Smoke Show: Cubs AA Affiliate Unveils New Uniforms, Logos

Photo of Evan Altman Evan AltmanOctober 22, 2014

Not content to sit back and let the Arizona Fall League and Jose Fernandez’s whereabouts monopolize all the non-World-Series-related baseball news, the Tennessee Smokies unveiled new uniforms and logos Wednesday afternoon.

The announcement was made at Calhoun’s On The River in downtown Knoxville and the Smokies were very active on Twitter as well. New home, road, and alternate uniforms were debuted, along with a total of 9 new iterations of the team’s logo.

From the Smokies site:

The new primary team logo comprises of an intimidating blue bear resting a bat on his back shoulder, with Great Smoky Mountains National Park represented with trees and mountains, along with a red background and “Tennessee Smokies” written underneath the bear. Additional logos include a rebranding of the script “TS Logo”, “State S Logo” and “State Circle Logo” as well as the introduction of a “Bear Head Logo” that will be worn on the team’s uniforms and road hats, along with new word marks.

Several other alternate logos with use of the blue bear include the “Batting Bear Logo”, “Bear With Bats Logo” and the “Four Seam Logo” of a bear claw holding a baseball with a four-seam fastball pitching grip. The “Bear With Bats Logo” features the Smokies’ blue bear holding a pair of bats, and incorporates the three stars from the Tennessee state flag on the bear’s chest.

Minor league teams are typically known for having crazy promo nights and wearing one-off Ghostbusters or zombie apocalypse unis, but this overhaul was done with the kind of class befitting an affiliate in the Cardinals organization.

“We have maintained the elements of our local community from our previous logos, including the Great Smoky Mountains, while creating a sharp, updated look to the franchise,” said team Vice President and COO Chris Allen. By all accounts, they did a great job on all fronts.

If you haven’t see them already, here are the new duds and logos:

I think I’m gonna have to get one of those hats, and I wouldn’t mind having something with the “Bear With Two Bats” on it either. Kudos, Smokies. Perhaps you could teach Crane Kenney and the folks in the Cubs business office a thing or two.

Photo of Evan Altman Evan AltmanOctober 22, 2014
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