2021 Logo/Branding of the Year: Burlington Sock Puppets

We have a sockingly different winner for Best New Logo/Branding in the 2021 Ballpark Digest Awards: The Appalachian League’s Burlington Sock Puppets, who turned some lemons into lemonade after losing its MLB affiliation.

The former Burlington Royals had been part of the Rookie-level Appy League for decades, but 2021’s restructuring of minor leagues forced the league into a reconstitution as a summer-collegiate circuit. That restructuring also forced all 10 Appalachian League teams, which had been owned by MLB teams, into a rebranding for the 2021 season. 

“Between the Royals and the Indians, there was more than three decades of affiliated baseball in Burlington and many people said they wanted Burington to have their own identity,” said owner and team president Ryan Keur. “We made the most of the pandemic. We spent about two and a half months on Zoom calls with anyone and everyone who wanted to talk to us in the city. We wanted to dig as deep into the history of the area as possible.”

Through their research, the idea of the Sock Puppets came up.

“This area is known for hosiery and textiles. We partnered with Studio Simon and Dan Simon through this process,” Keur said. “About a month or so into this process, Dan got into the same conversations with community stakeholders and said I think there’s something here.”

But a few people needed convincing that this was going to work.

“The early response was polarizing to some degree,” said General Manager Anderson Rathbun. “I didn’t like it at first but I got on board with it. Locally, some people thought it was a joke but it has grown on them and become a fan favorite name.”

“Anderson, Thomas, Dan, and the rest of the staff at the Sock Puppets really leaned into the brand, stayed connected to the community, and continued to build that narrative and everyone has come around,” Keur said. “We wanted to have a lot of fun with the name and this checked off every single box.”