Meet The Ex-Rays (Part II)

By Phil Hecken

Back today with Part II of the Redesign The Rays contest. If you missed Part I, click here.

Lets see today’s submissions (remember, click on any photo to enlarge, and you can vote for your favorite designs at the end).

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Chris Markham – “Buffalo Rays”

The Buffalo Rays… hear me out on this one. We know Buffalo isn’t exactly the poster child for sunshine and warm weather (though it is beautiful during the summer when the majority of baseball is played), but it will be soon home to the largest solar factory in the Western Hemisphere. And with the Rays sun/solar brand already established, why not keep the name? They wouldn’t be the only pro team with a nickname that is at least a little ironic (Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Lakers, etc). They can even stay in the AL East. Buffalo is a city on the rise, and Terry Pegula has a couple billion dollars left after buying the Sabres and Bills to purchase a MLB franchise and build a mixed-use, retractable roof stadium to host the Bills and Rays, right?

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Randy Miller – “Indianapolis Ovals”

Attached is my concept of the relocated Tampa Bay Rays now the Indianapolis Ovals. A take on the racing heritage of Indianapolis without using the standard Racers, Checkers, Speed, Turbos, etc… I kept similar colors, though I ditched the yellow for gray.

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Trayton Miller – “Carolina Loggerheads”

This is my entry into the “Redesign the Rays” contest: The Carolina Loggerheads. I wanted to blend a growing city, a diverse fanbase, traditional southern charm, familiar area college colors, and an iconic regional animal together with this set. The logo contains the South Carolinian flag’s crescent moon flipped to make a “c” shape, the Loggerheads “LH” abbreviation, and a cute little abstract turtle that I like quite a bit.

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Ren Nitram – “Ontario Lynx”

[No Description Given]

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Graeme Peacock – “Albuquerque Left Turns”

Albuquerque, New Mexico. A city that could potentially host a team. Based on the Famous Bugs saying, The colours come from the Flag and bugs himself, with the font work based on the ‘Thats all folks!’ at the end of all WB cartoons.

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Ben Polizzi – “Indianapolis Drive”

It’s every Hoosier’s dream to have a Major League team in Indy. Take a look at a big league team with some racing flavor. Overall Description: All uniforms feature checkered trim on the right pant pocket and racing flags on the left sleeve. The alternate features checkered trim on the hat brim with a “finish line” stripe on the uniform/socks for a classic, clean look. Enjoy fellas.

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Peter Raus – “Claremont Citrus”

I’m a 15-year-old avid reader of UW. For the contest, I chose my hometown, Claremont, California. Known for its universities, Claremont’s history involves citrus farms. My team is based on this heritage; hence, the inception of the Claremont Citrus.

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Skott Schoonover – “Buffalo Wings”

Terry Pegula is going to buy the Rays, and move them to Buffalo to become…The Buffalo Wings. Get it?
They’re going to have the color scheme of their namesake, consisting of Deep Fried Brown, Caliente Crimson, and Buffalo Sauce Orange.
Home, Road, Cold Weather, and Wing Day Alts.
Wings Up!

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Eric Schroeder – “Vancouver Mounties”

[No Description Given]

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Greg Seher – “Portland Pioneers”

Attached is my idea, Portland Pioneers. Using the city flag for part of the logo, they have great color set on their flag with baby blue, yellow, and green. Unique for baseball and it showcases colors the Rays franchise has used in the past. Some simple and classy block lettering, and I threw in the 70s/80s thick shoulder stripe to make them a little different from every other team. Secondary logo using the Oregon state seal. The colored jerseys aren’t game alternates, but could be used for batting practice or spring training. I like to keep it old fashioned, white at home and gray on the road.

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Tim Shay – “Nashville Railroaders”

Railroaders was selected as the nickname due to Nashville’s rich rail Heritage with the Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railway (NC&StL) that later became a part of the Louisville & Nashville (L&N) Railroad.
Color Palette Mimics the Original Paint Scheme of L&N Diesel Locomotives (Navy, Orange, Creme)
Cap Logo is the Letter N made from a Track Crossover to further tie in the Railroad Theme (Also Alternate Uni Logo)
Was going to put NOB, but decided to go NNOB after seeing the Numbers rendered in Steam Locomotive era font

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Charlie Shields – “Fayetteville Fallsox”

My hometown of Fayetteville, Arkansas isn’t likely to ever get a MLB team, but if we did, this is my idea for a concept. Autumn is the most beautiful time of year here in the Ozarks, and I think the Fallsox would always play their best in October.

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Nate Smith – “Montreal Monarques”

NAME: Montreal Monarques (i.e. Monarchs), synonymous with “Royals,” Montreal’s original baseball team.

UNIFORMS AND LOGOS: Similar to the ’92-’04 Expos with other cues from Montreal’s culture and baseball history. The silhouettes on the sleeve patch are of Mt. Royal, the city’s namesake, with the Cartier monument in the foreground.

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Joshua Sondoleski – “Portland Cascades”

PORTLAND CASCADES: Named after the mountain range that defines the Pacific Northwest, the team uses the rose as a symbol that winks at one of Portland’s many nicknames”” The City of Roses.

HOME UNI: The home uni is stripped back, using the team name across the chest, the rose as a patch on the sleeve and a simple cap. The uni piping is dark grey and repeated on the stirrups in the same weight.

AWAY UNI: The road uni is also stripped back, using the city name across the chest, the rose as a patch on the sleeve and a simple cap that incorporates the same road grey as found on the jersey and pants. The red of the jersey piping is repeated on the stirrups.

STUMPTOWN ALTERNATE UNI: The alternate uni features the rose on the chest as well as the player number. The cap has multicolored panels and the sleeve incorporates a patch that takes visual cues from a baseball but displays the boroughs of Portland as defined by the Willamette, the Columbia and Burnside.

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Robert Tighe – “Green Bay Rays”

Could Green Bay love a baseball team as much as they love their Packers? Naming the team after Ray Nitschke helps. “Green Bay Rays” flows off the tongue and it’s a great double entendre. Throw in the Pack’s gorgeous colors and you’ve got a Major League ball club.

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Larry Torrez – “Montreal Hiboux”

Pretty self-explanatory. quick mocks for a Montreal based team named… the Owls, or Hiboux because… why not.

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Vee63 – “Vancouver Grays”

Since the Rays name has a double meaning, I decided to move the franchise to Vancouver, add a G, and turn the team into the Grays. This maintains the double meaning, referring to the weather (usually rainy), and also to the Gray Whale, which is local to the area.

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And there you have it — the second (and final) set of entries. The top 3 vote getters from today will move on to the finals next weekend. You may vote for up to three entries (and you can vote once per day).

Here’s the poll:

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Rays Redesign Contest-Part II

Chris Markham – Buffalo Rays

Randy Miller – Indianapolis Ovals

Trayton Miller – Carolina Loggerheads

Ren Nitram – Ontario Lynx

Graeme Peacock – Albuquerque Left Turns

Ben Polizzi – Indianapolis Drive

Peter Raus – Claremont Citrus

Skott Schoonover – Buffalo Wings

Eric Schroeder – Vancouver Mounties

Greg Seher – Portland Pioneers

Tim Shay – Nashville Railroaders

Charlie Shields – Fayetteville Fallsox

Nate Smith – Montreal Monarques

Joshua Sondoleski – Portland Cascades

Robert Tighe – Green Bay Rays

Larry Torrez – Montreal Hiboux

Vee63 – Vancouver Grays

 

pollcode.com free polls

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As with yesterday, please give all the contestants a nice virtual round of applause (and hey, if you like some, let them know and maybe even campaign for them) in the comments below. Big thanks to everyone who submitted. Next weekend we’ll have the final voting for our winner!

Paul’s Latest ESPN Piece

In a move designed to coincide with the first throwback game in history (the “Turn Back The Clock” game played by the White Sox on July 11, 1990), ESPN ran one of Paul’s columns yesterday, and it’s a doozy.

Paul’s taken a very in-depth (and very well researched) look at The Best Throwback Uniform in the history of each Major League Baseball team (and it’s also apropos today since today the Cubs and White Sox will be playing a double tribute-throwback game this afternoon). Enjoy. I don’t agree with every one of his choices, but I’d say most of them are spot-on. Great stuff there and highly recommended reading.

Colorize This!

Occasionally, I will be featuring wonderful, high-quality black and white photographs that are just begging to be colorized.

Got a few this weekend, and they come from the colorizers you know and love, and one you may not know…

Enjoy!

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First up is George Chilvers with (wait for it) a football (soccer) colorization:

Hi Phil,

A fairly standard (if somewhat blurry) picture of an late 19th century footballer. So why have I bothered to colourise him?

This is John McCoy (alias John McKie) of Southampton, a fairly competent right-back. Nothing to separate him from the bulk of players around in the late 1890s.

But on a Tuesday morning, October 23, 1906, the ex-Southampton footballer walked into Cumnock Police station in Ayrshire and, according to the Cumnock Chronicle, “quietly” informed the on-duty sergeant that he had “just cut his wife’s throat and he had called to give himself up”.

And so it was.

What had driven John McCoy to such a desperate act? Unfortunately, he chose not to take the stand during his trial, his defence team instead stating “that at the time when the accused is alleged to have committed the crime charged against him he was insane, and was subject to and acted under the influence of a maniacal paroxysm and sudden uncontrollable insane impulse which deprived him of his senses”.

The Southern Evening Echo ”“ who were also reporting the story with great interest – remembered him as being “a dashing defender, just over average height, lithe in build and with curly flaxen hair; he was the ”˜beau ideal’ of a footballer”.

A picture emerged of a tortured soul temporarily unbalanced by a massive sustained indulgence in alcohol, in the days leading up to the murder, a lack of any clear motive and the fact the case for the Crown did not produce sufficient medical evidence to “meet the special plea of the defence” was, just about, enough to spare John the hangman’s noose.

After just 20 minutes, the jury ”“ following direction from the judge – returned with a verdict of culpable homicide and John McCoy, ex-Southampton and Hampshire County footballer was sentenced to ten years penal servitude.

We talk today of players under stress and acting out of character. Bear a thought for the tortured mind of John McCoy.

George

. . .

Next up is Bruce Menard, who has a couple:

Phil,

Here’s the before/after of the colorization I made for the anniversary of Sandy Koufax’s 1st no-hitter (vs. Mets – June 30, 1962).

I’ve always loved that pic, “Koufax (0-4)” is too funny! Anyways, I thought a bit of color would bring it some new life.

Cheers!
~Bruce

. . .

Phil,

Here’s the before/after of my colorization of Lou Gehrig standing near the microphones on July 4, 1939 at Yankee Stadium, right before he gave his “…Luckiest man on the face of the earth” speech.

I decided to only partly colorize the background (grass/sky/flag) in order to bring more emphasis on Lou.

Cheers!
~Bruce

. . .

Hi Phil,

OK, here’s the last colorization of the weekend: Joe DiMaggio and Tris Speaker at the 1939 All-Star Game, Yankee Stadium (July 11, 1939).
The American League won that year by a score of 3-1, with The Yankee Clipper connecting for the only home run of the game in the 5th inning.

Cheers!

~ Bruce

. . .

We close today with one from Chris of Mancave Pictures:

Hey Paul & Phil

Here’s my latest. I absolutely love the composition of this trio, and I wonder if it was carefully composed or if the photographer was just quick enough to grab it.

Chris

. . .

That’s it for today. Tremendous job, as always, George, Bruce & Chris.

Too Good…

for the Ticker

Got an e-mail from Jeremy Brahm, our Pacific Rim Correspondent, who has a bunch of stuff on Sumo and Volleyball. Wait…what?

I’ll let him explain:

. . .

Paul & Phil,

It is not often that you see sumo and volleyball go together.

Japan will be hosting the FIVB World Cup in August and September. Fuji TV is broadcasting the event and its volleyball mascot Vabo-chan is very recognizable.

Vabo-chan for the World Cup is even put in other countries looks.

The Dominican Republic though has a sombrero, so it is a little off.
Women’s look for this year
Men’s look for this year

Well, Fuji is on their promotional campaign and they found that sumo wrestler Fujiazuma had the same name as the company.

The maemawashi, the pre-match apron worn during daily ceremonies is usually sponsored by fans and sometimes companies. So Fuji TV has paid for an apron for Fujiazuma with Vabo-chan on it.

He’ll be wearing it for the Nagoya basho (tournament) in July.

Also, a lion statue in front of the Ginza Mitsukoshi station is wearing a Japanese volleyball uniform with the number of 26. There are 25 people named to the Japanese roster, so the 26 is for the Japanese fans.

Jeremy

Thanks, Jeremy.

OK. Now, onto the ticker…

Uni Watch News Ticker:

Baseball News: Today, the White Sox and the Cubs will play the first of two throwback games where each team will honor one of its dearly departed (Sox=Minnie Minoso; Cubs=Ernie Banks). More details here. … This photo was on Uni Watch yesterday, but here’s a much higher resolution photo of JFK and Washington All Star baseball (from Bruce Menard, of course). … Oops – The Mets got crushed by the Toronto Maple Leafs Friday night (nice spot by Alan Kreit). … Take a look at the awesome Grateful Dead jerseys sported by the Tennessee Smokies last night (h/t Smokies Baseball). … Yesterday the Royals and Blue Jays played color vs. color — it was light blue vs. dark blue (h/t Nicholas Weber and Alex respectively). … The Buffalo Bisons wore these gorgeous uniforms, mimicking their parent club, the Toronto Blue Jays, and their Canada Day uniforms (h/t Leah Voit for the Bison news). … They’re selling ASG shirts just outside of the GABP in Cincy for the game (no surprise), but this one has an upside-down “8” (good spot by Dan Luther). … The Fort Myers Miracle did a Back To The Future thingy last night (h/t MiLB Promos). … Yesterday, the Rockies broke out the Memorial Day camo for military appreciation day (via Mike Nessen). More game photos here. … If you’re in or around Baltimore today, you might want to stop by OPACY and pick up a free Hawai’ian shirt (first 20K fans only). … Gotta love Royals backup catcher Drew Butera who not only goes gloveless, he also chokes up on the bat (nice grab by Paul). … Yesterday, the Dodgers held Juan Uribe bobblehead day, and he homered — which was pretty awkward, given that he plays for the Braves (h/t Mike Nessen). … Uribe may be gone, but he’s not forgotten: The Dodgers had a cutout of Juan Uribe’s head in the dugout last night (h/t Brian Porreca).

NFL/Football News: I know we’ve discussed this a bit, but Casey Baker writes, “I was on SB Nation and saw a post for the IFAF, an international football tournament. Here is a link for the article. I truly love Mexico’s helmets.” … “Jim Harbaugh has Nike value, from his Michigan hat on down,” writes Stephen Ceruolo. “The financial value of a coach wearing a hat. Ex-coach Brady Hoke, did not wear a hat on the sidelines.” … Check out this beautiful Niagara Football Uniform, circa 1935 (from Ryan Dowgin. … Here’s a look at the new Notre Dame/Wilson footballs for the 2015 season (h/t Warren Junium). … “Caught this from a clip of a high school 7-on-7 championship hosted by Bethel (TN) University,” writes Dustin Semore. “That’s the McKenzie High School Rebels with a very unique number. It looks like they dipped their hand in paint and held up the number of fingers their jersey number would be. You see the QB wearing 4 and the C wearing 5. Not everybody has it (the guard and a WR later in the video didn’t either).” … Yesterday’s Philadelphia Soul Military Appreciation game jerseys were “a visual cacophony” writes Lee David Wilds.

Soccer News: Hartlepool Utd new away kit has “The Great Escape” written under the badge to honor the previous season when the team avoided relegation after a season of being bottom of the league for 90% of the campaign. “Has there ever been a addition to celebrate mediocrity as much as this?” asks submitter Gareth Hammond. … We’ve probably seen a bunch of these already, but here’s Barcelona, PSG & European home jerseys for 2015-16. … Mike Engle writes, “33 is a common hockey goalie number, but in soccer, it’s 99% #1, with #12; 18; 23 sometimes being goalie numbers. Petr Cech has a new team at age 33 and after 333 Premiership games, and he wants to be the backbone, which has 33 vertebrae.”

Grab Bag: This is pretty cool: Objects matched with their pantone colors (from Mike Chamernik). … Serena Williams won Wimbledon yesterday (for the sixth time, no less), and has now completed her second “Serena Slam” — that’s four consecutive Grand Slams, but not in the same calendar year. She can win a full Grand Slam if she wins the U.S. Open this September.

And that’s all for today, folks — if you didn’t already, don’t forget to vote for your favorite (you can vote for up to three) concept(s) for the Redesign the Rays contest. Big thanks, again, to all the submitters and best of luck to all. Next weekend we’ll have the top three from today’s vote (and the top three from yesterday’s contest) have a final run-off to determine the winner. Thanks also to George, Bruce and ManCave for the colorizations and everyone who contributed to today’s ticker. Oh, and Go Fed! Enjoy your Breakfast at Wimbledon, everyone. I’ll catch you next weekend.

Follow me on Twitter @PhilHecken.

Peace.

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“If the only thing you can think of is slavery when you think of picking cotton, you’re the one with a problem.”

–The Jeff