The Charleston Dirty Birds, who play in the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, will change their name to the Pepperoni Rolls for a game this season, paying tribute to a local favorite that has its roots in West Virginia.
According to a 2010 article in the New York Times, pepperoni rolls were created by Giuseppe Argiro at the Country Club Bakery in Fairmont, West Virginia, in 1927, conceived of as a coal miner’s lunch—appropriate for the Dirty Birds canary in a coal mine brand.
The alternate identity, created by Lorenzo Nichols of the design firm VirtCh, incorporates the team’s original colors, with a primary logo and wordmark that incorporate melted cheese and the colors of pepperoni.
“When creating an alternate brand identity, it is important to stay true to the original brand of the team while incorporating new aspects of the identity that fans will be able to immediately identify and connect with,” Nichols said. “The history of the pepperoni roll in West Virginia and the way the Dirty Birds’ fans naturally are drawn to that history made this a fun project for me to work on with them.”
The Dirty Birds will roll out their spicy alternate for a game July 15.
