Old-Timey Logos & Eventually More: A Reboot

[tm1681]

UNIFORMS OF THE UPSTATE NEW YORK CHAMPIONSHIP

Some uniforms will appear with hats that have two white "bandbox" stripes. I made them as such initially so I could add team colors to individual stripes, as the Uniform Maker doesn't have that functionality in the case of a "Double Band Box" cap, only allowing you to choose one color for both. Using white as a base makes it easier to paint over while keeping the seams and other shading.

In Columbia's case, the final cap has a light blue Bandbox stripe on top and a yellow/gold Bandbox stripe below.

Syracuse is another team whose cap I changed after the fact, although in this case I actually kept the white stripes the same but added a black brim because I thought it looked better.

[tm1681]

UNIFORMS OF THE COASTAL CHAMPIONSHIP

For the sake of uniqueness, I gave all teams based in or near Boston caps with "Boston Stripes".

National is another team with a since-altered cap, with a red Bandbox stripe now underneath the white one.

Lord Baltimore is named after the real life 2nd Baron Baltimore, Cecil Calvert, who was the first official "Proprietor of Maryland" when it was a British colony. The team logo is taken from the Coat of Arms of the Calvert family, which formed the basis for the current Maryland state flag.

Philadelphia BCC is one of three "Baseball & Cricket Club" teams that I created for a Philadelphia-based league that started in the 1870s, because cricket remained a popular sport in the city long after baseball became widespread. I tried to make a bit of a "V" pattern on their shirt to make it look more like a traditional cricket jumper, and their cap has black & red stripes instead of white.

[tm1681]

UNIFORMS OF THE INLAND CHAMPIONSHIP

Lancastra Britannia is another team that has a custom shield on their jersey, a shape taken from the City Seal, which is where the name also comes from.

Reading Athletic Club will have a pretty obvious inspiration if you follow English soccer, with their logo and colors based on Reading FC in the EFL League One.

[tm1681]

UNIFORMS OF THE NEW ENGLAND CHAMPIONSHIP

Most of the uniforms here are pretty straightforward. Portland's jersey font didn't render right so I redid it later. Salem's identity is a reference to "The Scarlet Letter".

[tm1681]

If I had to describe how I came up with the name of each NBBO team, it would probably go like this:

BROOKLYN

Atlantic: Famous real-life club (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Atlantics)
Bedford: Real-life club (https://protoball.org/Bedford_Club_of_Brooklyn)
Continental: Real-life club (https://protoball.org/Continental_Club_of_Brooklyn)
Eckford: Famous real-life club (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eckford_of_Brooklyn)
Empire: Real-life club (https://protoball.org/Empire_Club_of_New_York)
Marathon: Minor real-life club (https://protoball.org/Club_of_Marathon)
Nassau Co.: Made up based on location
Star: Jim Creighton's first club (https://protoball.org/Star_Club_of_Brooklyn, www.threadsofourgame.com/1871-star-brooklyn/)

NEW YORK CITY

Baltic: Real-life club (https://protoball.org/Baltic_Club_of_New_York)
Harlem: Real-life club (https://protoball.org/Harlem_Club_of_New_York)
Hilltop: Made up
Mercury: Not based on one club, but there were three clubs in the N.Y.C. area named "Mercury" at different points
Metropolitan: Real-life club (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Metropolitans) that played in the American Association during the 1880s
Mutual: Famous real-life club (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Mutuals) that was one of the founding members of the National Association
N.Y.A.C.: Made up, but inspired by the real-life New York Athletic Club (https://nyac.org/), which has club teams in more than a dozen sports but not baseball and has produced numerous Olympians.
Union: Famous real-life club (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_Morrisania)

UPSTATE

Binghamton: Minor real-life club (https://protoball.org/Club_of_Binghamton)
Columbia: Real-life club (https://protoball.org/Columbia_Club_of_Buffalo)
Eagle: Real-life club (https://protoball.org/Eagle_Base_Ball_Club_of_New_York), but was based in Manhattan
Frontier: Not based on one club, but there were more than two dozen going by that name during 1800s
Minuteman: Made up
Syracuse: Minor real-life club (https://protoball.org/Syracuse_Base_Ball_Club)
Utica: Minor real-life club (https://protoball.org/Club_of_Utica)
Victory: Not based on one club, but numerous went by that name

COASTAL

Brighton: Named after one of the neighborhoods of Boston
Bunker Hill: Named after site of famous battle during Revolutionary War
Diamond St.: Real-life club (https://protoball.org/Diamond_State_..._of_Wilmington)
Lord Baltimore: Named after Cecil Calvert, 1st colonial Governor of Maryland
Maryland: Real-life club (https://protoball.org/Maryland_Club_of_Baltimore)
National: Real-life club (https://protoball.org/National_Club_of_Washington)
P.B.C.C.: Made up based on Philadelphia's cricket heritage
Trenton Utd.: Made up...I think. It might have come from that defunct MLB page

INLAND

Lake Erie: Made up, but there were clubs in Erie in the 1850s & 60s
Lancastra Brit: Named after the slogan on the city of Lancaster's (PA) flag and seal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancaster,_Pennsylvania)
Merrimack Mills: Made up, name inspired by real-life company that was major textile manufacturer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merrim...turing_Company)
Pioneer: Real-life club (https://protoball.org/Pioneer_Club_of_Springfield)
Reading A.C.: Can't remember, but I think from a real Reading Athletic Club first founded in 1859 but that soon went defunct
Scranton: Real-life club (https://protoball.org/Club_of_Scranton)
Squirrel Hill: Named after an area in Pittsburgh
Susquehanna: Real-life club (https://protoball.org/Susquehanna_Club_of_Wilkes-Barre)

NEW ENGLAND

Cantabrigians: Named after the Demonym for the people of Cambridge, MA
Granite: Minor real-life club (https://protoball.org/Granite_Base_B..._of_Manchester)
Green Mtn.: Real-life club (https://protoball.org/Green_Mountain...lub_of_Bristol) but based in Bristol (VT) instead of Burlington (VT)
Oceanic: Based on minor real-life club named "Oceanus Club" (https://protoball.org/Oceanus_Club_of_Hartford)
Portland: Real-life club (https://protoball.org/Portland_Base_Ball_Club)
Quinnipiac: Real-life club (https://protoball.org/Quinnipiack_Club_of_New_Haven)
Samlem: Made up, inspiration was Scarlet Letter & The Crucible, but many clubs based there in 1860s
Sons of the Ocean: Surprisingly, a real-life club (https://protoball.org/Sons_of_Ocean_Club_of_New_Bedford)

[sweetpeaches966]

Really glad to see this thread back! I've been following your dynasty report to see where the NBBO goes.


Any chance you'd be willing to upload the new and updated logos whenever you get a chance?

[tm1681]

Originally Posted by sweetpeaches966

Really glad to see this thread back! I've been following your dynasty report to see where the NBBO goes.


Any chance you'd be willing to upload the new and updated logos whenever you get a chance?

When I get the chance, yes. I will be in transit for a couple of days later this week to visit my parents, but after that we'll see how things go.

[tm1681]

The next league in the fictional universe if the AMERICAN PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL LEAGUE, founded in 1871.

Just as the NBBO's foundation was meant to mirror the real-life creation of the National Association of Base Ball Players in 1857, the American Professional Baseball League was formed by a group of clubs that wanted to form a professional league, similar to what happened when the National Assocation formed in 1871.

The APBL originally consisted of twelve teams: Alleghany, American, Excelsior, Flour City, Gotham, Kings County, Knickerbocker, Massachusetts Bay, Niagara, Orange, Shamrock, & St. John's. Those twelve were the largest teams and/or most successful in the NBBO when they decided to break away and form their own competition in the autumn of 1870.

In the autumn of 1877 the league decided to add four teams, and in the end chose Newark, Port Jersey, Quaker State, & Tiger S.C. because recent big-market NBBO additions Maryland (Baltiomre) and National (Washington, DC) were still lacking in structure and on-field success.

Going into 1882, the APBL has sixteen teams split into a pair of conferences, with the team playing the other fifteen half a dozen times each to make for a 90-game schedule (this will soon change in conjunction with the real-life schedule changes in 1884-85).

THE COLONIAL CONFERENCE








THE METROPOLITAN CONFERENCE

The team names & colors come from a mix of sources:

Alleghany: Name inspired by the fact that there was a Pennsylvania city named Alleghany - Allegheny was the original spelling - that was annexed by neighboring Pittsburgh in the early 1900s even though it had more than 130,000 residents. Colors inspired by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Flour City: Real-life club (https://protoball.org/Flour_City_Club_of_Rochester). Colors randomly chosen.

Mass. Bay: Named after nearby bay. Colors inspired by Massachusetts state flag and seal.

Newark: Real-life club (https://protoball.org/Newark_Club). Colors chosen randomly.

Niagara: Real-life club (https://protoball.org/Niagara_Club_of_Buffalo). Colors are reverse of those on flag of Buffalo's home county, Erie County.

Pt. Jersey: Name made up, can't quite remember what the inspiration was because Jersey City wasn't a major port city in the 1800s. Colors inspired by shipping industry.

Shamrock: Minor real-life club (https://protoball.org/Shamrock_Club_of_Boston). Colors inspired by the Boston Celtics - reversed their scheme to make it white & green.

St. John's: Named after a historic church and neighborhood in Providence that is now part of the Federal Hill area. Colors chosen at random.

American: Not inspired by one club. Instead, numerous clubs with that name in the 1850s & 60s. Colors inspired by US flag.

Excelsior: Famous real-life club (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excelsior_of_Brooklyn) that Jim Creighton played for. Colors inspired by combination of references.

Gotham: Real-life club (https://protoball.org/Gothams_Club_of_New_York) dating back to 1845. Colors chosen at random.

Kings Co.: Name made up. Colors inspired by typical royal colors of purple & gold.

Knickerbocker: Famous real-life club (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knicke...ub_of_New_York) that, among other things, took part in the first officially recorded game of baseball on June 19th, 1846, established the first set of rules & regulations for players, the "Knickerbocker Rules", and saw one of their players, Doc Adams, write the first version of the rulebook of the sport that is in use today, "The Laws of Base Ball". Colors inspired by description of original Knickerbocker team, who was said to have played in white shirts and navy blue pants.

Orange: Name inspired by Dutch heritage of New York City. Colors similarly inspired.

Quaker St.: Name inspired by state nickname of Pennsylvania. Colors inspired by state flag.

Tiger Social Club: Was listed as a club by that name at the defunct MLB history site, but not at protoball. Their existence seems to be a mystery, but I liked the name so I made them anyway. Colors: obvious inspiration.

[tm1681]

UNIFORMS OF THE COLONIAL CONFERENCE

Nothing too unique here, just a combination of colors and looks that I came to like as I made them.

[tm1681]

UNIFORMS OF THE METROPOLITAN CONFERENCE

Like some other teams where the cap has two white Bandbox stripes in the preview, American's cap was altered afterward in Photoshop so a blue stripe was on the bottom.

Excelsior's uniform was inspired by the illustration and description of their real-life 1859 uniform that was available at the Threads of Our Game Database. I made some changes, mostly with the cap, while keeping their fictional universe color scheme.

The Gotham uniform was inspired by similar looks in other colors from the database at https://www.threadsofourgame.com, while the Knickerbocker uniform was inspired by their real-life 1865 look. Sadly, since straw hats cannot be used in-game I couldn't go with their 1849 uniform.

The Tiger Social Club shirt was finished using a custom-made "Wide Stripes" layer that I did in Photoshop before finishing the shirt in the Uniform Maker. Both Bandbox stripes on the cap remain black in the final product.

[tm1681]

After Quaker State took the NBBO title with a record-breaking 58-12 season in 1871 and American won the APBL title in 1872, the sport had become popular enough in Philadelphia, with its population of over 800,000, that its own competition, the PHILADELPHIA CITY BASEBALL LEAGUE (PCBL) began play in May of 1873.

Philadelphia (as in real-life) had long been a cricket holdout, but the success of its two most prominent clubs over a two-year span greatly increased the prominance of baseball in the city, and many of the clubs already in existence saw significantly increased interest.

While there were enough competitive clubs in Brooklyn & New York City to form their own competition, their clubs played in the NBBO, making the PCBL the first city-specific league. The PCBL began with 16 teams split evenly into two subdivions: East & West. The schedule is 70 games, with each team playing the seven others in their division ten times.

There has been one change to the league since its inaugural season in 1873. After reeling off records of 46-24, 55-15, & 53-17 from 1875-77 while winning the PCBL title twice, Philadelphia Baseball & Cricket Club left for the NBBO. They were replaced by Bartram Village.

EAST PHILADELPHIA








WEST PHILADELPHIA

As with other leagues, the names of the teams in the PCBL came from various sources.

Frankford Arsenal: Named after large military ammunition plant in Philadelphia that was active at the time
Keystone: Real-life club (https://protoball.org/Keystone_Club_of_Philadelphia)
Minerva: Real-life club (https://protoball.org/Minerva_Base_B...f_Philadelphia)
Pt. Richmond: Named after nearby port on Atlantic Coast
Queen Vill: Named after local neighborhood
Sons of Ben: Name inspired by suppporters group of MLS club Philadelphia Union
Spartan: Real-life club (https://protoball.org/Sparta_Base_Ba...f_Philadelphia)
Yorktown: Named after local neighborhood

Bartram Vill: Named after local neighborhood
Germantown BCC: Name inspired by Germantown Cricket Club (https://www.germantowncricket.org/)
Independence: Minor real-life club (https://protoball.org/Independent_Club_of_Philadelphia)
Mercantile: Real-life club (https://protoball.org/Mercantile_Club_of_Philadelphia)
Merion BCC: Name inspired by Merion Cricket Club (https://www.merioncricket.com/)
Overbrook: Named after local neighborhood, and also high school attended by Wilt Chamberlain
Penn: Named inspired by both William Penn (founder of PA) and University of Pennsylvania
Schuylkill: Named after nearby river

[tm1681]

UNIFORMS OF EAST PHILADELPHIA

If you follow soccer at all it should be fairly easy to figure out the inspiration for the logo & colors of Frankford Arsenal.

The inspiration for the logo & colors of Spartan BC was the flag of Sparta itself, which, depending on the source you use, depicted the flag as having a blue stripe across the middle. This was the source I used: https://www.balkanflaghistory.org/ancient-greek-flags. For the shirt, I custom-made my own striple across the middle, both front and back, in Photoshop before finishing it in Uniform Maker.

The uniforms for the other six teams had random thoughts and inspirations that went into them.

[tm1681]

UNIFORMS OF WEST PHILADELPHIA

The color scheme for Germantown BCC was inspired by the color scheme used for Germantown Cricket Club at their website. The same is true for Merion BCC, which in real life also has two 18-hole golf courses, which I suppose could make it Merion BCGC?

As with Philadelphia Baseball & Cricket Club, I placed a custom v-shaped pattern on their shirts so they would resemble something closer to a cricket sweater.

I added a solid blue strip across the top of Independence's socks that doesn't show up in the preview because I thought it made the final product look better.

The color scheme of Overbook is taken from the athletic teams of Overbrook High School, which are orange, black, & white now and were the same when Wilt Chamberlain played basketball there in the 1950s.

The colors for Penn BC are inspired by the Penn Quakers of the Ivy League.

[tm1681]

The next league is the only eight-team entry: the COASTAL BASEBALL CONFERENCE (CBC), which began play in May of 1878.

The background: Sportsman's BC, based in Fall River (MA), which was once a very competitive team in the NBBO's Inland Championship (6x top three) had just completed its third consecutive last-place finish by having the worst season in NBBO history in 1877: a 12-58 record (.171 Win%) with a worst-ever Run Differential of -412 (-5.9 R/G).

A look at the Front Office tab showed that Sportsman's was nearly $2,000 in the red and had no hope of recovering after a season like that, and with Massachusetts having at least three other cities large enough to have NBBO teams in the late 1870s but no place to put them, Sportsman's left to start their own Massachusetts-centric league.

Olympic BC, which had finished last in the Coastal Championship fourteen times over the NBBO's twenty-one seasons, was happy to leave the NBBO's most cutthroat region to join them, and six startups rounded out the initial roster.

The big surprise is that after Olympic took the inaugural CBC title Bridgeport, one of the clubs new to league baseball, has won the last three and took the most recent CBC pennant by a dozen games, making it look like at the end of just four seasons they could justifiably make the jump to the NBBO if there was a place for them.

No teams in this league had their names found in the Protoball databse. Bridgeport & Lynn were named after their home cities. Camden & Amboy is named after a now defunct railroad company that was based in Camden, NJ at the time. Capitol City is named after Harrisburg's status as Pennsylvania's capitol city. Essex County is named after just that, Essex County, Massachusetts. Highlander is named after home city Worcester's nickname "The City of Seven Hills."

[tm1681]

UNIFORMS OF THE COASTAL BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Bridgeport's colors inspired by its status as a major shipbuilding city. Capitol City's colors match those the Harrisburg (PA) city flag. The same goes for Highlander (Worsecter, MA) & Lynn.

The Camden & Amboy and Highlander Bandbox Stripes were edited further in Photoshop. C&A's are now white & black, while I changed Highlander's to a black & gold Soutache.

[tm1681]

Now, it's time for the Midwestern leagues.

In real life, the American Association began play in 1882 as a direct competitor to the National League. It would last until 1891 before folding, and ten years later the American League would begin play as the next Major League to compete with the NL.

In this fictional universe, just as in the previous version, leagues in the Midwest were announced in the autumn of 1881 to begin play in 1882 for the same purpose: to compete with the dominant baseball leagues of the time. However, instead of league vs league as in real life, here it's region vs region, with the Midwest's new professional league and two semi-professional league aiming to compete with the Northeast's pro league and three semi-pro competitions.

One big difference in this version of the ficational universe: Midwestern Baseball is written up as a version distinct from Northeastern Baseball, similar to how Massachusetts and Philadelphia had variants of baseball that different from the version played in New York during the 1840s-60s, with New York baseball winning out.

[tm1681]

The new professional league in the Midwest is the MIDWESTERN BASEBALL ASSOCIATION (MWBA, which was founded in Chicago during November of 1881.

The league is set to start its inaugural season in May of 1882 with ten teams spread out among the seven largest cities in the Midwest: Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, and Milwaukee with two teams each in Chicago & St. Louis. Louisville, which played the Midwestern style of baseball due ot its proximity to the region, also had a team to give the league an even ten.

For the inaugural season, each team will play the other nine a dozen times each (four three-game series) for a total of 108 games, eighteen more than the APBL. However, that gap won't last for long.

Inspirations for the team names vary, though it should be noted that I didn't take any names for Midwestern clubs from the Protoball database.

Cincinnati: one of Cincinnati's nicknames is "The Queen City"
Cleveland: the city's was named after land surveyor & Revolutionary War General Moses Cleaveland.
Detroit: the Robin is the Michigan state bird.
Indianapolis: Indianapolis means "City of the Indians" and Indiana means "land of the Indians". Didn't name them "Indians" because I didn't want to cause in-game conflicts with the MiLB Indianapolis Indians, which would lead the game to try to force-load graphics and other issues. This name will likely change around the time the Indy 500 became prominent in real life.
Louisville: a nod to the baseball bat maker.
Milwaukee: for the significant South German heritage in Wisconsin.
North Chicago: named for the winds that come off Lake Michigan.
South Chicago: because...honestly I can't remember.
St. Louis (B): the Eastern Bluebird is the Missouri State Bird.
St. Louis (S): for the alliteration.

[tm1681]

One of the areas where I had "Midwestern Baseball" differ itself from "Northeastern Baseball", other than the teams having formal nicknames, is that teams use separate home & away uniforms. So, there are twenty uniforms for the MWBA's ten teams.

UNIFORMS OF THE MIDWESTERN BASEBALL ASSOCIATION

There were no clear inspirations for color schemes, aside from the Bluebirds having blue as their main color and Milwaukee using the colors of the Bavarian flag. Aside from that I went with what I thought looked good for each team. The Bluebirds cap was later changed so that the Bandbox stripes are white on top and black on bottom.

[tm1681]

The first of the two new semi-professional leagues in the Midwest is the GREAT LAKES BASEBALL CONFERENCE (GLBC), which is made up of teams in nine cities in the Midwest that are close to the Great Lakes, with the addition of Evansville from Southern Indiana so there would be an even ten for the inaugural season.

Since the league has ten teams its schedule will match that of the MWBA: 108 games.

Again, none of the teams were given their names because there was an aready-existing club by that name. Influences vary.

Columbus: Columbus is the capitol city of Ohio.
Cook Co: Chicago became the USA's largest rail hub during the late 1800s & early 1900s
Dayton: Dayton was given the nickname "The Gem City" in the 1840s.
Evansville: A tangential nickname...SE of the city is the Angel Mounds historic Native American site.
Ft. Wayne: the city was originally a fort & trading post that was sieged during the War of 1812.
Grand Rapids: just because.
Peoria: the Northern Cardinal is the state bird of Illinois
Saginaw: "Lumberjacks" because logging was the city's main industry during the 19th Century.
Toledo: just because. Had used "Mud Hens" during previous version of fictional universe, but it caused issues due to the MiLB team with the same name.
Youngstown: The city was an important coal processing center on Lake Erie during the 1800s.

Obviously Columbus would go on to become a major Midwestern city, but in 1882 it only had about 51,000 people.

[tm1681]

UNIFORMS OF THE GREAT LAKES BASEBALL CONFERENCE

The Columbus colors were inspired by the state flag of Ohio, Cook County's color scheme was taken from the old version of the Cook County flag, and Fort Wayne also uses the colors of its flag as a base for the team's look.

Dayton's colors were inspired by three of the major gems: Jade (green), Lapis Lazuli (blue), and Diamond (light blue). I thought about using Ruby as the base, but that would have made for three teams with red as their main color and at least four using red as their main or accent color.

I had a hard time thinking of a good color scheme for Evansville, so I went with the purple & orange used by the Evansville Purple Aces NCAA teams.

Peoria's, Saginaw's, & Youngstown's colors are directly inspired by their associations: cardinals (red), trees (green), and coal (black).