Baseball Logos Past and Present

Baseball logos are the images that represent a team. They are the most important part of team branding. All baseball teams have multiple logos and some have more than others. The majority of teams have a letter or multiple letters as their logo, the letter is usually the first letter in the name of the city or of the team name. The Atlanta Braves have an A on their hat that stand s for Atlanta, the Oakland Athletics also have an A on their hat that obviously stands for Athletics. Baseball logos are often updated over time even the ones that stay relatively the same are tweaked to look better as time has passed. The New York Yankees have had the same jerseys, and the same logos since the beginning of the franchise. There have been minor tweaks over the years, but they are relatively the same.

NBC’S Top Ten

NBC ranked the Major League Baseball logos and made a list of their top ten logos . Most fans would likely expect the more historical franchises would have higher ranking logos. Two of the most historical teams in baseball, the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees did not even crack the top five. The logos that were higher ranked were the ones that are more recently created with better design and color contrast.

BR List, Racist Team Branding?

Bleacher Report made a list of the top fifty baseball logos in the history of the sport. The list was made in 2011, and the more the list went on the older the logos got. There were multiple logos on the list that represented teams that do not exist anymore, such as the Boston Braves, Seattle Pilots, Montreal Expos, Brooklyn Dodgers, St. Louis Browns, and the Houston Colt 45’s. There are also many logos on this list that are considered by most to be racist, that is because they are of Native Americans and they are portraying them in a stereotypical way. Chief Wahoo, the logo for the Cleveland Indians and three different Braves logo’s one from Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta were on this list. Those four are logos that one would not necessarily expect to be on a list because they are racially insensitive, but that did not stop Bleacher Report from including them in their list back in 2011.

Current Baseball Logos, Team Branding Represent Cities

An article on The Postrider is about a sports fan who was always fascinated by the uniforms and team branding. The writer of the article said that a team announcing a new logo or a new uniform design was always more exciting than a team making a big trade. Uniforms and branding definitely mean a lot to fans, fans always want their team to have good looking uniforms that represent the city and the team well. There is a list on the Postrider on all of the primary logos that are used by baseball teams in the MLB. This list sums up each logo and how it is good or bad for the team’s identity instead of most lists that just pick which logos look the best.

Cleveland is put in last place because with all the controversy around the Chief Wahoo logo they were given an opportunity and a reason to rebrand the team. All they could come up with was a block letter C and it looks very generic and not creative at all.

The Rays are second to last for multiple reasons. They dropped the Devil Rays name and became just the Rays, and their logo has a bit of sunlight on it for some reason that doesn’t make any sense except for they are from Tampa and it is warm down there almost all of the time.

The Miami Marlins recently did another redo of their team branding which includes black being the main color of the logo as well as a neon shade of blue and red. The colors are made to represent the bright colors and the active night time life style that the city of Miami is known for. The day has come when a baseball logo looks like it was made with a Miami Vice theme.

The Phillies baseball logo has a picture of the Liberty Bell with the team name Phillies in the foreground. The creator of the list says the design comes across as tacky, however, most people like the Liberty Bell being included.

Despite the Mariners having stellar uniforms, their logo is quite poor. The colors look good together, but the logo design is abysmal. The creator of the list says that the Mariners logo looks a lot like a logo for a terrible seafood restaurant.

The Colorado Rockies baseball logo is good and there isn’t anything wrong with it according to the list creator. He is ranking it so low because it replaced a logo of the purple mountains. The main logo they had prior to just a C and an R fit the team and the city so well. He says that Colorado fans watch their Rockies players hit dingers into the mountains, and that is exactly what the prior logo was for this team. They also had no reason to switch which is another reason why they rank so low.

The Milwaukee Brewers primary baseball logo was just a blue M with wheat underlining it because their nickname is the Brewers. Lovito does not like it because the M is similar to an old Minnesota Twins logo that looked better than the Brewers logo. He says that they should go back to the logo where the M and a b make up the parts of a baseball glove, and that is exactly what Milwaukee did.

San Diego’s S and D logo is a classic look for a baseball logo, however, San Diego found a way to do it wrong. It looks like they forgot to completely interlock them is one thing Lovito does not like about the logo. He said that it is time to reintroduce the foolish full body swinging friar, and to go back to yellow and brown look. They did go back to the yellow and brown colors… but they are still disappointing fans everywhere by keeping the S and D.

The Pittsburgh Pirates had a very good logo until they followed the terrible trend of switching from a logo with a picture in the design to just letters. For no reason at all the Pirates made the decision to switch and it has been a terrible one indeed. The logo is a simple classic image, but lacks creativity.

The Washington Nationals have a good logo, but the list creator, Lovito says they need some improvements to make it a better fit for D.C. His idea is to add more red and more stars and stripes to the baseball team’s logo.

The Rangers logo design is nice but the color scheme is off. Blue and red look good together but the color scheme is half red and half blue and it is too busy of a logo. Lovito says that the circle around the baseball should be all blue or all red. Another option would be to create a design where a baseball is wearing a cowboy hat.

Lovito’s list says that Minnesota’s logo is plain but designed well. The word club instead of team adds some sophistication to the Twins.

The Houston Astros re branded their club when they shifted back into the American League. Given the history of their baseball logo choices their new logo is rather conservative and that was a great choice. The creator of the list said that the conservative option is a much better choice as opposed to the logos they used in the past.

The Los Angeles Angels logo is simple and strong. It does look great and the A represents not only their team name but their undisputed home in Anaheim. Lovito has a slight criticism of the logo saying that the 3D shadow washes it out, however, you could argue that is what makes it look strong. If it was one dimensional he would probably want them to make it 3D. Lovito also thinks the Angels logo could benefit from gold accenting like they used to on their 50th anniversary caps.

Cincinnati’s logo is creative and simple. The list creator thinks that their logo really benefits from the team’s nickname, Reds. He thinks that it was a good short version of the name because it doesn’t come across as corny or trying to be too clever. Lovito also cannot stand that there is a black drop shadow behind the logo.

Right in the middle of the pack is where the Atlanta Braves baseball logo ranks. Their team name is in a classic cursive looking font, and it pairs well with the strong look that the tomahawk provides. Lovito said that they are an exception for his disliking teams that use their uniform wordmark as their primary baseball logo.

The Arizona Diamondbacks logo represents the area really well. The logo is an A with a diamond snake pattern on one of the sides. Lovito pointed out the red is the same shade as desert y-bricks and the outline is a sandy gold shade that represents the desert. Lovito says that he does prefer the D shaped diamondback snake.

The Oakland Athletics have a unique green and yellow color scheme that fits the team because they have had some great players with unique personalities. Addition to that the list creator says the logo could use some more yellow to make the logo look less conservative.

The Boston Red Sox logo is two red socks, it is simplistic and iconic and it just makes sense. Lovito recognizes that it is a crazy logo that would look ridiculous anywhere else.

The Kansas City Royals have a great color scheme. Their logo is designed very well. Lovito likes how it does not look too modern or outdated.

At tenth on the list is the New York Yankees. Another team with an iconic logo and all around historic team branding. Lovito does think that if they were not a good team with 27 World Series rings then they would have changed up the image of the team. He said that the Yankees secret is their team branding is incredibly boring. He also points out how the color scheme of this logo doesn’t fit the team’s image at all but when you have 27 titles nobody questions it.

The San Francisco Giants have a logo that Lovito calls eye grabbing and ostentatious. The color scheme fits and make sense with the uniforms they wear, and the font they use for the name Giants is indeed eye grabbing.

Say what you will about the recent struggles of the Chicago White Sox, but they took off running with their team branding. They were so creative and detailed with their artistic ability and Lovito recognized that saying that no logo of a full word has been so artistically transformed.

There are not many single letter classic primary logos in baseball. The one to break the mold seems to be Detroit. Lovito says that it is simple without being simple.

The Toronto Blue Jays have great team branding. The bird in the logo is perfectly designed with the two shades of blue the club uses on their uniforms. Another key piece of the baseball logo is the red maple leaf, representing the country that the Blue Jays are from. The font they use for the letters is also very stylish and unique, but not obnoxiously flashy.

Finishing in fifth is the logo for the St. Louis Cardinals. The picture of the red bird standing on a baseball bat is one of the most iconic logos in MLB history. The font the name Cardinals is written in is a classic cursive look, which is very common for baseball logos and almost every team uses a cursive font. Lovito has grown to loathe the Cardinals logo because they were obnoxious with their best fans in baseball catch phrase, and even he knows the logo is classy. Ironically everyone who isn’t a Cardinals fan views them as not classy at all.

The Chicago Cubs are one of the most historical teams, and like the White Sox and Tigers say what you want about their struggles. You cannot argue that the branding is on point. Lovito mentions how they were known as the lovable losers for years, but on the bright side they broke their championship drought curse four years ago and they have one hell of a baseball logo. Great color scheme and a great design that has been around for a long time.

The Dodgers logo is another classic, and like their division rival the Colorado Rockies the Dodgers have a logo of a home run hit ball. The Rockies changed their logo. hopefully the Dodgers do not follow the trend and keep this one for a long time.

The Baltimore Orioles come in second because their main logo is of an oriole face sporting a big smile. The reason Lovito ranks it in second is because baseball is a game first and games are meant to be fun. The Orioles logo looks like it sponsors that theory. Despite being a professional ball club the Orioles decided to make a logo that looks a bit silly and friendly.

Something that fans of this team are not used to hearing. Finishing in first is the New York Mets. It sounds like an error, but the Mets logo Lovito said that his entire life as a Mets fan the organization has been nothing but a tire fire. Filled with incompetence, the organization struggles to do anything right. While the list creators biased opinion obviously put the Mets at the top of the list, one has to admit that their logo is unique and designed well. A baseball with orange seams a bridge going across it with the giant sky scrapers in blue in the background. It is a busy baseball logo, but it works and it fits the theme of the city.

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