Two weeks ago I wrote about how a New Era fashion cap appeared to show a more streamlined version of the Twins’ “TC” logo. In case you’ve forgotten, or just missed that post, here’s a side-by-side comparison of the team’s longstanding logo and the subtly distinct version on the fashion cap:
I theorized that this tweak might be part of the team’s impending redesign, which is set to be unveiled this Friday. That appears to have been confirmed by a T-shirt that has now appeared on MLBShop.com. Here’s a screen shot, in case they take down the listing:
As you can see, this shirt features the same streamlined “TC” mark shown on the fashion cap. I think we can now say with some certainty that this logo tweak will indeed be part of Friday’s unveiling (although I’m sure they’ll have a lot of additional changes).
(My thanks to Kyle Sasala for bringing this T-shirt to my attention.)
Paul – I agree that signs point to that being the new logo but it looks like the old logo appears a few times to the right of the shirt. Probably an oversight???
I’d assume they just haven’t updated the website as of yet. Since the reveal isn’t until Friday and this appears to gone up early.
When I see the shirt, all I can think of is the Twin Cities over the line team.
Assuming this is confirmation of a new cap logo, then I have a few notes: 1) As a cap logo, this represents a significant upgrade. I don’t love the TC cap logo like many Twins fans do, but if they’re going to have one, then the old one is a terrific design for every use except the cap. The shapes are too narrow and closely spaced, so that the red C on navy disappears from view in most real-world uses. If you’re a fan in the stands, the Twins mostly look like they’re wearing blue hats with a weirdly broken white T. The thicker shapes and greater spacing between the T crossbar and the top of the C should significantly improve the logo’s legibility. 2) But the t-shirt shows that this comes at a price: Whereas the old TC looked great everywhere but on the cap, the new TC appears to mimic the Yankees and Tigers cap logos in looking terrific on the cap but nowhere else. The taller T stem above the C creates awkward empty space in larger applications, and makes the T look more prominent than the C. The old logo, in larger applications, gave the T and C nicely equal weight.
From what I’ve seen of jersey hints, I’m looking forward to Friday, but not super enthusiastically. It appears the Twins will improve on their current mess of a uniform set, but not by a whole lot. But the early hints at the script left me fearing even that slight upgrade might not be in reach. But from what I’ve seen in the last 24 hours, it looks like the script will be upgraded, so the Twins might very well rise from being uni-peers of Miami to being uni-peers of Cleveland. Tied for fourth best-looking team in the division instead of being sole occupants of fifth place. I’ll take any improvement on offer, though, given how badly dressed the team currently is.
Excellent analysis R. Scott! Amazing how spatial context matters.
The new logo gives me the (very quickly) jettisoned Trump/Pence “TP” logo vibes. link
I can’t unsee that in the new Twins logo.
The Trump-Pence TP logo only got all the bad press because of who it represented, it was actually a great design that took cues from high-end fashion like Polo. In fact, if they hadn’t so quickly canceled the logo, some of that awkwardness would have worn off (probably).
A lot of modern awkwardness is overlooked when a logo is 60+ years old, from a simpler time, like the TC.
It looks almost cartoonish now but not that bad. I prefer the older version but I can live with this one. And the powder blue is an exciting prospect for Friday’s unveiling. Hope the handshaking twin characters are part of the new identity but I doubt it. The primary logo will probably be a roundel with this new monogram in it and the team name spelled out within the border. Boring, I fear.
“the handshaking twin characters”
a/k/a Minnie and Paul
They will be a part of the new logo set, although the rumor is one of the characters will now be a POC, so, sadly, I fully expect there to be a complete meltdown on the internet over that.
I can’t imagine the Interwebs getting upset over such a thing
Yup, forgot their names and was too lazy to google it (how could I? Minnie and Paul!).
I prefer the ‘old’, both because of the shape & colors, but in any case, I am just happy they will be using the TC insignia rather than that clunky M one.
Lee
I never liked the old logo but this one makes it better in comparison. I prefer both the old C and the T being in white rather than gold. Nothing pops off the navy background with the dark red and the brassy gold. I am indifferent to the new T shape, as I said I don’t care for the old or the new, particularly.
Looks like that listing has been taken down, because I can’t seem to find it.
Everyone else is focused on the logo, but I can’t help but look at the design below the logo, and specifically the text within:
MIN
1901
Makes me wonder what we’ll get when we get the shirts of this design of the other teams who’ve relocated, particularly the Rangers and Nationals.
Few thoughts as a Twins fan-
I’ve always loved the TC logo because it looks like a hat for my initials: CT.
One thing that has always bugged me about the logo is that the T is asymmetrical (especially the bottom serifs), probably because it was designed by an artist by hand decades ago and not a computer. The updated version looks to fix that.
There will be 5 players present for the unveiling on Friday. That tells me they’ll be showing off 5 uniforms. Home white, road grays, baby blues, a midnight blue alternate and the City Connect.
Has a City Connect been revealed this early?
If that’s the only change, why bother? No, seriously, I really want to know. I mean, if a team wants to spend millions of dollars to have designers and marketers do almost nothing, that’s their business, but honestly, if not for this article, they could have taken the field with this supposedly new logo and I never would have noticed.
Says right there in the article that it almost certainly will NOT be the only change, Kevin.
They said they want to do like Padres did in modernizing/simplifying historic looks. MIL & HOU also recently did this. The leaks I’ve seen are a nice simplified merger of ’70s & ’87 looks.
I predict the Twin Cities script will be the City Connect — and the first time they have overtly said what TC stands for (it’s always been an unsaid assumption).
i remember when the giants did this, way back in the late 90’s (?), and got rid of the more cartoonish font of the 80’s, and brought in the cream (french vanilla, as their announcers liked to call them). they had 2 sets: french vanilla and road grey, cleaned up version of a classic word mark, athletic font numbers, no NOB on home unis (forces fans to learn the roster/suggests a commitment to keeping a roster that we would recognize), and only one hat. i imagine the padres fans had a similar feeling when they brought back the brown and kept it simple: it gives the team a nice, classic look that is not watered down, at a time when the organization is clearly making a commitment to being better on the field. they can add, subtract, and fiddle later. but for now, it’s like cleaning out the closet or the house, getting back to minimalist basics, so they can focus on what’s really important. (sadly this doesn’t quite work any more when they will have to participate in the city connect program soon)
1901? For Washington I guess?
The Twins own the Washington Senators/Nationals history from 1901. It wasn’t until 2019 did they promote the connection.
I wish these teams would actually grow a pair and wear these baby blues on the road.
They leaked a “Twin Cities” script the other day but not a new “Minnesota”, which I like because it explains the cap monogram. The most important thing is getting the whole package to look like it was designed by one person; the previous set suffered from being issued piecemeal.
there was a leak that showed a shirt hanging in a store, and in the background you could see like half a shirt/jersey hanging on another rack. i can’t be certain, and perhaps it’s just a fan swag t-shirt, but it appeared to be navy blue with simple arched block lettering saying “Minnesota” in white with no outline. i would be ok with that (particularly if it is paired with navy pants, as it is rare that i like colored tops with white or gray bottoms) simply because they have not had a Minnesota workdmark in my lifetime that did not feel crowded or clunky or overly long, and simplifying it this way makes it nice and clean and hard to complain about.
If you remove the T from the Twins’ logo, you end up with the Reds and Bears logo.
This C font must’ve been popular back in the day.
Details here:
link
Huh, interesting.
I will have to show this to a friend of mine who thinks the Bears invented this logo.
Thanks Paul.
The wishbone C is way better to look at than the Cubs and Guardians “C”.
The Giant’s “n” in their ny logo is also ugh.