Three affiliated Minor League Baseball teams will partner with local independent musicians to create the “Capsule Collection.” This collaboration is intended to do what minor league baseball branding specializes in: highlight connections between teams and their local community. In its just-announced initial stages, the Capsule Collection will combine design elements from the baseball teams and the rock bands to create some unique fusion branding.
“From a process perspective, we talked to the teams about the things that they liked, we talked to the musicians about what is their passion, what is their color scheme, what they like,” said Alan Miller, founder of Official League, an organizing partner in the program. “There’s meaning behind every single detail as part of the collection.”
The program will pair the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox—or WooSox, to friends—with alternate rockers Dinosaur Jr., a Massachusetts-based band that is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its album “Where You Been.”
The Double-A Reading Fightin Phils will join forces with Mt. Joy, a Philadelphia-based folk-rock band best known for its 2016 track “Silver Lining.”
And in Charleston, South Carolina, the Single-A Charleston RiverDogs have matched up with Band of Horses, a Charleston-based indie rock band currently on a national tour.
In most cases, the artwork was created in house by Official League, with significant input from the teams and bands. In the case of the Band of Horses/RiverDogs partnership in Charleston, percussionist Creighton Barrett, a fan of the team, created the artwork for that specific collaboration.
“As we’ve been working with artists and teams, the artists are huge fans of local minor league baseball teams,” Miller said. “When we started talking to these bands about, you know, hey, it might be really fun to do something collaborative with these teams, the teams and the artists jumped right in.”
Gear will launch at first through Official League, after which it will be available at team stores for the participating teams, with the end goal of having teams wear the brand on the field.
“We have jersey designs completed,” Miller said. “Celebrating the fans with an on-field jersey and some of these pieces will be a key part as we move forward.”
Further details of this program are yet to come, including more teams that will be involved in future seasons, as well as the timeline of when we will see gear on field, which will be determined on a team-by-team basis.
