Every team has its star player; it’s “face of the franchise”. Whether that player is recognized outside of his home city is a different story. Whether that player lasts is another one as well. The one constant you can expect from a baseball franchise is the logo that the players go out and represent everyday. Each team’s logo is unique, and each tries to capture some essence of the city it represents. So in the spirit of the September Road to the World Series, here’s my choices for best logo in baseball.

In order to have a great logo, there has to be some reference to the sport on it. As far as American League teams go, only five have some sort of baseball image present. The New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins, and Texas Rangers are about as interchangeable as possible, each with their team name sprayed over a spinning baseball. The Seattle Mariners took that one step further by adding a compass rose, yet the overall scheme feels like something is missing. Only the Tampa Bay Rays thought somewhat outside the tilted box enough to add something new to the picture. By slapping “Rays” in a relatively boring font overtop of a baseball diamond, Tampa Bay ensures that while their logo isn’t the greatest in Major League Baseball, they at least stand out alone amongst American League teams.

The National League is a completely different situation. Their logos are diverse; they’re elaborate; they’re interesting. 10 of the 16 teams have some sort of obvious baseball reference involved. The New York Mets, Washington Nationals, and Colorado Rockies all get honorable mention for having logos that not only leave no doubt as to what sport or cities being represented, but their creative schemes and precise features add elements of intrigue that teams like, oh, say the Detroit Tigers leave out. The most embarrassing pair of logos, when viewed side by side is the Chicago Cubs’ and the Cincinnati Reds’. Cincinnati’s logo has “Reds” engulfed by a “C”, while the Cubs do something similar, except it’s a “C” swallowing “ubs”. Both look natural on their own, but look at them together.  Is it “C-Reds” or “Creds”?  You’ll see where everything goes wrong.

The award for best logo in baseball goes to the Pittsburgh Pirates. While the team itself is about as useless as modern-day swashbucklers, their logo says it all. The one-eyed pirate sporting the “skull-and-crossbones” look, with a pair of criss-crossed baseball bats behind him makes it beyond obvious what the theme of the team is, and the menacing font and color choice of the word “Pirates” behind the logo almost invokes a sense of something to fear.