. Nothing particularly fresh, though, so not a top-ten logo package or anything. An A-minus on the logos, but what I can see so far of the unis brings this down into the B range.

One nit: The hawk is bunting. Bat down like that is a bunt; bat up would better symbolize normal batting. It would make the logo less compact, so I know why they did it, but the bat's orientation stands out to me in a way that it shouldn't. I'd rather have seen a hawk logo on its own, or possibly with the baseball icon from the primary logo as an eye. But the hawk is the weak link in the overall design. It just doesn't match the aesthetic of the primary logo.

Also, Dan Simon says the team referenced the Minnesota Twins cap as an example of the kind of "major league" quality they wanted in their uniforms. Not only is that hard to believe -- the Twins home cap must be considered among the worst in pro baseball for objective technical reasons -- but the Redhawks cap is much, much better than the Twins TC cap. Note to Minnesota: This is how you execute a red-and-white interlocking C logo on a navy cap. Please hire Mr. Simon for am updating redesign when you move into the new ballpark.

[leopard88]

It's decent, but I can't help but feel like I've seen it all before.

Here, perhaps? The Lehigh Mountain Hawks --

Certainly not the same, but definitely similar (excluding the bat, of course).