'Squatch Out! Ems Release New Look

The Eugene Emeralds Baseball Club, single-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, unveiled their new identity tonight. The official Logo Release Party was held at the Ninkasi Brewing tasting room at 272 Van Buren Street on Tuesday, November 27 starting at 5:30pm.

The new identity pays tribute to America's greatest urban legend, the legend of Sasquatch in the Pacific Northwest. The primary logo features a Sasquatch unearthing trees behind "Emeralds" lettering. Fans will also enjoy the iconic "E" Sasquatch foot logo, and several other Sasquatch and foot related marks.

Emerald Green, Sasquatch Black and Neon Green make up the club's new official colors. The Emeralds are the first franchise in professional sports to use Sasquatch as a team logo and the first team in MiLB to use Neon Green as a primary color.

"When we started this process, we wanted to end up with something fun that fans could really associate with," said Ems General Manager Allan Benavides. "Sasquatch gives the Emeralds a face for the first time in our long history." Sasquatch biting the tree will be the emblem on the home hat while the foot-shaped "E" will serve as an alternate. The road uniforms will feature the "Eugene" script with feet on each end. Home, away and alternate uniforms will be released in the spring.

A number of different options were considered including themes that involved forests, trees and various woodland creatures. "Ultimately, we felt that sasquatch was the best fit to represent the mystique of the Northwest woodlands," said Benavides.

The Emeralds look was brought to life at Brandiose in San Diego, where they make teams famous by celebrating their brand stories. Partners Jason and Casey invented the first glow-in-the-dark on-field cap for the Casper Ghosts and first on-field rally cap for the Altoona Curve. They dreamed up top selling logos for the Richmond Flying Squirrels, Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs and America's oldest baseball club, the Cincinnati Reds.

"Brandiose has done some great work with other minor league teams," stated Benavides, "We knew that they would come up with a look our fans, players and staff can all be proud of."

The development process began last June when Jason and Casey met in Eugene with fans, staff and community members to learn about the stories, history, and personality of the Emeralds and Eugene. Brandiose developed the logos, uniforms and is dreaming up enhancements for the 2013 fan experience.

"Eugene is a hotbed of countercultural ideas," said Brandiose's Jason Klein. "From Sasquatch sightings to hippy culture, the Ems are honoring Eugene's eccentricities with a few of their own."

Merchandise will be on sale starting Wednesday, November 28 at www.EmeraldsBaseball.com.

To check out all of the new artwork CLICK HERE