Milwaukee Brewers ball-in-glove logo

Jaime Cocanower with ball-in-glove logo on his hat (1984)

The Milwaukee Brewers ball-in-glove logo was created by Tom Meindel for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball, which used the logo from 1978 to 1993. Other logos were adopted by the team between 1993 and 2019.

Beginning in 2017, the Brewers began planning to find a new logo. By 2020 they decided to use the ball-in-glove logo again. The Brewers released a "retro-inspired" uniform utilizing the logo to celebrate their 50th anniversary.

History

In 1977, the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball sponsored a contest to replace the team's Barrelman logo. The team received 1,932 entries, from which they selected a logo designed by a 30-year-old college art student Tom Meindel. The colors of the contest submission from Meindel were brown and yellow.[1] Meindel received US$2,000 (equivalent to $10,056 in 2023) for the design, but he did not receive royalties.[2] The explanation for the design is that the fingers of a glove form an M, which stands for Milwaukee, and the thumb and pocket of the glove form the letter B, which represents the Brewers.[3]

The logo was used by the Brewers from 1978 to 1993.[1][4] From 1993 to 2019, the team used different logos but in 2006 the Brewers occasionally brought back the logo for some games.[3][5] In 2019 the logo was used for 53 games.[6] The logo's designer did not live to see the logo make a comeback. Meindel struggled with depression later in life and died by suicide on May 5, 2018.[5]

In 2017, the team began exploring a logo redesign. The team hired a Hattiesburg, Mississippi, company called RARE Design to develop a new logo. The company selected the ball-in-glove logo, noting "how devoted fans still were to that symbol". The logo was released in 2020 to commemorate the team's 50th-anniversary celebration.[7] Beginning in the 2020 season, the Brewers went back to the ball-in-glove logo on uniforms which they referred to as "retro-inspired".[3]

Description

The logo initially looks like a baseball glove or like a baseball glove and a baseball.[8] Many people had trouble seeing the hidden imagery of the logo. Some called it "The Paw" because they thought it looked like a dog's paw.[6] Upon further examination, it becomes apparent that the logo contains the letters "m" and a "b" which are formed in the shape of a baseball glove.[1] The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel called the logo "one of the most celebrated hidden-meaning logos in sports and corporate history". Meindel said that he designed the logo with the blue color that the Brewers were already using, and he selected a gold with a deeper color for the second color.[9]

Reception

CBS Sports said the ball-in-glove logo "might just be the best in all of baseball".[3] Milwaukee Brewers vice president of corporate affairs Laurel Prieb said, "As the fans look back now, they remember not only the logo but that it symbolizes that golden six-year era when our team had its greatest success."[9] In 2014, USA Today referred to the ball-in-glove logo as, "everyone’s favorite hidden logo element". They commented on the 2014 logo by saying it, "...contains no such magic, unless that magic is putting you to sleep".[10] In 2018, the Brewers combined the flag of Milwaukee and the ball-in-glove logo to create a logo that was colored like the Milwaukee flag.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c McCalvy, Adam. "The history of the Brewers' ball-in-glove logo". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  2. ^ Salina (August 17, 2023). "MLB's Most Clever Logo Was Created by an Eau Claire Art Major". upnorthnewswi.com. Courier Newsroom Inc.
  3. ^ a b c d Snyder, Matt (November 19, 2019). "Brewers bring back ball-in-glove logo, unveil new retro-inspired uniforms for 2020". CBSSports.com. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  4. ^ Elliot, Steve (April 2, 1994). "Were Brewers That Bad in 1993?". The Daily Tribune. The Daily Tribune. p. 9. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Carig, Marc (October 19, 2019). ""When I see somebody wearing it, I go 'I've got a story for you'": The inspired, melancholy life behind the Brewers' beloved logo". The Athletic. The Athletic Media Company. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  6. ^ a b Radcliffe, J. R. (November 18, 2019). "An art student in Eau Claire created the most memorable image in Milwaukee sports history". Journal Sentinel. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  7. ^ Haudricourt, Tom (November 19, 2019). "How the updated Milwaukee Brewers logo came to be". Journal Sentinel. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  8. ^ Radcliffe, J. R. (November 18, 2019). "Like the Brewers' ball-in-glove logo, these other logos also have something hiding in plain sight". Journal Sentinel. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Tarnoff, Andy (April 20, 2004). "Meindel struck blue and gold with old school Brewers logo". OnMilwaukee. On Milwaukee. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  10. ^ Chase, Curtis (July 8, 2014). "17 Hidden Images in Sports Logos You Won't Be Able to Unsee". For The Win. For The Win. USA Today. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  11. ^ Mueller, Matt (May 31, 2018). "Wear two winning looks in one with these Milwaukee flag Brewers hats". OnMilwaukee. On Milwaukee.