The Beloit Snappers have gone by their current nickname for a quarter-century, but with an impending move to a new ballpark in 2021, the team is considering an overhaul to their entire brand. The Snappers’ issued a call for ideas on their website and are soliciting input through August 18.
Author: Paul Caputo
Paul Caputo is a grown man who collects plastic ice cream helmet sundaes from minor league baseball stadiums because he likes logos that much. Paul is the host of the Baseball By Design podcast and he is the author of the first book published by SportsLogos.net, The Story Behind the Nickname: The Origins of 100 Classic, Contemporary, and Wacky Minor League Baseball Team Names (also available on Kindle). He can be found on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky at @baseballbydesign, and he maintains the Countdown to Spring Training on Facebook. Paul is a Philadelphia sports fan, but he's not so bad.
Minor League Baseball announces top 25 teams, record sales in 2019
Minor League Baseball’s 160 affiliated teams sold a record $85.7 million in merchandise during the 2019 calendar year. That number is an increase of almost 17 percent over 2018’s then-record $74 million in sales, which was an increase of four percent over 2017’s then-record $71 million. Each year, MiLB announces
Oilers Ethan Bear honours First Nations heritage with Cree nameplate
It was big news in March of 2018 when Ethan Bear, who is from the Ochapowace First Nation in southeastern Saskatchewan, made his NHL debut. Two years later, Bear, a defenceman for the Edmonton Oilers, made headlines again, this time for honouring his First Nation heritage by wearing a jersey
Fightin Phils to play as Reading Hot Dogs
The Double-A Reading Fightin Phils announced yesterday, on National Hot Dog Day, of course, that they will play some games next season as the Reading Hot Dogs. The team’s brand is forever intertwined with the encased sausage stuff, and according to their website, the Fightin Phils sell the most hot
Authenticity, Collaboration, Respect: The Story Behind the Spokane Indians
Recent conversations about the use of Native American imagery in sports brands have been adversarial, at best. The now-former name of the football team in Washington, DC, was an actual racial slur. The Cleveland Indians used a cartoon caricature of a Native American as a logo for decades. Fans of
The Team with Two Names: WCL Unveils Nanaimo Baseball
The 13th team in the collegiate summer West Coast League will have two separate brands for day games and night games, drawing on two different aspects of the natural and cultural heritage of their home in British Columbia. By night, the team will be the Nanaimo NightOwls. The nickname, which
New league to feature Nerds Herd, Deep Dish, Tully Monsters
The Joliet Slammers, who under normal circumstances play in the independent Frontier League, will host a four-team City of Champions Cup this summer. The newly formed temporary league will feature the Slammers, who have been around since 2011, as well three new teams, the Tully Monsters, Chicago Deep Dish, and
New Sugar Land Skeeters league includes “Lightning Sloths”
The Sugar Land Skeeters, an independent minor league baseball team in the Atlantic League, have created a temporary four-team league that will play from July 10 to August 30 at the team’s ballpark near Houston, Texas. In addition to the Skeeters, who have been around since 2012, the Constellation Energy
That Thing They’ll Do: Erie to Play as Wonders
The Erie SeaWolves, Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, will play a game in 2021 as the Wonders, an homage to the 25th anniversary of the movie That Thing You Do! The nickname comes from the name of a fictitious rock band from Erie, Pennsylvania, featured in the movie, initially
Lansing Lugnuts to host Lemonade League
When COVID-19 restrictions gave them lemons, the Lansing Lugnuts made the Lemonade League. In the absence of affiliated Minor League Baseball in 2020, the Single-A Lugnuts will host a self-contained wood bat league in July and August at their ballpark, Cooley Law School Stadium. The league, which will feature seven-inning
Headbanger: The Story Behind the Fayetteville Woodpeckers
The U.S. Army’s Fort Bragg comprises more than 250 square miles in central North Carolina and is one of the largest military installations in the world. The fifth largest city in the state of North Carolina, Fayetteville, sits adjacent to the fort and reflects a culture that is heavily influenced
Macon Bacon make alternate Macon Eggs marks
The Macon Bacon, who normally play in the 15-team wood-bat collegiate summer Coastal Plain League, have cracked open an alternate identity to round out the makeshift 2020 Southern Summer Ball Series. The Macon Eggs will play in the temporary four-team league with the Bacon themselves, their arch rival the Savannah