It is almost the end of the calendar year, and the past two months have seen a wealth of new logos from various baseball leagues throughout the country. There have been quite of changes from expansion clubs, rebrands, and from new leagues popping up all over the country. Here is a look at 13 clubs across numerous baseball loops that have introduced new looks for the 2023 season.
Fans of the Boonville Baseball Club will now be able to cheer for them as the Lumberjacks this year. The Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League club’s new colors are hunter green, Kelly green, and orange. An earlier logo had the lumberjack holding a giant stick, but that has been replaced with a chainsaw.
The Casper Spuds is not a new logo but an alternative. The team relocated from Caldwell, Idaho when they were known as the Canyon County Spuds. The move to Casper resulted in their logo donning a cowboy hat, and Wyoming spelled out in the script. Of all of the new looks this season, this one is perhaps the more creative one, plus the cowboy hat looks better than the former baseball cap from last season.
The DuBois County Bombers play out of League Park, where “A League of Their Own” was filmed over 30 summers ago in Southern Indiana. This year, the team gets a makeover with a baseball bat repositioned as a jet fighter. It is a pleasing look for the club in the summer collegiate Ohio Valley League. It could be one of my favorites this year from around the leagues.
The Hamilton Cardinals of the amateur Intercounty Baseball League in Ontario, Canada, have revamped their image that felt more like a St. Louis Cardinals affiliate. New ownership contacted Matt Doyle of Matt Doyle Designs in Burlington, Ontario, to create new branding for the ball club. The new image is a major improvement and should stand out among the fan base in Hamilton and the surrounding cities and towns of the Golden Horseshoe. Matt and Cards managing partner Eric Spearin talked about the new identity on a recent podcast of mine.
The Valley Blue Sox of the New England Collegiate Baseball League revamped its identity based on new ownership. The club’s branding will now feature a sox logo and the new colors of blue, light blue, and red. The old logo featured a dog and a roundel logo. I enjoy Sox-related baseball logos, but something feels different about this one. Could it use a touch-up like Sonic the Hedgehog for his first movie from a few years ago?
The Pecos League once again does a beautiful job with a new logo. The Marysville Drakes employ the colors yellow, green, and red for seldom-used combinations to create an eye-popping design. The duck logo is a perfect mix between cartoon-friendly and perhaps a cousin of Marvel's Howard the Duck.
The Pecos League's other new team is the Blackwell Flycatchers, based out of Oklahoma. The logo goes in the opposite direction from a cartoon bird to one that resembles the actual bird. The colors of sand, burnt orange, light brown, and black are another interesting combination not found with another branding. Two teams, two birds, a much different approach, but both were well done.
The Minot Hot Tots made a splash with their logo for the upcoming Northwoods League. The team name was inspired by a local delicacy, the hot dish that contains potato tots and other ingredients. The Tots logo uses fierce-looking potatoes holding a spoon dripping with cheese while flames stem from his back. The colors blue, red, and yellow create an impressive new look. Check out my interview with GM Monica Blake via the Ballpark Hunter Podcast.
The Horseheads Hitmen of the New York Collegiate Summer League is a perfectly fine logo, but one that could be a mouthful to say. The former Mansfield Destroyers rebranded to feature a horse head wearing a derby cap with two interlocking baseball bats. The colors of blue, solver, and shades of brown are a nice color combination, and it's very clean and subtle.
The Horseheads Hitmen of the New York Collegiate Summer League is a suitable logo, but one that could be a mouthful to pronounce. The former Mansfield Destroyers rebranded to feature a horse head wearing a derby cap with two interlocking baseball bats. The colors of blue and silver, with shades of brown, are a clever combination, along with its relatively clean design.
The Charlotte Knights updated their brand with a new wordmark, a knight helmet, and a splash of Carolina blue. The modern approach to the ball club was from David C. Ruckman Creative. He stated in a recent podcast of mine that the blue ties in with other sports teams in town and that jerseys were inspired by the San Diego Padres. Gold is now related as a secondary color on the home and away jerseys. It is a pleasurable remodel of a classic look in Triple-A baseball.
The Grand Junction Rockies made significant improvements this offseason ditching the Rocking branding that looked more like the Pizza Hut logo to one that should be a hit with fans all over the country. The Jackalopes name uses the colors of black, purple, brown, and a tuck of blue to create an inspiring identity for the Pioneer League club. It's sharp and will do well with the local populace; it is 100 percent minor-league fun.
The Malone Border Hounds of the Empire State League is another new entry for the 2023 baseball season. Nestled in Upstate New York, the Hounds employ the pleasing color combination of yellow, light blue, and dark blue, plus a wordmark that should look on home and away uniforms. However, the hound looks a bit too muscular for his good. I would like to see a larger image of the 'M' that appears on the logos mark.
I want to thank Jason Moragas for collecting all of the new logos and rebrandings from every baseball league in the world. This list would not have been possible without his hard work and dedication. Check out That Baseball Map for his full list of baseball clubs.
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Follow all of Marc’s stadium journeys on Twitter @ballparkhunter and his YouTube channel. Email at Marc.Viquez@stadiumjourney.com