Saturday, April 11

Welcome to the Baseball Traveler newsletter. Pitchers and catchers have reported, but from here on out they should leave the reporting to me. Let’s talk about Minor League Baseball. 

"Pitchers and catchers report" is a well-established harbinger of spring. Here’s another one: All new Minor League team names and primary logos have been unveiled for the year. From brand-new identities to logos tweaked for a new era, here are the teams who will enter 2026 with a fresh look. You can see them all on the field soon, as Minor League Baseball Opening Day is less than two months away.

Team: Wilson Warbirds (Single-A MIL)
Unveil date: Nov. 22, 2024
Occurrence: New team
Designer: Rev Pop
The Zebulon, N.C.-based Carolina Mudcats have relocated 25 miles to the east and will now be known as the Wilson Warbirds. This identity, which was announced prior to the Mudcats' final season, is a tribute to the Wilson area's aviation history. The city was once home to a World War II-era naval aviator training center and Warbirds is a term for retired military aircraft that have been restored. READ MORE

Team: Ontario Tower Buzzers (Single-A LAD)
Unveil date: Sept. 18
Occurrence: New team
Designer: Studio Simon
The California League will have a new look in 2026. The Modesto Nuts are no longer part of the circuit, and the Ontario Tower Buzzers are in. The Tower Buzzers name is inspired by a line in "Top Gun," their mascot is named Maverick and the logo set -- dripping in Dodger blue -- makes prominent use of a bee who literally buzzes the tower. The aviation theme extends to the name of the team's ballpark as ONT Field is a nod to the three-letter code for the Ontario International airport. READ MORE

Also new in the Cal League: The Inland Empire 66ers, previously an Angels affiliate, are now with Seattle. The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, previously a Dodgers affiliate, are now with the Angels. Both clubs have updated their logos to reflect these new affiliations.

Team: Indianapolis Indians (Triple-A PIT)
Unveil date: Sept. 26
Occurrence: New logos
Designer: Adam Pintar (Indians senior director of brand, marketing and communications)
The Indianapolis Indians were established in 1902 and have long boasted the longest-running consecutive usage of a team name in all of Minor League Baseball. Their new logos, the team's first update to their look in 32 years, were created in consultation with the Miami Nation of Indians of Indiana. The logos draw in influences from all eras of franchise history, with an emphasis on, as the team puts it, "early 1900s baseball heritage and the club's role as Indy's original home team." MORE

Team: Salem RidgeYaks (Single-A BOS)
Unveil date: Nov. 9
Occurrence: New team name and logos
Designer: Collegiate Licensing Company
Salem, Va.'s team had been known as the Red Sox, going back to the 2009 start of their Boston affiliation. That relationship remains, but now Salem is entering its RidgeYaks era. It's a tribute to the Blue Ridge Mountains, which loom beyond the ballpark, and all the outdoor activities on offer in southwestern Virginia. That's why the yak in the primary logo is depicted on a kayak and, hey, yak is short for kayak (as well as a baseball slang term for a home run). READ MORE

Team: Richmond Flying Squirrels (Double-A SF)
Unveil date: Nov. 12
Occurrence: New logos
Designer: Brandiose
The Flying Squirrels are moving into a brand-new ballpark for the 2026 season and have adopted a new look to go with it. The Richmond logo -- featuring a flying squirrel midflight -- has always been a fun one and now it’s a little nuttier, with the squirrel in question facing front as though to leap off the cap and into your arms. A new set of uniforms (home, away and two alternates) are part of the refresh. READ MORE

Team: Frederick Keys (High-A BAL)
Unveil date: Dec. 10
Occurrence: Refreshed logos for a team re-entering Minor League Baseball
Designer: Younts Design
After five seasons in the MLB Draft League, the Keys are once again the High-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles (a position they held from 1989-2020). The team unveiled a fresh set of logos to celebrate their re-entrance to Minor League Baseball, tweaking the primary mark and introducing some alternates. While the team is named for Francis Scott Key (who is buried in a cemetery across the street from the ballpark), the new primary logo emphasizes a pair of literal keys. READ MORE

Team: Wilmington Blue Rocks (High-A WSH)
Unveil date: Jan. 23
Occurrence: Refreshed logos
Designer: The Barn Creative
The Blue Rocks stayed true to their "Blue" while making their "Rocks" a little more concrete. Concrete, that is, in the sense of less ambiguous; the Blue Rocks' "Rocks" are granite -- specifically, a blue-ish granite found in the nearby Christina River. The new look adds a granite-like texture to the lettering, as well as bringing in a secondary logo featuring a pickaxe (with which, presumably, to harvest granite). 

Team: Hill City Howlers (Single-A CLE)
Unveil date: Feb. 13
Occurrence: New team identity
Designer: Brandiose
After three decades as the Hillcats, Lynchburg’s Carolina League team is now the Hill City Howlers. Hill City is a nickname for Lynchburg, referencing its location in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Howlers is a reference to a new group of monsters in town, a ragtag assemblage led by Indy the werewolf (a literal howler). These monsters, all of whom are represented as secondary logos, traveled to the ballpark via the tunnels that led there from nearby Spring Hill Cemetery. Do the Monster Mash! READ MORE

The Hill City Howlers were the biggest Minor League branding story of the past week, but meanwhile the alternates just keep on coming. Here are some of the latest:

Flagship City Kitties -- Erie SeaWolves (Double-A DET)
Erie is known as the Flagship City because Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's flagship, the USS Niagara, was built there and fought in the Battle of Lake Erie, and Erie today is the home port of a replica of that ship. The Kitties' portion of the name references the SeaWolves' long-running affiliation with the Detroit organization. Erie's players are young Tigers or, in other words, Kitties. More » | Shop »

Fort Wayne PufferBellies -- Fort Wayne TinCaps (High-A SD)
All aboard! The TinCaps are taking you back to the days when the Nickel Plate Railroad was traversed by "puffer belly" steam trains connecting the American heartland to big cities. The PufferBellies take the field every Wednesday home game between May and August; check it out now before the train leaves the station. More » | Shop »

Reading Iced Coffees – Reading Fightin Phils (Double-A PHI)
The Fightin Phils have long hosted an annual Morning Game, geared toward senior citizens, night shift workers and anyone who enjoys skipping out of work. In recent years they've played as a breakfast-themed alternate identity for this special occasion. In 2024 that was Cream Chipped Beef, while 2025 saw the Flapjacks. Now the Iced Coffees have been added to the Morning Game roster. Get caffeinated. More » | Shop »

Akron Cream Stick Donuts -- Akron RubberDucks (Double-A CLE)
Elsewhere in the country, folks call 'em Long Johns or finger donuts, but in Northeast Ohio, the "long rectangular-shaped donuts coated with cake icing and filled with cream ... are known as cream sticks." Part of the RubberDucks' Only In Akron theme night series, the club will suit up as the Akron Cream Stick Donuts on July 24-25. More » | Shop »

And remember, you can check out EVERY new alternate identity released in advance of the 2026 season HERE.

I've been on vacation this week. Let's assume I'm having a good time. Please fill up my inbox so that I have even more to do upon my return: benjamin.hill@mlb.com. I enjoy hearing from you. Truly. A lot of you say nice things and it really brightens my day.

Also, please follow me on Instagram (@thebensbiz), X (@bensbiz) and Bluesky (@bensbiz.bsky.social). See you next week, and the week after, and the week after. And so on and so forth. I just can’t seem to stop writing about Minor League Baseball.

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