Myrtle Beach Baseball Announces New Name and Logo

The Myrtle Beach Professional Baseball Club announced its new name, "Myrtle Beach Pelicans,' and showed off its new logo on July 21 to an anxious public. After all, when it was announced that the Atlanta Braves Class A affiliate was moving to Myrtle Beach, SC, it was assumed that they would take on the name of their parent team. However, it quickly became apparent that the people of Myrtle Beach wanted a name that reflected the natural beauty, abundant wildlife, and overall uniqueness of their community. With this in mind, the team asked citizens for their input.

With the help of WPDE TV 15 and the Myrtle Beach Sun News, over 2,000 suggestions were received. Many included detailed logos and uniform sketches. Even the kids from Mrs. Jolly's 3rd grade class put their mascot and logo ideas on paper.

Before long, the original 2,000 were narrowed down to five. One of these came from Bryan Taylor in Mrs. Jolly's class. He submitted the idea of a Pelican. "I live by the ocean and so do Pelicans," said Bryan. "Besides, they can probably catch a lot of baseballs in their big mouths." The top choices were then taken to three different graphic design specialists for refinement. When completed, they were shown to kids at area after-school programs, where the name "Pelicans" became a hands-down favorite.

A great deal of thought went into the club's official colors. Aqua blue and bright yellow were chosen to mirror the ocean and sunshine, which have made Myrtle Beach an internationally famous tourist destination. Black, the most marketable and popular color in professional sports was added to help accentuate the Pelicans' flashy look. "We are very proud of our team's new logo and color scheme," said Pelicans' GM Steve Malliet." I expect our merchandise to be among the hottest selling in all of minor league baseball."