Minnesota Twins identity

[zooropean]

I hate the TC logo. It's Minnesota Twins. Is there an M? No. I know TC stands for twin cities, but honestly, who cares? Give them an M or a T, but TC seems out there for a team that's been around so long.

I haven't seen an "M" logo anywhere in Minnesota, be it on the Twins themselves, or the fans, for YEARS. The TC is here to stay, and nobody here seems too upset by that.

If you even watch the Twins, take a look at the guys in the dugout wearing the ThernaBase shirts. Then come back and tell us what you saw.

[zooropean]

I hate the TC logo. It's Minnesota Twins. Is there an M? No. I know TC stands for twin cities, but honestly, who cares? Give them an M or a T, but TC seems out there for a team that's been around so long.

I haven't seen an "M" logo anywhere in Minnesota, be it on the Twins themselves, or the fans, for YEARS. The TC is here to stay, and nobody here seems too upset by that.

If you even watch the Twins, take a look at the guys in the dugout wearing the ThernaBase shirts. Then come back and tell us what you saw.

[The Six]

It's fine that it uses letters that aren't in the official team name, but the TC isn't a very good logo. The T is 'meh.' The C is the Reds' C.

[Armadillo]

I hate the TC logo. It's Minnesota Twins. Is there an M? No. I know TC stands for twin cities, but honestly, who cares? Give them an M or a T, but TC seems out there for a team that's been around so long.

I haven't seen an "M" logo anywhere in Minnesota, be it on the Twins themselves, or the fans, for YEARS. The TC is here to stay, and nobody here seems too upset by that.

If you even watch the Twins, take a look at the guys in the dugout wearing the ThernaBase shirts. Then come back and tell us what you saw.

You could've said that without the snark, but upon examination, you're correct. Mea culpa.

It ain't going on the caps anytime soon instead of the TC, which remains my point.

[smith03]

Minnesota Vikings announced name in Sept 1960 a month before the Senators moved. Twins named announced in late Nov 1960 as the Minnesota Twins. Team unveils shaking hands logo with MT on it. Twins uniforms unveiled in Jan 1961 with TC hat. It is possible team consider using Twin Cities as name but baseball shot that down. I have never seen any proof from the era that team wanted to be called "Twin Cities Twins". TC logo probably used to prevent people from thinking M stood for Mpls, but the logic seems silly to me. I would never assume the P on the Pittsburgh Pirates hat stood for Pennsylvania, why would you assume a M on the "Minnesota" Twins stood for Mpls ?

[Gothamite]

TC logo probably used to prevent people from thinking M stood for Mpls, but the logic seems silly to me. I would never assume the P on the Pittsburgh Pirates hat stood for Pennsylvania, why would you assume a M on the "Minnesota" Twins stood for Mpls ?

Not really the same thing.

The Twins were replacing two American Association teams, the St. Paul Saints and Minneapolis Millers. Having the new team wear a cap with an "M" on it could very well have lead to an implication that they were Minneapolis' team, not St Paul's.

Not that I agree, but I can understand the thinking.

[Ted Cunningham]

Minnesota Vikings announced name in Sept 1960 a month before the Senators moved. Twins named announced in late Nov 1960 as the Minnesota Twins. Team unveils shaking hands logo with MT on it. Twins uniforms unveiled in Jan 1961 with TC hat. It is possible team consider using Twin Cities as name but baseball shot that down. I have never seen any proof from the era that team wanted to be called "Twin Cities Twins". TC logo probably used to prevent people from thinking M stood for Mpls, but the logic seems silly to me. I would never assume the P on the Pittsburgh Pirates hat stood for Pennsylvania, why would you assume a M on the "Minnesota" Twins stood for Mpls ?

I see what you're getting at, but there wasn't a precedent like that in Pittsburgh where the Pirates are concerned. There was no team before the Pirates that may have used a P on their caps for "Pennsylvania" to give people a prior frame of reference like that. So I think it's an apples/oranges thing.

In the Twin Cities there were the St. Paul Saints and the Minneapolis Millers, two minor league teams that baseball fans in the area had to route for. Even though those two identities may have been used since then in minor league ball, the shaking-hands logo suggests that all fans of those two teams as they existed before the Senators moved and baseball fans in general in the Twin Cities area could now be "united," as it were, in routing for the Twins. So that's why it kind of makes sense that they used a TC logo for "Twin Cities" instead of an M which could have been taken as showing favoritism to the Millers/their fans.

(I speak to all of this just out of what makes sense or seems obvious. I've never even been to the Twin Cities nor was I around when the Senators moved there, so I don't speak from experience. Just my $0.02, I guess.)

EDIT: Or Gothamite could beat me to it. You know, that's cool too

[smith03]

I never thought of it that way Ted. My thinking is if you know the team is called Minnesota why would you assume the M was some how supposed to mean Mpls. I just try to imagine a conversation taking place in 61. "Son you know they are called the Minnesota Twins, but really the M on the hat is really just for Mpls" . I guess Cal Griffith or someone was really concerned with not hurting SP people's feelings.

[Gothamite]

No worries, Ted. I have your six.

Smith, you need to keep in mind the context of the era. They were coming into a fanatically two-team market and trying to create a unified fanbase out of fans who were former rivals. It kind of makes sense that they'd want to avoid adopting a cap similar to one of the two teams.

[IceCap]

The TC mark looks good and is unique. Controversy over the M logo aside, it's just an inferior logo.

[jake22]

i personally love the sleeveless look

[McCall]

i personally love the sleeveless look

Vests were great... until every team and their Grandma starting adding them as alternates by simply taking their home (and some road) jerseys and just cutting the sleeves off of them. That just got old really quick. Not to mention that they in no way resemble the classic vests teams used to wear, like the Pirates in the 50's and 60's. Now those were great looking vests. Ones from today are too wide shouldered and baggy. Just don't look as good as the classics.

[Sport]

That vest would've looked really good with the TC logo on the chest. What's the point of a vested version of your regular uniforms? If a fan really wanted a vest they could buy a cheap replica and cut the sleeves off.

[bigbean24]

i personally love the sleeveless look

Ha, you can buy these at the Twins store for half off now.

[Pinstripe29er]

Love the Twins look. Love the TC...it is clean. Old M looks like something you would see on a Little League team. Whatever happen to teams using the striped snapping belt built into the pants. I loved that!

[tajmccall]

I think the changes they made last year are pretty strong. The pinstripe aways were pretty universally hated by the fan-base I feel.

The only thing I think I'd change is to wear the away hat, with the red brim at home, and the all blue on the road, seeing as I assume they will return to the normal white jerseys after this season.

The Home jerseys feature far more red than the aways. I think if you wore the red brim at home and the all blues on the road, it'd lead to a more consistent look.

While i'm not in love with the new script on the road, its certainly better than the previous, and I can get behind the navy blue writing. A nice addition. I only wish Cleveland didn't change to navy writing on the roads a year after we did, as we looked somewhat similar.

[McCall]

The only thing I think I'd change is to wear the away hat, with the red brim at home, and the all blue on the road, seeing as I assume they will return to the normal white jerseys after this season.

The Home jerseys feature far more red than the aways. I think if you wore the red brim at home and the all blues on the road, it'd lead to a more consistent look.

Two colored caps look terrible with pinstripes (see Rockies road and Mets whenever black/blue cap was worn with pinstripes). Even the reds red and black set. The red sleeves under the vest are the only reason they weren't as noticeably bad. I think the Twins should stick to the all navy cap, home and away. And they were the only team that seemed to be able to pull off the road pinstripes.

[zooropean]

I hate the TC logo. It's Minnesota Twins. Is there an M? No. I know TC stands for twin cities, but honestly, who cares? Give them an M or a T, but TC seems out there for a team that's been around so long.

I haven't seen an "M" logo anywhere in Minnesota, be it on the Twins themselves, or the fans, for YEARS. The TC is here to stay, and nobody here seems too upset by that.

If you even watch the Twins, take a look at the guys in the dugout wearing the ThernaBase shirts. Then come back and tell us what you saw.

You could've said that without the snark, but upon examination, you're correct. Mea culpa.

It ain't going on the caps anytime soon instead of the TC, which remains my point.

Well you said YEARS and that's not the case. Plus the M hats were still worn on the road through the 2009 season.

I do have an update on the M hats, thanks to Twitter:

"TwinsPrez Dave St. Peter

Aug 5-7 for '91 WS Reunion Wknd RT@zooropean: I know the "M" hats are considered an alt hat now but will we see them on the field again?"