The Single-A Midwest League affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, the West Michigan Whitecaps, unveiled two new logos on Wednesday which pay tribute to their parent Major League club.
“I’m excited about these new logos, they strengthen the Whitecaps’ identity with the Detroit Tigers in a very literal way for our fans, who are also Tigers fans. I think the logos are a little more edgy and youthful and will appeal to the younger generation of fans.” – Whitecaps President Scott Lane
With an existing logo set which made no reference to their affiliation with the Tigers whatsoever the Whitecaps sought to fix that but still be able to maintain their own identity.
West Michigan’s new road cap logo and it’s inspiration from the Detroit Tigers
A new road cap logo was introduced, featuring a “WM” in the style of the olde-English “D” the Tigers wear on their home and road caps; as a nod to both the white and orange letters the Tigers use the “W” is white, and the “M” is orange. This is currently the only use of orange anywhere in the Whitecaps uniforms and (unless a road jersey change is planned) will stick out like a sore thumb.
A “retail-only” alternate logo was also unveiled which is, well, kinda creative, I mean it’s not normal to just think up “hey, let’s take a wave and turn it into a tiger”.
New West Michigan Whitecaps alternate logo, a wave with a tiger features
Admittedly geared toward their younger fans the new Whitecaps alternate logo will not be worn on any uniform (although I imagine we will see it on there one day), it’s simply the existing primary logo with a tiger tail, teeth, and ears added.
The Whitecaps and Tigers have been partnered up since 1997, their current affiliation agreement is in place through the 2018 season.
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Chris Creamer is the founder of SportsLogos.Net and has been maintaining it since June 1997. You can follow him on Twitter at @sportslogosnet or contact him via email at ccreamer@sportslogos.net
Eric
Friday, November 23, 2012 at 08:53Major downgrade. I don't mind the old english WM but the wave is awful.
Aaron
Friday, November 23, 2012 at 15:39Interesting use of the tiger and wave combination. Props to the old English W and M.
ingmar66
Friday, November 23, 2012 at 15:40I think it is fun, especially for the pre-teens. But do not turn it into the primary logo. As for the letters, I am not fond of two Olde English letters next to each other. Please interlock them in some way (should be easy with orange and white on a blue background) and skip the semi wave underneath.
Mark
Saturday, November 24, 2012 at 07:37Wave is pretty good, WM looks cartoonish.
Jeff from Minnesota
Friday, November 30, 2012 at 02:36Wow. I love this a lot. So bizarre and creative. I love the W and M as well. I would like the T-Shirt with that exact placement of the W&M with the Tiger Wave, please.