With the Appalachian League becoming a collegiate wood bat league, so MLB owners can still follow the talented players without having to pay for them, the teams will rebrand to get rid of the former parent clubs’ names. Yesterday, two new names and logos were presented.
Sure this is a bit of old news, but yesterday, yours truly didn’t have access to internet, so that is why i am writing about this news today. Since you know I am a sucker for rebrandings and new logos and merchandise, I still had the urge to write about it.
The first one to show up with a new name were the former Burlington Royals. In a tweet, the club announced its new name: Burlington Sock Puppets.
The name pays tribute to the textile industry of the area. Two different sock puppets are featured in the logo, one even with a stirrup. The new logo was created by Studio Simon.
The new brand was also revealed in a youtube video:
Of course this new brand must be quite exciting for the club and the community that, like all other Appy League clubs, used the brand name of the parent company.
The second team that unveiled its new image were the former Bristol Pirates. The new brand name will be Bristol Stateliners. Since Bristol, located in West Virginia, is very near the Tennessee border, the name is very well chosen. 
It is not the first time that the name is used though. In fact it is a historic name that dates back to 1921. The name is cleverly chosen as it embraces both Virginia and Tennessee.
The team will be run by Bristol Baseball, Inc. (BBI). BBI is a non-profit all-volunteer charitable organization which has operated the team since its entry in the Appalachian League in 1969.
“We are proud to announce the identity of this new team and this newly-restructured league,” said BBI president Mahlon Luttrell.
“We are confident that our fans in Bristol and beyond will be pleased with the high caliber of play the State Liners will bring to the field this summer. We will have some of the top college players in the country, who as part of Major League Baseball and USA Baseball’s Prospect Development Pipeline, will be headed for the big leagues in a few years.”
Also the Stateliners unveiled their new brand with a video.
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