Last month I looked into the possibility that the Cubs were removing the circle-R trademark symbol from the logo on their home jersey. That report was based on a photo of a replica jersey — not a definitive piece of evidence.
But now we have something that is definitive: a video of Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong talking about his newly blue-dyed hair.
Pete’s new do is here and it’s glorious. 🥶 pic.twitter.com/rbK3xP6z0n
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) February 16, 2024
Crow-Armstrong is clearly wearing a new-template jersey in that video, and the circle-R symbol is clearly missing. So the Cubs are indeed making that change for this season. Like so many MLB uni changes we’ve been seeing lately (not just template-driven changes but design changes), this one has not been officially announced by the team.
The symbol began appearing on the Cubs’ home jerseys in 1979, when the team thickened the blue outline on the chest logo:
The trademark symbol has remained on the Cubs’ primary home jerseys ever since, so its removal marks the end of a 45-year era. Here are some other notes:
- The symbol also appeared on the team’s blue road jerseys from 1982 through 1989:
- It also appeared on the team’s early-1980s BP jerseys:
- It also appeared on the team’s mid-1980s zip-neck BP jerseys:
- It also appeared on at least two styles of Cubs dugout/warm-up jackets (and probably many more):
- It also appeared on the sleeve patch of the team’s early-1990s road jersey:
- However, the symbol has not been included as part of the logo that’s appeared on the Cubs’ road pants since 1997, as you can see on this game-used pair:
- In addition, the symbol has not appeared on any of the Cubs’ holiday jersey designs for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Memorial Day, or Independence Day:
- Also, the symbol did not appear on the teams’ Players Weekend jerseys:
———
I believe that covers just about everything.
As I wrote in my initial report on this topic last month, trademark symbols are obnoxious and unattractive, and I certainly wouldn’t want to live in a world where every team used them on their uniforms. But there was something endearing about the Cubs’ symbol — a little glitch in the matrix, sort of like the Tigers’ mismatched cap and jersey logos. Even though we’re better off without it, a certain part of me will miss it.
(My thanks to Bryan Redemske for bringing the Pete Crow-Armstrong video to my attention.)
boooooooooooo!
it was a weird little quirk and i always thought it looked better with it and odd without it. i have a couple cubs jerseys that i hardly ever wear anyway, so i don’t plan on buying a new one any time soon, but i’ll miss that little R
I’m dying to know if Crow-Armstrong will have the super-arched CROW-ARMSTRONG NOB
link
or the Double Stacked
CROW-
ARMSTRONG
link
Given what we’ve seen from Nike/Fanatics so far, he’s probably going to get a wretchedly misaligned, radially-arched CROW-ARMSTRONG, but in letters small enough that it’ll fit in the same space as ARMSTRONG did on the double-stack.
Last season, it was the super arched one line approach. This year, with the cheap knockoff letting being used … *probably* the same, but who knows!
Yeah, the on-field/”elite” jerseys are for sale on the Fanatics mlbshop website now, including PCA’s.
With Crow-Armstrong coming up, now would be a very fine time for the Cubs to ditch the NOBs and go back to what they wore for decades until the ’90s. I even like the NNOB with red-bordered numbers like they had in the mid-2000s, though the number positioning wasn’t the best.
Really with the new template and that horrible batterman logo positioning, NNOB is more imperative than ever.
There are endearing, odd little quirks and then there are things that just look like garbage from the start and stay that way no matter how much a part of tradition they become. This was the latter. It’s 1000x better without an obnoxious trademark symbol, and it finally being gone is a huge plus.
As a life long Cubs fan (thanks dad) I probably wouldn’t mind this being removed. However, in the wake of all the Nike changes, it makes me angry. It’s one thing if the Team said let’s make a change, it’s another when the devil forces it upon you. Long live the (R)!
Not a great loss but what baffles me is Nike and MLB stifling any team that wants to announce uniform changes. Like: do not alert the fans to it and pretend nothing has changed. We see all these changes!
We don’t know that Nike and/or MLB have been preventing teams from announcing their changes, so let’s please not spread unconfirmed speculation.
The reason it is gone, I think, is simply because it will cost a few pennies less to make each patch. A move made, just like every other Nike move…to save cost and thus increase profit.
Remove the white trim from Yankees roads? Cheaper. Make NOBs all smaller? Cheaper. Make all front numbers same size? Cheaper, because you can have more teams with same cut of number. Plastic patches? Cheaper. Remove trim off Braves belt tunnels? Cheaper. Standard belt tunnels for Tigers? Cheaper. Chain stitching on patches instead of direct sewn? Cheaper. No chain stitching at all? Cheaper. Off-white fabric? Probably cheaper. No more soutache sleeve trim? Cheaper.
Do we know if the logo is still chain stickied? Or did it go to tackle twill?
The Cubs’ logo was never chain-stitched.
I’ve seen it that way (R) for so long that it looks odd without it.
I get the endaring part, but I’m glad to see this little bit of legalese disappear.
More than any other American sport, baseball needs weird quirks. Making the uniforms standard and junior varsity is even worse than cookie cutter outfield dimensions. Next the managers won’t be wearing uniforms, there will be an on field clock, and grumble grumble grumble….
I had never noticed the trademark symbol until now but I will henceforth be obsessed with spotting it on old clips
Proof positive of what happens when lawyers are left to make design decisions. Glad it’s gone.
What will be interesting going forward is if replica throwback jerseys for Sandberg, Sosa, Rizzo, etc. will include it.
Nor did it appear on the Cubs All Stars in 2022 in LA.
link
Oooh, good one!
Paul, why does it seem like there are so many changes being made that no one is asking for and that take away from what makes uniforms great and unique? It seems like a constant barrage of uniforms across sports just getting worse. Whether it’s ads on helmets and jerseys, small details like no longer using chainstitching, patches being heat pressed rather than sewn on and so on, everything being done is cheapening how sports leagues looks and absolutely no one is asking for it. It’s rather depressing to see these updates (not your content but the product) day after day.
I’m 42, I know I’m not considered young anymore, but I’m just feeling a huge disconnect between major sports leagues and my generation and older fans. Traditions don’t seem to matter anymore. Part of that is societal IMO as it seems the younger generations are being more and more encouraged to break traditions. Maybe all generations are encouraged to do so and you don’t appreciate them until you get older? I don’t know, just feeling a certain kind of way about all of this.
Paul, why does it seem like there are so many changes being made that no one is asking for and that take away from what makes uniforms great and unique?
Because these aren’t being designed as uniforms; they’re being designed as lifestyle apparel that athletes will happen to wear on the field on Sundays. That’s why they’re including details that won’t even be visible during the game.
I am certain that none of the logos on the alternate jerseys carried the (R) because they all have color variations that aren’t the actual registered trademark.
As for the disappearance from the main logo, viva quirks!
I am certain that none of the logos on the alternate jerseys carried the (R) because they all have color variations that aren’t the actual registered trademark.
Doesn’t explain its absence from the pants logo.