Minor-League, Indy & Summer Collegiate Baseball Logo / Uni Changes

[illwauk 420]

Stumbled upon this today... apparently this was the original idea for the Appleton Foxes' 1995 rebrand that eventually begat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.

I still think getting rid of the Foxes identity was a mistake, and still hold out hope that it'll return someday; but if it had to happen, this would've been the way to go. I assume Phantoms is a reference to the ghosts that supposedly haunted the northern end of the valley (hence, why Kaukauna High School is known as the Ghosts, and has a ghost on its water tower), and "Fox River" still specifies where the team actually plays.

The Timber Rattler is neither native to the Fox River Valley, nor is the team the only Midwest League franchise in Wisconsin.

[mjd77 989]

Stumbled upon this today... apparently this was the original idea for the Appleton Foxes' 1995 rebrand that eventually begat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.

I still think getting rid of the Foxes identity was a mistake, and still hold out hope that it'll return someday; but if it had to happen, this would've been the way to go. I assume Phantoms is a reference to the ghosts that supposedly haunted the northern end of the valley (hence, why Kaukauna High School is known as the Ghosts, and has a ghost on its water tower), and "Fox River" still specifies where the team actually plays.

The Timber Rattler is neither native to the Fox River Valley, nor is the team the only Midwest League franchise in Wisconsin.

Nice find! In my mind, the whole Timber Rattlers identity is a bit stale to me. I've never been crazy about the color scheme and I wouldn't mind at all for a full rebrand that goes back towards their earier days. With the type of logo design packages we see these days Im sure something really nice could be done with a Foxes nickname.

[illwauk 420]

In my perfect world, the Timber Rattlers are known as the Fox Cities Foxes, have a golden fox as a mascot, and use the Brewers' old colors (royal blue, athletic gold, and powder blue).

[Sodboy13 3,927]

The Timber Rattler is neither native to the Fox River Valley, nor is the team the only Midwest League franchise in Wisconsin.

See also: The Wisconsin Woodchucks of the Northwoods League, who started out as the Wausau Woodchucks, and inexplicably changed as more Wisconsin teams got added to the league, including one in Wisconsin Rapids.

The Phantoms logo is obviously a rough draft, and even though I don't care for what I see, "Fox Cities Phantoms" sounds a whole lot more natural and has a better flow to it than "Wisconsin Timber Rattlers", which was clunky to me even in the XXXXTREME mid-'90s when it was unveiled.

[Gothamite 14,479]

Indeed.

The logo is puzzling, though. I get wanting to have a blank face, but why is an umpire batting?

[uk-owns-iu 21]

It seems like the Nashville Sounds have an identity crisis going. Their logo (the old skyline one that is), shows a lighter red, black, and cream (or whatever that shade is considered), while their uniforms are a darker red,black, and white. As someone who has never been to a Sounds game but has seen their logos quite frequently, I was surprised to hear they're going BACK to red and black. I would have thought the cream would have been prevalent in them. I want to scream every time I see those unis now with no cream.

As usual, it seems like a fusion of the color schemes would be the way to go.

[illini1 81]

Love the Tortugas look. However, they aren't the only baseball team named after a turtle. The Springfield Sliders of the Propsect league have this logo:

I'm sure it's because I live in Springfield, but every time I see any of the Tortugas logos I think it's the Springfield Sliders. The Tortugas aren't located near Springfield and I'm sure very few people have even heard of the Springfield Sliders, so it won't be an issue.

[rams80 3,617]

It still looks good, but they ruined the neon sign vibe that the original updated logo had. I preferred the orange as well. Disappointing.

Being that they're now the A's AAA affiliate can't say I'm worry to see the orange and black go. It didn't feel right having their top minor league team wearing their cross town on and off field nemesis' colors.

Georgia is also one of Vanderbilt's nemeses. Yet...

I wouldn't describe Georgia as a nemesis so much as "it's hilarious when they lose to Vandy".

[rams80 3,617]

the vocal minority

We don't know that.

No, we don't know that as fact. But...

I was basing my post on this quote, from the Sounds owner himself, Frank Ward, in the story that ran on MiLB.com when the balance of the brand identity system was unveiled earlier this week:

"We heard loud and clear the strong feedback of our fans after our new logo was unveiled last fall. We have made the decision to return to our traditional red-and-black color scheme to accompany the new Nashville-styled logos."

True, that statement does not quantify how many fans weighed in. But human nature is such that naysayers are more prone to speak out negatively than supporters are to sing praises. So I'm going to stand by my assertion.

Were they taking pre-orders for merchandise? Maybe those were disappointing as well.

[illwauk 420]

Still not sure what's with the attachment to colors they've only used since 1998 when they spent 20 years prior to that as a blue & red team, and had been reincorporating their "classic" identity in recent years. Are the Sounds really that well-known as a red and black team?

[conesbeans 6]

Still not sure what's with the attachment to colors they've only used since 1998 when they spent 20 years prior to that as a blue & red team, and had been reincorporating their "classic" identity in recent years. Are the Sounds really that well-known as a red and black team?

Great point, illwauk. The owner's quote referred to the team's "decision to return to our traditional red-and-black color scheme." I'm not quite sure that the 17 most recent years in a team's history constitute "tradition," especially when two decades of Nashville Sounds baseball, a period during which they wore different colors, preceded that (not to mention other professional baseball teams in Nashville going back to the late 1800s).

[cajunaggie08 350]

The fresno grizzlies are now affiliated with the Astros and will wear a tequila sunrise alternate this year.

http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2015/1/27/7925807/astros-triple-a-affiliate-to-wear-tequila-sunrise-uniforms

[DL Watt 16]

The fresno grizzlies are now affiliated with the Astros and will wear a tequila sunrise alternate this year.

http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2015/1/27/7925807/astros-triple-a-affiliate-to-wear-tequila-sunrise-uniforms

That's awesome right there! Takes me back to my childhood in Tucson when the Toros were the Astros AAA affiliate wearing similar digs!

[SJAnfield 144]

The fresno grizzlies are now affiliated with the Astros and will wear a tequila sunrise alternate this year.

http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2015/1/27/7925807/astros-triple-a-affiliate-to-wear-tequila-sunrise-uniforms

I like it

[The Mojo Maniac 48]

That's outstanding. Especially refreshing to see after all the crappy Adidas sunrise knockoffs invading college baseball right now.

[Mockba 1,516]

Seems like they're missing an opportunity to do that in shades of tan and brown.

[MJWalker45 3,181]

Not sure if it was mentioned before, but the San Antonio Missions did a redesign. They went from black and gold to red, white and blue. The hats feature Davy Crockett's cap and a jalapeño in the shape of a S. I don't like the new wordmarks either.

[The Mojo Maniac 48]

Not sure if it was mentioned before, but the San Antonio Missions did a redesign. They went from black and gold to red, white and blue. The hats feature Davy Crockett's cap and a jalapeño in the shape of a S. I don't like the new wordmarks either.

Yes it's been mentioned, but I'll reiterate that I am not a fan of the change either. The old primary definitely could've used some sprucing up, but this one just follows the now well-established Brandiose blueprint: a couple of logos that look too similar to coexist, a cutesy character swinging a bat (or bat-like item) and italics...italics everywhere.

Far from terrible, but they definitely went fishing on a changeup in the dirt here.

[biscuit faces of them 29]

Any chance of reno Rebrand or anything

[bartodell 79]

Beautiful new MiLB Opening Day/NIght/Week logos from Studio Simon.

https://dribbble.com/shots/1910771-Opening-Day-2015?list=following&offset=6