Izzy presents THE UNITED STATES BASEBALL LEAGUE!!!

[isthatallyougot]

The next team in the Revolution Sovereign I'll cover is:

The Maine Fleet

Inspired by the Battle of Machias, one of the early naval battles of the Revolutionary War, this contest occurred off the port of Machias, Maine in 1775. I liked the idea of an organized "team" of ships rolling into battle. I considered "Lobsters" which would have been a fun and state-appropriate name, to be sure, but ultimately went with Fleet. I imagine cannon sounds accompanying home runs and big moments. Speaking of which, you can incorporate your own sound files for various situations for each team, and that is something I am definitely going to do for all the home ballparks eventually. This will add to the unique flavor for all the squads. I've got tons of good ideas to match team identities to really bring the atmosphere home for every team. Also, the name "fleet" has a nice baseball angle and perhaps this team will focus on a collection of speedsters as a formula for victory, both on the base paths and roaming the outfield spaces. Maybe when they're at their best, they're "fleet" of foot.

Badge:



As with most badges, I was looking for a simple representation of the concept. And I liked the various shades of blue to accompany the ocean-faring theming.

Jersey:



A single majestic ship - a member of the fleet - with the state name.

Cap:

[isthatallyougot]

Next up in the Revolution Sovereign is:

The New Hampshire Jack-o'-lanterns

The inspiration for this name was the fact that the state fruit is the pumpkin. And, loving Halloween as much as I do, I realized how easy it would be to incorporate that into a team identity. And, given the history of the early Northeastern US in general, it was another (mildly) spooky theme that would fit nicely. I will say that I had to be careful not to overindulge in this sort of theming. I love the dark and twisted, and I could have ended up with a disproportionate amount of such teams, and there are a couple more, but overall I still ended up with a nice and varied mix. In terms of this team's identity, I imagine that when they're good, they're a perfect fit for the "team of October". I imagine the fans wearing pumpkin/jack-o-lantern heads like the fans in Green Bay wear cheese heads, ha.

Badge:



The fact that the badge calls this team the "Jacks" is two-fold in reason. First, in terms of formatting the image in a a more readable and proportionate way, it fit better. Secondly, people are lazy, and few will consistently exert the utterly exhausting effort of uttering *all* the syllables, lol. So I assume in this abbreviated world, it would inevitably be truncated to "The Jacks".

Jersey:



Same as the baseball bat wielding jack from the badge - no wording.

Cap:



Because they're more commonly called by their abbreviated name, I decided to run with it and make the cap simply say "Jack". You see, EVERYONE is a Jack. From players to fans, if you belong to this team or fan base, ultimately, you are a Jack.

[canedaddy]

Those are great. Funny having hats that say "MF."

[isthatallyougot]

Those are great. Funny having hats that say "MF."

Lol, I didn't even think of that! You've now added to this imaginary culture. Can you picture it? In the locker room after a huge win, the manager and players are all chanting, "You don't mess with a MF!" And of course the inebriated and more rowdy fans would also indulge, ha. Yeah, nice serendipity there. Thanks!

[isthatallyougot]

And to round out the Revolution Sovereign division we have:

The New Jersey Sharks

There were a couple of reasons for me choosing this identity. Firstly I always think of New Jersey as a crime ridden cesspool. Maybe it's mostly due to popular culture, but there's definitely that feeling of a seedy underbelly to the area for me. Loan sharks, card sharks, and all manner of nasties. And what could be more ruthless and cold-blooded than a shark. Also it's a reference to the 1916 shark attacks off the coast of New Jersey which ultimately served as the inspiration for 'Jaws', so there's that association as well. And, it's just a cool mascot.

Team Badge:



Jersey:



Just the same as the main badge imagery.

Cap



An intimidating shark fin penetrating the water's surface.





And that wraps up this division. Somehow it coincidentally became the "New" division with New York, New Jersey and New Hampshire. I had played with other configurations, but I figured this could be an interesting part of the identity.

So these 5 will battle it out each year for a spot in the post-season. (along with the slim chance - like every other division - of getting the single wild card for the league.)

[canedaddy]

Nice. It's weird that there are so few shark mascots in sports.

[isthatallyougot]

On to the third of five divisions in the Revolution...The Pilgrim Division

First up is : The West Virginia Hypernova

With the history of coal mining in the state, I wanted to convey that emphasis on “energy”. And as important as coal has been in the construction of this country, I considered the name "Miners" but sometimes these things kind of blossom and go their own way, and I thought why not go BIG!?! I considered Gamma Ray Burst, but the word hypernova is cooler sounding and I found Supernova, which is ultimately a weaker hypernova, was already used by a women’s volleyball team. I don't necessarily demand all unique names, to be fair, since that's pretty difficult to achieve over 50 teams, and I still considered it, but ultimately I settled on Hypernova. (I've always loved the name Supersonics from the old NBA team in Seattle.) And no need to make it plural as devastatingly powerful as it already is, lol. And coincidentally enough they've been "blowing up" the league, having the best record for a good chunk of the first half of the season so far.

Badge:



Just wanted a rather simple type of imagery that also conveyed the idea of explosive energy, and I liked the way this turned out, both in terms of color and visual.

Jersey:



Just the core image.

Cap:



Smaller image along with state initials.

[isthatallyougot]

Next up in the Revolution / Pilgrim division is:

The Maryland Locomotives

The inspiration for the name is a reference to the first railroad and station in US (Baltimore and Ohio railroad), and oldest active passenger station in the US, Ellicott City Station. I also included a state-appropriate crab as a badge decoration. When they're doing well, you can imagine the commentary, "They just keep on chugging!"

Team Badge:




Jersey:



Train from the badge.

Cap:



No pejorative acronym here?

[canedaddy]

Maryland approves! The B&O Museum in Baltimore is a very cool place to visit. One of my favorite field trips as a kid.

https://www.borail.org/

[isthatallyougot]

Maryland approves! The B&O Museum in Baltimore is a very cool place to visit. One of my favorite field trips as a kid.

https://www.borail.org/

Yeah, I bet that'd be a really fun trip. Hopefully I get to check it out one day.

And, in terms of the Locomotives, I'm already looking forward to 1980 when I can incorporate the sound file (snippet - probably just the iconic guitar solo) for Ozzy's Crazy Train! Perfect fit for some high intensity moments with that franchise, ha. Oh well, that's a couple in-game decades from now...maybe *real* decades, lol.