One of the fun things about graphic design is that it’s relevant in nearly all walks of life, so as a Graphic Design Blogger (scientific name, Nerdus goatium), I can draw on my life as a baseball fan (Geekii statisticaticus) for inspiration, and Shea can write about his status as a fashion critic (Dorkella seersuckerii). I have taken advantage of this by writing frequently about baseball logos and uniforms in the past, and here I go again.
The Bird is the Word
I was recently in the city of Baltimore, where it turns out there has been a Major League Baseball team since 1954. (Who knew?) The Orioles have had an identity crisis that has lasted nearly six decades. They have alternated between a cartoon Baltimore oriole (actual scientific name: Icterus galbula) and what looks like an illustration from one of those Audubon bird books Shea reads to his kids at night. The tubby cartoon bird pictured above (who looks suspiciously like CC Sabathia, in my opinion) was used from 1966 to 1988.
One of my earlier baseball logo posts was called “The Era of the Clever Logo.” The cartoon Oriole, which I like a lot, is from that same time period. It’s not exactly clever, but it reflects a certain amount of joy about the game. The scientific illustration that serves as the Orioles logo now would be the primary example in a post called “The Era of the Generic, Nonthreatening, Small Icterid Blackbird Logo.” It’s a lovely illustration, but it goes a long way to explaining why Camden Yards in Baltimore is one of the quietest stadiums you’ll ever visit. Fans are afraid of disturbing the wildlife.
In 1966, the Orioles logo was an adorable nerd bird (not to be confused with Shea, a bird nerd), who was all smiles and ready to keep score with a giant novelty pencil. In 1967, that bird morphed into an angry, muscle-bound baseball player with a swollen head, not unlike Barry Bonds in the 1990s. I like the bird nerd, and wish the Orioles had given him more of a chance.
I realize that I’m picking on the Orioles here, but they beat my Phillies in the 1983 World Series when I was 10 years old, so I’m still a little bitter. One of my grammar pet peeves is the use of an apostrophe to pluralize. However, there are some style guides (albeit not many) that suggest that an apostrophe can be used to pluralize in some situations to avoid confusion, as with numbers (1980′s) or capital letters (RBI’s). My personal feeling is that these style guides should be burned, but let’s just say for argument’s sake that there are instances where pluralizing with an apostrophe is okay (blech).
The Orioles occasionally use an alternate logo with a script “O’s,” in the same vein as the Oakland A’s (or Oakland As). The problem is that in the Orioles logo, the apostrophe is going the wrong way. I’m fairly certain that the Orioles are the only sports team—or perhaps professional organization of any kind—that pluralizes with a single opening quotation mark. And it fills me with rage.
I’m glad they haven’t had a winning season in 14 years.
Interlocking Letters
After my first post about baseball logos,
“The Good, the Bad, and the ‘I Don’t Get It,’” Friend of IBD and San Francisco Giant fan Ira Bletz complained that I identified Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers logos as classic, time-tested successes, while leaving out his team’s interlocking SF, which has been in use since the team moved from New York in 1958. (Not coincidentally, the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers rank 1, 2, and 3 in terms of merchandise sales.)
In my defense, that post was written in 2009, before many people knew there was a Major League Baseball team in San Francisco (yes, I’ve used that joke twice in this post). Even after they won the World Series last year, the Giants have not been able to crack the top 10 in merchandise sales, according to an article on Bay Area Banter.
To Ira’s point, though, interlocking letters are indeed a classic construction for MLB logos, used with varying degrees of success and consistency by a number of teams, including (from left), the St. Louis Cardinals (since 1940), the New York Mets (originally the old New York Giants’ logo, since 1908), the Colorado Rockies (since 1993), and the San Diego Padres (since 1969). Though, to be honest, I’m not sure the Rockies totally get it. All of the other interlocking-letter logos are for teams that play in cities whose names are two words. Maybe CR stands for Colo Rado.
To the San Francisco Giants’ credit, I like that they continue to use the same colors and type styles (right, above) as their New York predecessors (left, above). To their discredit, their pitchers will bean you on the backside if they feel that you’re beating them too badly.
Finally, if you’re into the history and variations of sports logos, you should check out Chris Creamer’s Sports Logos, where I got all of the images and date information for this post.
Thanks for the mention of the Orange & Black. I think it’s time to change your joke, “didn’t know there was a major league team in SF” to Seattle. Total sales has little to do with quality – take McDonalds for example, And Victorino leaned into that pitch.
While graphic design may be relevant in nearly all walks of life, I hope you are not assuming the reason some of us read the posts, reviews, ramblings and rants here on IBD has anything to do with graphic design. However, since we are on the subject, I must admit I literally laughed out loud when Paul, Graphic Design Blogger, created his new title of “Nerdus goatium.” Since I too have a goatee, I am wondering what he may be secretly calling me behind my back, or even worse, what he may call me in a future IBD blog post.
Since we do discuss baseball so much here, I guess I would fit in with the “Geeki statisicaticus” label, (I laughed out loud at reading that one too). I am very proud to say that I will never be labeled “Dorkella sersuckerii,” at least not the “sersuckerii” part.
The Bird is the Word … When you and I were attending the NAI International Conference in Panama, I was able to meet and visit with some of the best birders in the world … Jim, Christine, Christian, Mica, Beny, Rick and many others. They took the time to really expand my horizons. I was amazed at their knowledge and really appreciated the expertise they shared with Pam and I that week at the Gamboa Rainforest Resort. I came home to California confident that I could now identify the 3 major types of birds … Big Ones, Pretty Ones and LBJs, also known as Little Brown Jobs. Now that I have learned that, I have to figure out what the other 541 pages are for and what the other 6,597 bird types are that are listed in the National Audubon Society’s “The Sibley Guide to Birds” book that Shea so graciously gave to Pam and I as a gift.
In discussing the Orioles logo and referring to Shea as a “bird nerd,” I am wrong in thinking that the correct terminology should be Birdy Nerdy or Birdus Nerdus?
The apostrophe discussion once again has me confused and the more and more I write, the more and more I am tempted to eliminate the possible use of words with apostrophes, or sentences with commas, as I fear the wrath of Paul, Shea, Angus, Grammar Girl 1, Grammar Girl 2 or any of the rest of the Nerd Herd, Grammar Geeks and Font Police that realize English and grammar were not my best subjects in school and will surly bust me. At least I no longer use Comic Sans in my presentations. It is a step in the right direction.
Interlocking Letters … I am very happy to see you added the San Diego Padres to the world of baseball. Yes, I root for them too, along with our hometown Phillies. While it is disappointing that the Padres have never won a World Series, at least this year they have not been eliminated from the playoffs yet. Sometimes they are out of contention by the All-Star Game break. Heck, yesterday they started making a late season surge and passed the Dodgers so they are no longer in last place. At least no one ever expects the Padres to win so they are rarely picked on or criticized, except by Angus when the Padres beat the Giants.
I love the comment about the Rockies. How can they get away with the interlocking letter logo? I think you Coloradoans and Graphic Geeks should start a campaign and petition to stop them from using something that is so incorrect. Denver and Colorado should be ashamed of such a blatant error in correct grammar and design usage.
I realize that I am just rambling on, and that this reply is all over the board, but there is actually a deeper meaning to why I am writing so much. While I have been a fan of IBD, Paul, Shea and Lisa for years, I have only been commenting on your posts for a couple years. Heck, if I happen to miss one, or actually be busy at work, or be on a vacation on a cruise ship in the middle of the Caribbean and do not post a comment, I often hear about it. It makes me feel loved, or at least missed on occasion. Though I am not sure if I am being missed or just talked about in my absence, the way we talk about Shea behind his back, or even here on IBD posts.
What I am truly getting at is that it has been a long time goal to actually have a reply to a post that is longer than the post itself. I have come close, but have always fallen short. By my calculations, Paul posted 859 words and I am only up to 794. That means I need 65 more (now 58) to hit the 860 mark. The only way I can easily figure out how to do that is to say, I hope the 2011 Philadelphia Phillies continue to roll on and become World Series Champions and that I hate the No-Good Stinkin’ Yankees, I hate the No-Good Stinkin’ Yankees, I hate the No-Good Stinkin’ Yankees, I hate the No-Good Stinkin’ Yankees! Woo Hoo! I made it … 877 words.
I submit that “RBI” should not even be under discussion on how to pluralized an acronym. RBI can be either plural or singular, with the plural aspect coming from the first word represented in the acronym:
Run Batted In = RBI
Runs Batted In = RBI.
The phrase would would not be “Run Batted Ins” if Jason Werth plated multiple runs in one at bat. (Note: Currently a theoretical example that hopes to get out of the lab in 2012.) Why would the acronym be that way? Just like you have one deer or three deer, a numeric indicator prior to the word signifies the amount. Ergo, one RBI, two RBI, three RBI….
Agree with ya on shopper’s apostrophes. However, one could argue for the A’s and O’s that it is the abbreviating apostrophe employed by the likes of dep’t, gov’t, etc. since the apostrophe is standing in for “thletic” and “riole”, respectively.
Also, Runs Batted In = RsBI, as in, “Arrs Bee Eye”
No love for the Minnesota Twins, with the classic TC interlocking logo?! http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SoNY5b3WWlA/TfZ3TxyOoTI/AAAAAAAAALY/U8TZmVLUMNw/s1600/twins+logo.gif
Waggs, I submit that Jayson has a Y in it. He misspells both of his names.
Baron, I see the point, but whenever I hear someone say RsBI, it seems a little pedantic.
Amanda, that is a great point. The Twin Cities TC is classic.
I think the interlocking letters are cool. They do make a person to stop and try to figure out what the letters stand for. Making them look at your Logo longer.