Saturday, 17 September 2016

Evolution of the Blue Jays' Logo

                Today, we look at the various logos the Blue Jays have used over the years. While the original logo is still the best of the bunch, the current logo in use, a slight variation of the original, is the only other one that is any good. The ones in the middle are pretty bad, but no team has ever been exempt from bad logos.

1977-1996


                Why mess with a classic? I don’t know why the Jays felt complelled to change the logo in 1997 as there was absolutely nothing wrong with the original. Yes, it had the typical cartoon look from the 1970s and 1980s but this is the logo that won two World Series Championships. It’s the logo that I practiced over and over again when I was a kid and could never get it right.

1997-2002


                I wasn’t happy when they introduced this logo, but I was okay with it, especially since they kept the team colours. To me this logo represents the Gord Ash era when despite the GM’s best efforts, the team could never overcome the overspending ways of the Yankees and Red Sox.

2003


                Anyone who thought the original logo looked like a cartoon, well…… A co-worker of mine back in 2003 described this as an attempt to attract younger fans to the team. It didn’t work, particularly with the blue sleeves on the white home jerseys as well as the road greys.

2004-2011


                To me, this logo explains everything that was wrong with the Blue Jays last decade. First of all, I could never understand why they introduce black into the colour scheme. Second, where’s the Maple Leaf? The only thing I think of when I see this is J.P. Ricciardi, and that can only bring back nightmares.

2012—Present


                As soon as I saw this re-incarnation of the original bird posted on the team’s website in 2011, I felt some sort of relief. It took me back to my childhood and made watching the Jays remind me of some of the great moments they had when they wore these unis back in the 1980s and early 1990s. And getting rid of the black was good. I hope they never change this.

Special Occasion Logos

                             
                              


                The Jays had anniversary patches for their 10th, 20th, 25th, 30th and 40th seasons. The 10th was always my favourite, particularly becauwe 1986 was the year I first attended a game at Exhibition Stadium. The 20th is pretty much the same design and it was good that the 25th made reference to the original logo. The 30th?—no comment.

World Series Championship Logos


                For some reason, the Jays never had a championship logo for the 1992 season, or if they did I can’t remember it and I couldn’t find anything on google. So here is the back-to-back Championship logo from 1993.

Memorial Logos

                                 

                This group of logos were designed in memory of former Blue Jays’ players and employeed who had recently passed away. The team wore patches with these logos on their jerseys. The first was worn in 2005, honouring former players Doug Ault and John Cerutti, and former manger Bobby Mattick, who had passed away during the offseason. The second logo is for long-time Jays’ radio play-by-play broadcaster, Tom Cheek, worn in 2006.

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