It has been a busy month in organized baseball with pitchers and catchers reporting to camp, new baseball uniforms causing a disturbance, and a slew of rebrands popping all over the MLB partner and summer collegiate leagues.
The changes have been quite noticeable with designs from many prominent studios. However, are they worth purchasing a cap or t-shirt? Jason Moragas tracks new identities for baseball teams on his Twitter page and is the ideal person to critique a few of the new changes. He joins me to review three new identities that begin with a return of a familiar name in Lexington, Kentucky.
Lexington Legends, Atlantic League
Marc Viquez: The Legends are back after a one-season hiatus and look better than ever. Studio Simon in nearby Louisville evoked many elements of the team’s original identity with a new character called “Mighty Lex”. In fitting with today’s baseball imagery, he is a character that will fit right in with the best of them.
Jason Moragas: What a rush. I am in the minority when I say that I liked the Counter Clocks branding – the history behind the name, the suite of logos, everything other than the putrid home white jersey with the giant “C” in the center of a button-down jersey with red piping. However, I am pleased to see the return of the Legends branding. The name is iconic: “Lexington Legends.”
MV: Surely, you jest about the Counter Clocks branding! I will stand by the swinging clock logo, but the rest was terrible. Thankfully, the baseball gods have corrected a misfire in Lexington by bringing back orignal team owner and investors to resuurect the Legends name.
JM: It just sounds right. I give a good amount of kudos for modernizing the look. The addition of the Mighty Lex character is very welcome. It is how teams should “modernize” and adapt to the current minor league branding landscape without changing their history and identity. Great job!
MV: I agree with you as well. Studio Simon created another superstar image and bravo for Temerity Baseball for making the name change. If you ever needed a blueprint on how to correct a wrong, this is how you do it. It’s good to have them back in town.
Tri-State Coal Cats, Appalachian League
MV: There is a new team in the Appalachian League called the Tri-State Coal Cats. The name pays homage to the local coal mining industry and features the colors of Coal Black, Cool Grey, and Marshal Green. It’s an sleek look that plays it safe for the new team and will look good on team merchandise. Dylan Winters, a Marshal University Athletics graphic designer, designed the new look for the club.
JM: The green is vibrant against the gray and black used in the club's branding. The Coal Cats are hardly the first team to take inspiration for their look from local mining history; they took a unique twist on the baseball-branding sub-genre by incorporating Marshal's iconic green.
MV: They pleasing to the eyes, and the ball club plays it very safely. There's nothing cartoony about them, and the name isn't silly. It makes sense that a team in West Virginia went with a coal mining theme; thankfully, it didn't name itself the miners.
JM: I’m a big fan of the “Cat” and “Paw” logos and how they are seemingly made from coal. It ties the whole identity together nicely. Also, and I do not know if this was intentional, but “Coal Cats” nearly sounding like “Cool Cats” should create some good merch or social media opportunities. All-in-all, baseball’s return to Huntington will be fashionable.
MV: Cool Cat? That is a hidden gem of a song by Queen from the "Hot Space" album. They should use the song after home wins. It’s a well-balanced look of emblems that will look great on team merchandise, from caps, t-shirts, and hoodies.
JM: It’s safe to say that the new era of the Appalachian League is well underway. Seeing all the teams rebranded in 2021 was exciting, but the Coal Cats are our first new franchise in the league since becoming unaffiliated and shifting into the world of collegiate summer ball. I’m happy to say that the first one is good.
Lancaster Stormers, Atlantic League
MV: After 20 years, the Lancaster Barnstormers are no more. They have rebranded as the Lancaster Stormers. The new logo features a bull’s head with a lightning bolt on its forehead. The team name and city appear above it. It is not the flashiest of logos, one person pointed out, that it looks like a D-3 athletic logo.
JM: For seemingly no reason, the team decided to drop the “Barn” from its name and primary logo and now goes simply by the Stormers. I consider this to be a downgrade. The notion that team names and logos must be “intimidating” or “fierce” is archaic.
MV: This is a head-scratcher for me; what is wrong with going by your nicknames like the New York Knickerbockers and Portland Trail Blazers?
JM: With the migrant and re-branding of the Lexington Legends (formerly Counter Clocks) and the West Virginia Power (now Charleston Dirty Birds), the quick lifecycle of the Wild Health Genomes, Gastonia Honey Hunters, and Spire City Ghost Hounds, there has not been much consistency to rely on from the league.
MV: Thankfully, Sky Design Studios of Florham Park, N.J., released a few secondary marks. The one that stands out is the roundel logo with a barn withstanding an electrical storm. This logo has everything: a rooster, lightning bolts, dark skies, a baseball field, and a double X, honoring the 20th year of the franchise. This logo will adorn the sleeves, but it should be the primary mark.
JM: The modern minor leagues have many personality styles, and the Barnstormers were one of baseball tradition and local connection. I’ll miss the branding greatly. It is not to say that the new Stormers logo is bad; it is not, but it is a different vibe for the franchise.
MV: That is the word that I was thinking of. The vibe is different, and perhaps a couple of new jerseys and logos with the Stormers nickname could have sufficed. The Pennsylvania Dutch calligraphy in the wordmark is a welcoming choice, but is this an example of doing too much to an already solid brand? We will find out soon.
------
Follow all of Marc’s stadium journeys on Twitter @ballparkhunter and his YouTube channel. Email at Marc.Viquez@stadiumjourney.com