Pelicans caps among minors' top sellers
Myrtle Beach currently sports three different New Era caps with a game, alternate, and batting practice version all donned by Pelicans players throughout their Carolina League seasons. The club's game cap features the instantly-identifiable pelican head logo with an all-powder blue crown and bill. The alternate version showcases the team's interlocking gold-and-white "MB" script with a gold button and gold crown eyelets. For batting practice and other pregame activities, Pelicans players sport the club's only dark "Midnight" blue hat with the stylized "P" from the "Pelicans" script on the team's primary logo. The BP cap is also the only one of the three caps made of a FlexFit, moisture-wicking material.
The locale-representing "MB" hat has been the team's top seller for the last two seasons. Last year, 2,057 of the then-alternate caps flew off the Pelicans Pro Shop shelves accompanied by 1,767 Pelican head caps. Batting practice caps sold to the tune of 481 last year.
Those 2009 totals represented a 45% increase over 2008 sales. Two seasons ago, the Birds sold 1,132 "MB" hats, 1,222 of the Pelican head variety, and 660 BP caps.
This year, the designation of the two day-to-day versions switches as the interlocking "MB" cap becomes the team's primary game hat. The Pelican head logo will now be Myrtle Beach's alternate. No design elements will change, and the team will continue to rotate the hats throughout the season.
The Pelicans' current logo and uniform scheme was designed by Plan B Branding in late 2006 following the team's first season under its current ownership group led by President and Managing Partner Chuck Greenberg. To better connect with the lifestyle and personality of Myrtle Beach, the Pelicans' new identity was unveiled on November 30, 2006 featuring the American White Pelican and South Carolina's iconic crescent moon over a blue ocean surrounded by dock rope and the words "Myrtle Beach Pelicans" in a beach-themed script. The club dispatched its original green-black-and-yellow look to team history and adopted a new color scheme of Midnight Blue, Sun Gold, and Pelicans Blue, a palette inspired in part by the wildly popular San Diego Chargers' throwback uniforms as well as those of the UCLA Bruins. The Pelicans are the only team in professional sports to employ the unique shade of Pelicans Blue. Then-General Manager North Johnson said upon the introduction of the club's new image in 2006, "We wanted to make sure that our logo and look was unlike any other franchise in professional baseball. Throughout the creative process, our goal was to signify Myrtle Beach but also to separate ourselves with a distinctive color and look."
The Pelicans Pro Shop, headed by Director of Merchandising Dan Bailey, is open year-round at BB&T Coastal Field and offers all manner of Pelicans merchandise from nationally-bestselling caps to jerseys, t-shirts, polos, and much more. Officially licensed 2010 California-Carolina League All-Star Game apparel and memorabilia are also on sale now.
The Pelicans open the 2010 season in Myrtle Beach when they play host to the Wilmington Blue Rocks Thursday, April 8 at BB&T Coastal Field. Single game tickets, Pelicans Flex Books, mini-plans, and season tickets are on sale now along with tickets for the 2010 California-Carolina All-Star Game June 22. The 2010 installment of the annual Pelicans FanFest is March 6 from 2 to 5 PM at BB&T Coastal Field. For more information on tickets, games, and events, call the Pelicans box office at (843)918-6000, (877)918-TIXX, or visit the Tickets page at MyrtleBeachPelicans.com.