A little peek at the teams’ first uniforms and home-made logos … You could say this collection is based on a true story...
DURHAM BULLS
OK, the Bulls' 1913 look a lot like today's. I couldn't find anything older to model my uniform after so I just went with the current logo. Why mess with a good thing?
CHARLOTTE HORNETS
Glenn's favorite team (thanks for stopping by!), which doesn't have a player named Mugsy just yet, wore a similar looking jersey back in the day, with a black hat. I improvised on the color of the "C" however... Later, the Hornets actually had a hornet-and-beehive logo on their jersey... something to aspire to...
ASHEVILLE MOUNTAINEERS
Nothing too fancy here.
GREENSBORO PATRIOTS
I found an old team picture of a Greensboro minor league team with this logo and jersey look. Wasn't sure of the color, but I figured I couldn't go wrong with green.
RALEIGH CAPITALS
Completely made-up logo and jersey look ... I went with red and white mostly because of NC State University, located in Raleigh. The Wolfpack is red and white...
WINSTON-SALEM TWINS
The Twins jersey is similar to what they wore back in the day but I improvised on the color of the hat …
Some early observations on the North Carolina State League heading into the inaugural season in 1913:
• If pitching wins championships, put your money on the Raleigh Capitals. The Caps appear to have the two best hurlers in the league —
Jerry Parker (the first overall pick) and
Oliver “Skull” Jenkins, a 33-year-old lefty. Not sure how Skull got his nickname. Some speculate it’s because he got hit in the head with a line drive in a game years ago and wasn’t even fazed by it.
• Winston-Salem shortstop
Carlos Rodriguez is considered to have the heftiest bat. He’s got a great eye and is known for pounding balls into the gap. Folks in the western part of North Carolina are still getting used to his New York accent, though.
• Speaking of accents, Winston’s young left-fielder
Angél Pellicer found his way from the Dominican to North Carolina. Despite the language gap, he‘s quickly becoming a fan favorite. He’s considered the top young prospect in the North Carolina State League by the fine folks at Baseball Carolina (the real-life Baseball America is published in Durham by the way). Pellicer is called “Sweetness" by his fans, and even at age 23, he looks ready to be the clean-up hitter for the Twins.
• Pound for pound, the Baseball Carolina pundits think Charlotte has the best all-around team and consider the Hornets ready to take the inaugural title. Charlotte has a pretty nice set of hitters, led by
Fred Belcher and
Cristobal Roman.
• Another native New Yorker, infielder
Anthony Watson, is a wiley ol’ vet and one of the most popular players in all of professional baseball. He settled in Durham in 1913, hoping the move south would generate a few more good years for his baseball career.
• OK, enough with the introductions. Let’s play ball, North Carolina!!