SACRAMENTO SOLONS
Logos/Uniforms (Imgur)
Sacramento is similar in sporting stature to Nashville in a lot of ways - a city without a lot of prominent sporting success or history at the major levels, but who makes up for it with fan enthusiasm. I'm seriously hoping Sacramento is the next city accepted by MLS, an honor that they were ironically beaten to by Nashville. I'm a St. Louis guy myself, and going through the MLS process at the same time as Sactown made me appreciate them as a city and a group of fans. Sacramento feels like a city that would already have an MLB team if the Bay Area weren't nearby. Anyway, let's reward those fans with an MLB team!
I've always been fascinated by the early history of the Pacific Coast League. Maybe it's because I always envisioned myself as a person who belonged on the west coast, but I think the thing that draws me to it the most is the incredible alternate history potential. In the mid-late 50s, the PCL was gaining popularity and quality at a level that made the NL and AL worry that they would vie for major league status. It's incredible to think about what might have happened had the PCL succeeded - we would have well-established teams with decades of success or failure under their belts like the Seattle Rainiers, Portland Beavers, San Francisco Seals... or the Sacramento Solons! Instead, the NL quashed any hope of an uprising with the Dodgers and Giants' moves to the west coast. We do have a couple of classic PCL identities in real-life MLB with the Padres and Angels, and this is the perfect opportunity to introduce another.
I want to make note before I post the logo that I can't take full credit, or much credit at all, for the overarching design here: it was originally conceived by the really talented Raysox over at the sportslogos.net concepts forum.
His post can be found here. I do think the color scheme I've chosen suits the logo a lot better, though, and I've made small tweaks throughout to fit my own mold.
The word "Solons" was early journalistic slang for Senators, and the team took that name in reference to Sacramento's status as capital of California; but, the origin of the name is in the Athenian lawmaker Solon, who was unappreciated in his time but is now regarded as one of the fathers of democracy. So this logo set is slightly Greek-influenced, with the big script Solons laid over an Athenian-style shield. The addition of red as an accent color helps to distinguish this team from the Rays and others who use double-blue combos.
Three different versions of a secondary logo to choose from - the capital S is a strong logo to me on its own so I let it stand out here. We have it here in a couple of color combos, and a variety showcasing the Greek shield.
Jerseys and caps:
Got a few possible color combos here for you. My personal preference is the white jersey with the first hat at home, and the navy jersey with the second hat on the road, but there's mix-and-match potential here.
That's all for Sacramento! Not sure which city I'll be doing next, but I think it'll most likely be New Orleans.