Retro Style Logos and Uniforms

[knuckler]

Originally Posted by wwines

Love the Auto's logo's knuckler. One request, could we get the bottom logo done in the same colors as the top one? Thanks for all you do...you too txranger!!!

[skyballer455]

While I'm still practicing making uni's, I have a uniform request.

I'm planning on redoing my Pan-American Baseball League dynasty, since the first time when I started it, I was not satisfied with the direction in which it was going.

Now I plan to restart it, this making it sort of an alternate history of an alternate major league (if that made any sense).

Explanations aside, here's what I need. I plan to start the dynasty in the year 1871 with 4 teams:

Detroit Flags
Chicago Northsiders
Akron Buckeyes
Erie Keystones

Obviously I would like the uniforms to look 1870's era, as well as have both home and away jersey's and caps. As to color scheme, for Detroit I would like blue. For Chicago, green (since they later become the Green Sox). For Akron, I would like red (because red seems to be a big color in Ohio). I don't have anything in mind for Erie.

Also, I would like logos as well. I would like these to be just a plain, era representative logo, as circular logos aren't appropriate for the time period.

That's all I need. If I didn't make something clear, don't hesitate to ask me. I will make further requests as I need them.

Thanks in advance!

[knuckler]

Originally Posted by PW MAX

Those Autos logos are pretty sweet, and the uniforms are outstanding as well. Great work, as per always on those.

It's been a while since I've put in a request, I think, but I do have this one team I've been working on. It's a team called the 'Hawthorne Rogues', set in the fictional city of Hawthorne, which is something along the lines of New York City, or Gotham City of Batman fame, and sits somewhere on the North Eastern coast. Their colors are black and gold.

I'm still in the process of coming up with a story for them, still have to put all the pieces together, but I'm really liking the idea thus far.

I'm working on this logo now, PW. I have the base of the logo pretty much finished, but I'm wondering what your thoughts are on the Rogues. Do you envision a pirate, an elephant or something similar to what was on the helmet of the Gotham Rogues in the movie.

[knuckler]

Originally Posted by skyballer455

While I'm still practicing making uni's, I have a uniform request.

I'm planning on redoing my Pan-American Baseball League dynasty, since the first time when I started it, I was not satisfied with the direction in which it was going.

Now I plan to restart it, this making it sort of an alternate history of an alternate major league (if that made any sense).

Explanations aside, here's what I need. I plan to start the dynasty in the year 1871 with 4 teams:

Detroit Flags
Chicago Northsiders
Akron Buckeyes
Erie Keystones

Obviously I would like the uniforms to look 1870's era, as well as have both home and away jersey's and caps. As to color scheme, for Detroit I would like blue. For Chicago, green (since they later become the Green Sox). For Akron, I would like red (because red seems to be a big color in Ohio). I don't have anything in mind for Erie.

Also, I would like logos as well. I would like these to be just a plain, era representative logo, as circular logos aren't appropriate for the time period.

That's all I need. If I didn't make something clear, don't hesitate to ask me. I will make further requests as I need them.

Thanks in advance!

We did some circle logos earlier in the thread that were intended for 19th Century use. Here are a few samples:

[skyballer455]

Originally Posted by knuckler

We did some circle logos earlier in the thread that were intended for 19th Century use. Here are a few samples:

Those are very nice, knuckler! I guess i can back off my earlier statement and say that circular logos are fine as long as they are era appropriate. But in real life, teams didn't really have a logo. All they had was a letter and that was it. Just thought I'd make that point.

[knuckler]

I think with all of these logos, the hope is that they will make you think of an era rather than be historically accurate. If all you are looking for is a letter, that's easy enough.

BTW, I read an interesting blog post by Todd Radom that speculated this 1883 emblem worn by the New York Gothams was the first non-typography to be worn by a team.

[skyballer455]

Originally Posted by knuckler

I think with all of these logos, the hope is that they will make you think of an era rather than be historically accurate. If all you are looking for is a letter, that's easy enough.

BTW, I read an interesting blog post by Todd Radom that speculated this 1883 emblem worn by the New York Gothams was the first non-typography to be worn by a team.

Very interesting! I guess the circular logos do have touch of era-correctness to them.

[tarmer]

Here was an interesting article I landed upon while looking up a couple other things for research..

This league during WWI - Had ties to Eddie Plank, "Shoeless" Joe, Lefty Williams and several others who chose to play vs. fight

Might be an interesting set of logos and uni's

This article was written by Brian McKenna.
Organized Baseball faced challenges on several fronts during World War I. Naturally, the able-bodied men employed in baseball were also wanted and even expected to perform in the service, like other men throughout the country. While it is true that many ballplayers performed in battle and other essential tasks, some were placed with their athletic skills in mind and used mainly to play ball and entertain the troops. Thus, Uncle Sam in essence became a competitor for top baseball talent.

Another, more controversial, competitor for baseball talent was the Bethlehem Steel League. Given the choice to ‘work or fight’ by the Secretary of War, some ballplayers chose to work in a war-related industry. Thus, the circumstances were set for the next big threat to Organized Baseball, the industrial leagues of the World War I era. The game’s executives were still reeling from the recent Federal League threat and a consequently strong players union. Of all the industrial leagues nationwide, the Bethlehem Steel League posed perhaps the biggest threat. It attracted dozens of past, current and future major leaguers plus a strong contingent of men with minor league experience.

Bethlehem Steel, an industrial giant, established an internal baseball league among six of its east coast plants in 1917 to entertain its growing workforce during World War I. The rosters were initially filled out by local workers but a few old-time pros and failed minor leaguers were mixed in. The 1917 season opened on May 11 and continued for twenty weeks through Labor Day, September 2, only playing on Saturdays and holidays. The otherwise unskilled ballplayers worked in the plant during the week tightening screws or performing other tasks.

By the following year, local plant executives started bringing in ringers to stock their club’s against league rivals. They hired professional scouts and managers to recruit the finest talent available. About the same time, major and minor league players were receiving draft notices to join the war effort. Ballplayers had to either enlist or find employment in a war-related industry.

The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was reorganized in 1904 by Charles M. Schwab, an Andrew Carnegie protégé at Carnegie Steel, who had recently left the presidency of U.S. Steel. In the mix he formed a shipbuilding division with the acquisition of the Harlan and Hollingsworth Shipbuilding Co. in Wilmington, Delaware. In 1913, Beth-Steel added the Fore River Shipbuilding Co. of Quincy, Massachusetts. Three years later with soaring profits during the war, the company purchased the Maryland Steel plant at Sparrows Point near Dundalk and the American Iron and Steel Manufacturing Co. which had plants in Lebanon and Steelton in Pennsylvania. These shipyards and plants formed the crux of the baseball league.

In 1914, Beth-Steel employed about 15,600 individuals. That year, war broke out in Europe and orders flooded into the Pennsylvania-based conglomerate from Great Britain, France and Russia. By 1917, Beth-Steel was the third largest industrial company in the United States employing over 35,000. It produced the lion’s share of the artillery used by the allies throughout the war, including over one billion pounds of ammunition to just Great Britain and France, not to mention supplying much of America’s needs after it entered the fight in April 1917. The company’s profits increased over 800% during the war.

To amuse and entertain his growing workforce, Schwab initiated social organizations, choir groups and sports clubs. Beth-Steel financed a professional soccer team from 1914-30 which was among the most successful of the era, winning eleven national trophies, and still ranks among the all-time greats. In 1917, a baseball league was started. A competitive rivalry among plant executives led to an encroachment on organized baseball in 1918. Early in the year, they started offering untold bonuses and perks to professional ballplayers, bringing in ringers to stock their nines.

The teams of the Bethlehem Steel League represented the six main plants on the east coast: Bethlehem, Lebanon, Steelton, Wilmington, Fore River and Sparrows Point. The league president and treasurer worked in the Bethlehem plant. Each team was administered by plant executives. Typically, a middle manager monitored expenses, organized affairs, coordinated the schedule and kept track of each player’s draft and playing eligibility. Joe Kennedy, father of the future U.S. President, performed these tasks as an assistant manager at the Fore River facility.

Baseball recruiters were hired to lure the talent. Charles “Pop” Kelchner, football and baseball coach at Albright College and later a scout for the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns, put together the Lebanon team. George Cockhill, a former National League umpire, helped for the Steelton club. Lehigh University coach Tom Keady oversaw the Bethlehem nine. Fred Payne, former Syracuse manager, worked for Wilmington and minor leaguer John O’Hara helped form the Fore River team. Top players reportedly earned $200 to $250 a game plus a hefty weekly salary which far outweighed their actual experience and contributions on the work floor. Some also received bonuses under the table.

Eddie Plank was the first big name landed by the league, on April 22. He had retired from the St. Louis Browns the previous August. That didn’t stop the Browns from trading him to the New York Yankees in January 1918. Plank wouldn’t report, tired of the traveling a professional ballplayer had to endure. At 42 years old, he didn’t need a draft deferment and wouldn’t be working in a plant. Plank signed with Steelton because it was only forty miles from his home in Gettysburg. He could oversee his automotive business during the week and just play ball on the weekends.

Before the 1918 season started, Beth-Steel lured a few active major leaguers such as pitcher George Mogridge who jumped his Yankees’ contract. Organized Baseball was thrown for a loop though on May 13. That day, the reigning World Champion Chicago White Sox lost their star left fielder Joe Jackson. He was recently upgraded by his local draft board at Greenville, South Carolina to 1A-status, the top eligibility. Fearing imminent induction into the military, he left the White Sox to work in the Wilmington plant. Part of the lure was obviously the opportunity to play baseball.

Never one to hold his tongue, American League president Ban Johnson blasted the ballplayers in the press following Jackson’s departure. He prefaced his statements, “The American League does not desire to impugn the motives of players who have gone into this [industrial] work…” Then, he proceeded to impugn them, “Some of them are patriotic. But if there are any of them who are Class 1A, I hope Provost General [Enoch] Crowder [administrator of the Selective Service Act] yanks them from the shipyards and steel works by the coat collar and places them in cantonment to prepare for future events on the western front…The American League does not approve of players trying to evade military service.” Obviously, Organized Baseball was getting more and more concerned about the rising threat of the industrial leagues. F.C. Lane of Baseball Magazine eloquentlystated baseball’s case, “…a new danger has risen to threaten the national game…Disguised in the false colors of patriotic service, it seeks to undermine the financial structure of organized baseball…This peril, in brief, is the widespread campaign of certain manufacturing concerns, to lure away professional players from their contracts, ostensibly to work at government work and thereby claim exemption from the draft, but in reality to serve as drawing cards on the baseball clubs maintained by these companies…so notorious has this practice become that it merits the serious attention of the Government officials who have this matter in charge.”

Four days after the Jackson signing, the Yankees lost another pitcher, Ed Monroe, to Sparrows Point. The Maryland plant would ultimately claim several other New York ballplayers, including Chick Fewster, Hugh High and Allen Russell. Another Yankee, Wally Pipp, joined Fore River. In mid-May, pitcher Al Mamaux left the Brooklyn Dodgers for Fore River. After Mamaux jumped, teammate Jim Hickman threatened the same, but the Dodgers came up with some extra cash and he stayed. Irate, club owner Charles Ebbets appealed to the federal government to shield Organized Baseball from the industrial leagues’ onslaught, the first formal request to do so. Major League Baseball also threatened to ban the offending ballplayers, as did American Association president Thomas Hickey after desertions by more than a few of the league’s players.

Ban Johnson appealed directly to Charles Schwab for relief. He supposedly gained concessions from Schwab that Bethlehem Steel wouldn’t contact players under contract to club’s in Organized Baseball. In truth, Schwab had more pressing concerns. In April 1918 at the behest of President Woodrow Wilson, Schwab was named Director General of the Emergency Fleet Corporation, a government entity overseeing shipbuilding affairs during the war. Schwab was no longer concerned with such trivial matters as a recreational league; he was the Chairman of the Board and had turned over the presidency and day-to-day operations of the company to Eugene Grace in 1916. Grace, based in Bethlehem, was a big baseball fan and a former star shortstop and captain for nearby Lehigh University, Class of 1899. Upon graduation, he was offered a contract by the Boston Braves but turned it down claiming that he didn’t spend four years in college to become a baseball player. He still loved the game though and was a driving force behind the acquisition of the professional players.

Bethlehem Steel was by no means the only threat to Organized Baseball. Other industrial leagues throughout the nation were adding professional athletes on a weekly basis, including former and current stars from the majors such as Russ Ford and Ed Reulbach to name only two. Beth-Steel also had California plants in Alameda and San Francisco. They participated in a four-team shipyard league. Alameda boasted Swede Risberg, while San Francisco played old-timer Harry Krause and up-and-comers Lefty O’Doul and Willie Kamm. Buzz Arlett, Carson Bigbee, George Cutshaw and Oscar Vitt also played in the league.

The Bethlehem Steel League continued its assault on Organized Baseball, especially in June and July as the ballplayers were receiving notices from their draft boards and were awaiting a clarification of the ‘work or fight’ ruling by Secretary of War Newton Baker. Baker first issued the ruling on May 23 but baseball officials were working their political connections to avoid its implications and appealing individual cases. In essence, Baker expected able-bodied men of draft age to serve their country or to maintain employment in a war-related industry. Baseball men had feared this for well over a year. Capitalizing on this since shipbuilding was an essential occupation, the BSL sent representatives to major league parks and hotels to recruit talent. Meanwhile, the individual cases were slowly filtering up to Baker. In response to Washington Senators’ owner Clark Griffith’s appeal in the case of Eddie Ainsmith, Baker clarified his previous ruling on July 19. He formally declared that baseball was a non-essential occupation and, thus, ballplayers were expected to comply. Organized Baseball was thrown into a panic. Various minor leagues started to shutdown as the summer wore on and after further negotiations Major League Baseball also curtailed its season, ending by Labor Day.

In June mass defections from the Minneapolis club of the American Association and Bridgeport of the Eastern League seriously compromised the franchises. On June 3 Boston Red Sox pitcher Dutch Leonard tossed a no-hitter against Detroit. Soon thereafter, he jumped the club to join Fore River. On the 12th, pitcher Lefty Williams and catcher Byrd Lynn left the Chicago White Sox for Wilmington. Team owner Charles Comiskey, still upset over Joe Jackson’s defection, irately terminated the two players’ contracts and demanded the return of his uniforms. Also in June, pitcher Jeff Tesreau made a dramatic exit from the New York Giants for Bethlehem after feuding with manager John McGraw. Bethlehem especially hit the Giants hard, also claiming Fred Anderson and Walter Holke.

Tempers ran high in July. On the 2nd, Happy Felsch, the White Sox centerfielder, left the club after arguing with manager Pants Rowland. Fearing he was heading to the BSL, Comiskey finally blew his stack, berating his players in the press, “The government ought to get after baseball slackers like Williams, Lynn and Joe Jackson. They should be put into the Army where they rightfully belong.” The press picked up on the sentiment. When Ed Monroe was drafted in July, one headline read, “One Slacker Chased from Steel League.” Perhaps Comiskey’s public slacker comment led in part to the disloyalty shown by some of the White Sox players the following season in the throwing of the World Series.

About this time Rabbit Maranville, currently in the Navy, gave an interview in which he attacked the character of his brother ballplayers that chose to work instead of fight. He harangued, “It not only injures the king of sports, but also shows the jumpers [to industrial leagues] possess a very poor brand of patriotism. Ballplayers who are in the draft age and quit their clubs for positions in the steel and shipyard leagues are not doing baseball a bit of good. Neither are they helping Uncle Sam any. They are not skilled enough to be of much use as workmen and their one and only object is to play baseball. Fans will remember the players who shunned their duty, and after we have won the war and those players attempt to come back they will find themselves in great disfavor.”

At least one Bethlehem Steel League player, Bud Weiser, enlisted in the Navy in August to avoid further scrutiny. It should be noted, however, that the same practice that drew Maranville’s ire occurred in the military; some ballplayers in the service were predominantly used just to play ball and entertain the troops.

BSL recruiters approached but failed to sign Jimmy Austin, Happy Felsch, Hans Lobert, Rogers Hornsby, George Sisler and Alan Sothoron. In late July, Walter Holke, Giants first baseman, was ordered before his draft board and instructed to either enlist or seek essential employment. He chose Bethlehem where he could also play ball. Other players noticed the demand placed on Holke and left their clubs for the industrial leagues before their name was pulled for enlistment.

In response to the defections, the National Commission, baseball’s ruling body, approached General Crowder and informed him of the predicament, placing the departed ballplayers in the poorest possible light. The commission issued the following statement, “It was represented to him [Crowder] that the purpose of such players is primarily to continue to play ball…which enables them to escape active service under the work or fight order…The Provost Marshall General expressed indignation at this condition, which had never been called to his attention.” It was undeniable that some of the ballplayers were doing quite well financially with their arrangement, while producing little for the war effort. This often caused hard feeling among the other plant workers. The ballplayers drew hefty paychecks with little to no work skills and being minimally productive. Some of them even drove automobiles to work, in essence rubbing their wealth in the common worker’s face. They lucratively played ball on Saturdays and often found another profitable game on Sunday outside blue law states.

Quite a few past, current and future major leaguers joined the BSL, as well as a great many minor leaguers. Some plants fielded multiple teams which competed in multiple leagues and also participated in profitable exhibition contests. For example, the Harlan facility in Wilmington also fielded a team in the Delaware River Shipyard League. They would switch their players, such as Lefty Williams, Joe Jackson, Patsy Gharrity and George Dumont, between the two leagues to field the best possible nine on any given day. Williams, for one, performed mainly in the river league.

Among the BSL season highlights was a doubleheader at Lehigh Stadium on July 13 pitting Bethlehem and Fore River. Dutch Leonard of Fore River struck out eighteen batters to defeat Jeff Tesreau 2-0 before 4,000 fans. The afternoon game saw Al Mamaux square off against Stan Baumgartner before 18,000. On July 27, Eddie Plank of Steelton ceded only three hits on his way to defeating Dutch Leonard (who only gave up 4 hits) 1-0. Leonard walked in the only run of the game in the eighth inning. At the end of July, Steelton was leading the circuit with a 10-5 record. In Wilmington on August 31, the final weekend of the season, Joe Jackson hit two home runs. The Baltimore American commented, “The first, the longest ever seen in these parts, was hit over the scoreboard in deep centerfield…”

Two days later on Labor Day, the season ended. Jeff Tesreau of Bethlehem defeated Mamaux 6-1 while Steelton lost 5-0 to Dutch Leonard of Fore River to end the season with tied for first place. The standings:




Bethlehem

11-8

Steelton

11-8

Wilmington

10-9

Sparrows Point

9-9

Lebanon

8-11

Fore River

7-11

The next day, league officials decided on a three-game playoff system to settle the championship. Game #1 of the playoffs took place on September 7 in Steelton. George Pearce of Steelton tossed a five-hitter over Jeff Tesreau for a 2-1 victory. In the second game on the 14th, Pearce and Tesreau faced off again before 5,000 anxious Bethlehem patrons. Four umpires were hired to oversee the contest. Tesreau struck out ten and didn’t cede a run until the 8th inning. Pearce was pulled after seven in favor of Eddie Plank. After nine innings, the scored was tied 2-2. Steelton pulled ahead in the tenth on a two-run triple by future Hall of Fame manager Joe McCarthy. Bethlehem scored once in the bottom of the inning but lost by a final score of 5-3. Plank claimed the victory. Beth-Steel president Eugene Grace presented each member of the Steelton club with gold watches for claiming the championship.

The Bethlehem Steel League teams continued to play exhibition games into October. Several major leaguers joined the BSL, specifically Lebanon, such as Del Pratt, Steve O’Neill and George Hale. Pratt, a trained mechanical engineer, purchased a house in Lebanon and decided to settle down with his wife and children. He later changed his mind, returning to the Yankees in 1919. After the World Series, Sam Agnew and Babe Ruth of the champion Boston Red Sox joined Lebanon for a few games. Ruth showed up one weekend and played first base. He soon disappeared and was found playing ball near his family home in Baltimore. Soon thereafter, he contracted the flu and was laid up. Dave Roth, pitcher and left fielder for Sparrows Point, wasn’t as lucky as Ruth. He contracted the Spanish flu and died at his home in Baltimore in October.

As the industrial baseball season closed, so did many of the players’ interest in maintaining their employment in the industry. Many scattered, seeking employment closer to their hometown. Others like Dutch Leonard, Al Mamaux, Wally Pipp, Larry Kopf, Patsy Gharrity and Eddie Fitzpatrick were drafted into the service. A few like George Cockhill, Shorty Miller, Steve Yerkes and Bobby Clarke stayed put and continued working at a steel plant.

The Bethlehem Steel officials tried to reorganize with professional players in March 1919. But with the war over and the draft suspended, few in Organized Baseball were interested. The majors weren’t opposed to taking the industrial league players back into the fold after 1918 but it’s interesting that quite a few of the men finished their major league careers in 1918 or just before joining the BSL: Fred Anderson, Paddy Baumann, Johnny Beall, Earl Blackburn, Lee Dressen, Ed Fitzpatrick, George Hale, Olaf Henriksen, Hugh High, Alex Main, Ed Miller, Ed Monroe, Mike Mowry, George Pearce and Jeff Tesreau. Tesreau refused to report to the Giants, still at odds with McGraw. Instead, he coached at Dartmouth College in 1919, turning down an offer to join the Boston Braves. He continued at Dartmouth until his death in 1946, never returning to Organized Baseball. Some of these men including Monroe and Blackburn continued to play with industrial league teams for several seasons.

The industrial leagues kept trying in subsequent years to build impressive rosters, liberally throwing cash around. At times they attracted a few professional players, especially in 1920. For instance, Dickie Kerr and Hippo Vaughn joined industrial teams amid disputes with their respective teams.



Babe Ruth (Back row - Third player, Also note Hornsby and Shoeless Joe)







http://dcbaseballhistory.com/2013/05/the-steel-leagues/

[knuckler]

I reworked the Boston Reds logo since you wanted red for Akron. I also came up with some very plain options including just a letter:

[tarmer]

Thanks For all you do guys

[knuckler]

Originally Posted by tarmer

Thanks For all you do guys

Thanks for the kind words and the article that you posted, Tarmer. I still remember the 19th Century logos you requested back in 2008 - you always have great names.

[txranger]

[knuckler]

Tex, that is so awesome!

[tarmer]

Originally Posted by knuckler

Thanks for the kind words and the article that you posted, Tarmer. I still remember the 19th Century logos you requested back in 2008 - you always have great names.

Well not to get gooey - But you have always been happy to share your talents and between you and TX you guys are more than generous with you time and talents in trying to make the game and community a better place -

Imagination is an awesome thing as is talent - Thanks for both - to you both

[skyballer455]

Originally Posted by knuckler

I reworked the Boston Reds logo since you wanted red for Akron. I also came up with some very plain options including just a letter:

Those are great knuckler! Can't wait for the rest of them.

[tarmer]

Originally Posted by knuckler

Thanks for the kind words and the article that you posted, Tarmer. I still remember the 19th Century logos you requested back in 2008 - you always have great names.

HA - do you still have those I had lost them and was not sure where to find them but would love to get them again if they are around...

[txranger]

Originally Posted by tarmer

HA - do you still have those I had lost them and was not sure where to find them but would love to get them again if they are around...

I'd like to see them too if the Knuck still has'em...

[knuckler]

Originally Posted by txranger

I'd like to see them too if the Knuck still has'em...

I do and will send them to you. Tarmer would like to see if we can update them from logos for the 1870s to logos for the 1950s.

[knuckler]

A couple of takes on the Detroit Flags:

[txranger]