The All-Star Game Logo Unveiled
DOWNTOWN — The logo for Major League Baseball’s 80th All-Star Game all but designed itself, what with its host team and host city offering up “such signature elements you just had to use,” said its designer.
The Cardinals and Major League Baseball unveiled the logo for the 80th All-Star Game this afternoon at Busch Stadium. The logo will officially debut for the fans later tonight, before first pitch. There are two signs out in left-center field — one with the logo on it and the other with the phrase, “July 14th on FOX.”
The logo, as you can imagine, features the two most prominent St. Louis citizens — the Gateway Arch and the Redbird with his bat.
“It’s a very simple logo to explain,” said Anne Occi, who designed it. “The icons are so steeped in tradition.”
Take a look for yourself, in these handy-dandy pics shot with my Post-Dispatch-issued phone just moments ago:
**the logo itself**
**the jersey patch**
**the hat w/ logo and, in the lower corner, the pin**
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Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
WHERE IS THE RIVER? how can you represent st. louis without the mississippi river? ALL of local history is wrapped up in the big muddy. where is a riverboat, a barge, a coonskin cap or beaver. these are the things that made st. louis a great city and a city with a longer history than many of it’s eastern snooty neighbors. i agree the arch must be there and i know it represents the gateway to the west, but folks not familiar with the city may not realize that. the bird on the bat is a given, as st. louis has been immeasurably enriched by baseball and the cards. but if the intent is to represent the city, much too much has been left out that could have been incorporated.
Great Logo!!! Classy and traditional. Very baseball in St. Loo
Roger, I think you overestimate how much could be included, plus a river wouldn’t really fit in very easily. A coonskin cap? You are ridiculous sir.
where’s the sink hole in front of the stadium
the idea of the arch and bird on a bat is good but the logo looks goofy. i think it bubbles out too much. st. louis should have a more regal looking logo for hosting the all star game as the nation’s greatest baseball city. this looks more like something a 12 year old girl created in my opinion. a little too cutesy for my taste i guess.
Maybe instead of the Mighty Mississip or the Arch, they could simply have a snapshot of Lake DeWitt…
roger from lake tahoe;
I enjoy reading your insights when you post. For this one, I appreciate your zeal for St. Louis. But consider the clutter that I believe would take away from the logo if all these good things you suggest were placed on it. The Arch is symbolic for all that St. Louis is. The Bird on the bat is symbolic to the Cardinals and MLB. I just think less clutter is better. When I think about it, I think the logo says it all. But with all due respect to you that is merely my opinion.
Wow. Talk about lazy design. Very busy. What’s up with a predominately red logo on a red hat? St. Louis waited 40+ years for this? The city deserves better.
I thought that it would have the arch but come on How about a little more.
Why does the text under the Arch say “MLB” in some places and “St. Louis” in others?
It seems like a lazy effort. Almost like it was forgotten about. That or proper research was not done about our great city.
It seems like it was done at the last minute. I don’t believe proper research was conducted on this project.
Sorry for the double post… and now the triple…
I like the desgin. Not to much not to little!
I know that the river would have been hard to put on the logo, but along with the Arch, the river is a symbol of ST. Louis. But for the most part I like it.
What a poor design! Lacks sophistication in every respect. A St. Louisan should have designed our All Star Game logo. The local design community should be protesting outside the stadium. The illustrative style and color pallet are childish and unrefined. The composition is awkward. The logo is a difficult read and the typography is a complete mess. You can’t even read the 2009! Dark blue on red??? Were they trying to see how many typefaces they could fit on one logo? Looks as though it were developed in a Microsoft application. If you want to see a quality All-Star logo go back 2 years to San Fransisco. The world renowned style of Californian Michael Schwab blows this mock out of the water. Disaster!!! I am embarrassed for our city.
AdamL,
The “MLB” and “St. Louis” differences are based on the usage of the logo. The one that players will wear on their sleeve for the game — and the Cardinals will probably wear all season — will be like the one with the “MLB”. That will also be the logo used around the league for certain situations. That isn’t unusual. There was a logo for this year’s All-Star Game that had the script Yankees interchangeable with the block MLB, depending on the usage.
dg
What? That’s it? Come on, try again!! This is St. Louis for crimany sake, the biggest baseball town in the country. We deserve better than this. Jeez.
hey dg,
i agree with adam on this one. this logo is an embarrassment for the best baseball city in america. any chance they will listen to the st. louis fans and make a change? it looks like a goofy 70s style. looking back at the 2007 sf sophisticated logo i am embarrassed.
thanks always for all the great posts and blogs!
It’s a logo…is it really worth getting this upset over a logo for a game that will be played once next summer? It’s not like this is the new Cards logo or something you’d have to live with on a daily basis. Is this logo going to have any effect on the ASG next summer?
Holy Cow people!! Relax a little bit. It’s just a logo, it looks fine, it’s got the Arch and the team represented. It’s not that earth-shattering no matter what it looks like, it’s the game and the fact that it’s here that matters, not the logo. Anyone remember what this year’s logo looked like anymore?
The quality of the all star logo is so very important! I believe the logo should determine home field advantage in the World Series.
Why not have some real local influence on the logo and have a St. Louis based studio design it, not the vp of design for major league baseball based in new york?
The bubbly typography feels very ’70s, especially in the version with “St. Louis” under the arch in the first and third photos. The block-font MLB eases the ’70s feel a bit on the jersey patch in the second shot.