Tampa Bay Rays unveil alternate jersey

[spyboy1]

I like them as an alternate. I haven't seen a photo of the numbers on the back to see how hard they are to read. Sometimes when outlined large enough, it can work. I thought it looked bad on the Braves though, so it doesn't always work. It seems that the people who design and approve them are looking at them on a computer screen or at an arms length when a sample is made and think they look great, forgetting to consider how they look from the second deck of the stadium or on TV, where everything gets all muddy and unreadable.

EDIT- That's the third time today that I have started a new page... WEIRD!

That is a sign that you are posting too often in too many threads. Don't be a Craven.

Oh ! I just started a new page. Damn the irony.

[IceCap]

As long as they play indoors the name still needs a ray logo to tie it all together. A team that plays in a dreary dome is not allowed to name themselves after the sun.

If they're playing in a dome, how does an aquatic logo make more sense than a solar logo?

And how can the Jaguars call themselves as such when jaguars don't inhabit the area around Jacksonville....

My point is that playing in a dome directly contradicts the idea of them having a sun-based name, whereas naming themselves after a fish is pretty much neutral, as far as sporting nicknames go.

[CC97]

As long as they play indoors the name still needs a ray logo to tie it all together. A team that plays in a dreary dome is not allowed to name themselves after the sun.

If they're playing in a dome, how does an aquatic logo make more sense than a solar logo?

And how can the Jaguars call themselves as such when jaguars don't inhabit the area around Jacksonville....

My point is that playing in a dome directly contradicts the idea of them having a sun-based name, whereas naming themselves after a fish is pretty much neutral, as far as sporting nicknames go.

Naming the Tampa Bay Rays after the sun while they play indoors is akin to the Miami Heat being named after the hot weather while playing in an air-conditioned arena.

[IceCap]

As long as they play indoors the name still needs a ray logo to tie it all together. A team that plays in a dreary dome is not allowed to name themselves after the sun.

If they're playing in a dome, how does an aquatic logo make more sense than a solar logo?

And how can the Jaguars call themselves as such when jaguars don't inhabit the area around Jacksonville....

My point is that playing in a dome directly contradicts the idea of them having a sun-based name, whereas naming themselves after a fish is pretty much neutral, as far as sporting nicknames go.

Naming the Tampa Bay Rays after the sun while they play indoors is akin to the Miami Heat being named after the hot weather while playing in an air-conditioned arena.

Well you can always turn up the heat in a stadium. You can even use pyrotechnics.

In no way can natural sunlight ("rays") enter onto the field surface during a game in a dome.

[Survival79]

I understand that once they commit themselves to the yellow-and-white sunburst, or glint, or whatever they call it, that they have boxed themselves into being unable to have white jersey scripts.

Well, the Rays do have a white club lettering option.

They could easily justify applying this scheme to the jersey script. If they're worried about the glint getting lost on the script they could remove it and use it as a shoulder patch. They've already demonstrated that they'll use the glint as a stand-alone logo, as seen on the seats at Charlotte Sports Park.

[The_Admiral]

That's a pretty awful standalone logo.

I've decided what the "Rays" script is. It's the sign outside a marginally-nicer-than-Burger-King-or-Wendy's casual dining restaurant chain based in the southeastern U.S., whose parent company consists of evangelical Christians. Their slogan is "life is always good at Rays," their veiled attempt at pushing New Testament unconditional love while also pushing milkshakes. Coupons for "good news meals" at Rays are distributed at those Warrenesque churchmalls where people play Christian rock before services. Black people don't eat at Rays, not because they're treated poorly at Rays by any means, it's just that it would never occur to them to go there.

Rays is closed on Sundays.

[IceCap]

That's a pretty awful standalone logo.

I've decided what the "Rays" script is. It's the sign outside a marginally-nicer-than-Burger-King-or-Wendy's casual dining restaurant chain based in the southeastern U.S., whose parent company consists of evangelical Christians. Their slogan is "life is always good at Rays," their veiled attempt at pushing New Testament unconditional love while also pushing milkshakes. Coupons for "good news meals" at Rays are distributed at those Warrenesque churchmalls where people play Christian rock before services. Black people don't eat at Rays, not because they're treated poorly at Rays by any means, it's just that it would never occur to them to go there.

Rays is closed on Sundays.

[Sodboy13]

That's a pretty awful standalone logo.

I've decided what the "Rays" script is. It's the sign outside a marginally-nicer-than-Burger-King-or-Wendy's casual dining restaurant chain based in the southeastern U.S., whose parent company consists of evangelical Christians. Their slogan is "life is always good at Rays," their veiled attempt at pushing New Testament unconditional love while also pushing milkshakes. Coupons for "good news meals" at Rays are distributed at those Warrenesque churchmalls where people play Christian rock before services. Black people don't eat at Rays, not because they're treated poorly at Rays by any means, it's just that it would never occur to them to go there.

Rays is closed on Sundays.

This explains a lot about that "Endless Fish Fry with unlimited fresh-baked bread" they're always pushing. And the Kirk Cameron movie tie-ins.

[The_Admiral]

That's a pretty awful standalone logo.

I've decided what the "Rays" script is. It's the sign outside a marginally-nicer-than-Burger-King-or-Wendy's casual dining restaurant chain based in the southeastern U.S., whose parent company consists of evangelical Christians. Their slogan is "life is always good at Rays," their veiled attempt at pushing New Testament unconditional love while also pushing milkshakes. Coupons for "good news meals" at Rays are distributed at those Warrenesque churchmalls where people play Christian rock before services. Black people don't eat at Rays, not because they're treated poorly at Rays by any means, it's just that it would never occur to them to go there.

Rays is closed on Sundays.

[devilray2k1]

they still wear the manta ray logo on one sleeve so its not totally dead

I really wish franchises would exercise more balance...incorporating a new logo and making the old one secondary doens't necessarily mean the other one needs to be DEAD all together or else it wouldn't be titled a secondary logo...

They could use the manta ray on merchandise more, printed materials, ads, etc. but no...get a new logo and the other one gets put out to stud but is still in the style guide? Makes no sense.

Just like the Nationals 'DC' secondary logo...first used on hats and sleeves, then only on alternates, then not on the uniform at all, then taken out of all press and media...it's a great logo and can actually serve a freakin purpose even if it's not the main logo

Another team that pissed me off with this was the Bengals getting the tiger head logo, which was actually a really great logo, then a few years later they introduce the 'B' logo and BOOM the tiger head is gone alltogether...not on uniforms, not on website..you rarely even see it anymore.

[The_Admiral]

The devil ray logo should be dead because they went to great lengths (except for excising that crappy logo) to say "we are not the Devil Rays."

The Nats' DC logo was jettisoned because everyone involved in the process of obtaining and operating the Washington Nationals is a big stupid dumdum-head. It was designed to be the cap monogram, but Selig and the Lerners both love the curly W, so there you go. Typical Nationals ineptitude.

[BallWonk]

The devil ray logo should be dead because they went to great lengths (except for excising that crappy logo) to say "we are not the Devil Rays."

The Nats' DC logo was jettisoned because everyone involved in the process of obtaining and operating the Washington Nationals is a big stupid dumdum-head. It was designed to be the cap monogram, but Selig and the Lerners both love the curly W, so there you go. Typical Nationals ineptitude.

I don't mind using the fish-ray thing on the Rays uniforms; it strikes me as being more like the Padres using the swinging friar on their sleeves than like a cardinal sin against the gods of design. That was their team identity for a long time, and the name works either way. Plus there's that expensive tank of rays in the outfield to justify. I wouldn't use the fish ray patch, but I don't think it's such a terrible thing that the Rays do. (I'd look for a way to make a secondary mark with the sunburst, either a TB with the sunburst, or a profile of the state with a sunburst on the Tampa Bay area, or somesuch.)

As to the Nats, too right. The DC logo works only so long as the jersey lettering also has gold bevels. So the DC patch on the Nats home jersey looks great. But the DC patch on the road uniform is one of the ugliest things in the last decade of MLB uniforms. I get that the Lerners and Stan want the curly W to be the face of the franchise. I disagree with that choice, but fine. Make the damn choice and stick with it and ditch the DC logo and the gold bevels already, and while you're at it put either a script "Nationals" or a curly W on the home jersey and get some plain block or scripty numbers and be done with it. The only thing worse than a half-measure is a quarter-measure such as demoting the DC logo to shoulder-patch status.

[McCall]

The devil ray logo should be dead because they went to great lengths (except for excising that crappy logo) to say "we are not the Devil Rays."

The Nats' DC logo was jettisoned because everyone involved in the process of obtaining and operating the Washington Nationals is a big stupid dumdum-head. It was designed to be the cap monogram, but Selig and the Lerners both love the curly W, so there you go. Typical Nationals ineptitude.

I don't mind using the fish-ray thing on the Rays uniforms; it strikes me as being more like the Padres using the swinging friar on their sleeves than like a cardinal sin against the gods of design. That was their team identity for a long time, and the name works either way. Plus there's that expensive tank of rays in the outfield to justify. I wouldn't use the fish ray patch, but I don't think it's such a terrible thing that the Rays do. (I'd look for a way to make a secondary mark with the sunburst, either a TB with the sunburst, or a profile of the state with a sunburst on the Tampa Bay area, or somesuch.)

Something quick:

I just decided to show the 2 different color combos (navy TB/lt. blue state and lt. blue TB/navy state) on all team colors (jersey colors for the white, gray and navy). I intended to have the diamond from the primary in the background, but as is, there was too much empty space left in the lower left-hand corner. I'll continue to mess with it, but figured I'd go ahead and put these ones up.

[HatManTC]

should have gone with a sky blue alt. that would have set them apart from the rest of the divisional teams

[BallWonk]

Daaaaaaamn that's some good stuff.

But the sunburst needs to be 40 percent bigger.

Seriously, though, the sunberst on the TB looks great; that ought to be the cap logo. (Without the state silhouette on the cap, with on the sleeves, and possibly light blue TB instead of white on the cap.)

[devilray2k1]

should have gone with a sky blue alt. that would have set them apart from the rest of the divisional teams

Yeah...cause Kansas City had one of the BEST MLB uniforms I've ever seen when they broke out the sky blue alts last year...something about the royal blue cap, sky blue jersey and white pants with blue shoes...sharpest and probably most slept on uniform alternates to break out in the last couple years

[McCall]

Here's how I'd probably like to see them on the home, road and navy alts, plus a light blue alt. The 2 alt ones are slightly different from the ones above.

EDIT: Here's another option on Light Blue

[TrueYankee26]

That's great!

[The_Admiral]

Hey! That's really good! High five, high five.

[McCall]

Here's how I think the Rays should look, based on recommendations by others and my own personal opinion. I'm posting it here since it's not so much a concept as it is a slight recolor and reworking of items the Rays already have, but used in different areas. Except for my "Florida Patch" which I used here as well. I used the patch in the coloring options that I posted last, except for the light blue alternate:

Home and Away

Alternates (Recolored the navy. Have 2 different color options for the light blue)

I chose to use the Primary logo as a sleeve patch since the cap and front already have the "TB" and figured the Florida patch with the TB would be overkill.