Nine Lives

An interview with Dan Simon, founder of Studio Simon (http://www.studiosimon.com/)
By Kurt Hunzeker

“The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville Nine that day….”

And so starts the famed 1888 poem, “Casey at the Bat” by Ernest Lawrence Thayer. With roots based in the 18th Century, it should come as no surprise that the Mudville Nine are still alive today, even though they may not take the field anytime soon.

“A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The restClung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast….”

The fans of the dismal California League Stockton Ports had little to cheer about; and it wasn’t the team that had the fans booing. The old Billy Hebert Field, what used to be the 4th oldest ballpark in the United States, was old, dilapidated and (insert 32 other synonyms for “old”).

Once the sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers to Rupert Murdoch (of FOX fame) was finalized, the children of former owner Peter O’Malley purchased the Ports. After their first season with the club, the 13 second-generation owners wanted a fresh start for a team (and fan base) saddled with an aging stadium and below average merchandise sales. No one was rallying around the Ports or Billy Hebert Field.

“Then from five thousand throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
It knocked upon the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
For Casey, Mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.”

Research suggests that Casey’s team was based in Stockton. To help launch their efforts for a new, state-of-the-art ballpark, team principal owners Tom Seidler and Kevin O’Malley, hired former Dodger co-worker and Studio Simon founder Dan Simon to breathe new life into the franchise with a brand identity package based on the poem’s hero’s team name – the Mudville Nine.

As an avid baseball fan, Simon had plenty of materials to work with during the initial drafting process. Basing what would be the Nine’s primary mark’s character on a combination of various players from the early 1900s, Simon developed a few sketches to show his train of thought to Seidler and O’Malley. Together, all three established “a direction that we all felt was ‘it,’” according to Simon. “It was just one of those rare times when everything just falls into place from the get-go.”

Although Seidler and O’Malley’s efforts with the city of Stockton were going nowhere slow, Simon continued developing other brand components to drive the new Nine identities to local residents. Typically, minor league teams equal minor (league) budgets for creative development. But due to his prior relationships with the Nine’s management team, and his desire “to do things right,” Simon created a number of innovative brand platforms for the Nine he otherwise might not have done, based on the budget parameters. Additional brand vehicles included: a stationery package of letterhead, envelopes, business cards and mailing labels; a teaser billboard; program cover art; mascot development; youth mark; venue mark; kids fan club mark; and the Mudville Nine Pale Ale label mark for the team’s deal with a local microbrewery.

Merchandise sales for anything emblazoned with the Nine logo soared during the team’s first season with the new moniker. Baseball fans in towns on the East Coast purchased caps, t-shirts and novelty items with the Nine logo due to their association with the “Casey at the Bat” poem, or the uniqueness of the Nine look and numeric cap logo.

“But there is no joy in Mudville – Mighty Casey has struck out.”

Unfortunately for all Nine fans (which there were more than nine), Seidler, O’Malley and the rest of the ownership group could not get a new stadium deal done. Instead of outright selling the team, the 13 Nine owners “traded” the rights to the franchise to the group heading the rival Visalia Oaks, with one exception…the “Mudville Nine” name and branding package went with the O’Malley kids to Visalia, where it continues today.

The original Mudville Nine Web site is still active (http://www.mudville.com/), even featuring the famed poem written in 1888. The Oaks continue to sell Nine merchandise, although Simon won’t be buying any Nine apparel anytime soon. As part of his compensation package, Simon received a bounty of logo-ed gear during the team’s inaugural year.

The fancy new Banner Island Ballpark, a key component in the city’s $126 million sports and entertainment development project, has finally replaced Billy Hebert Field. An expansion ECHL (minor league hockey; the equivalent of Class AA minor league baseball) franchise will play next door in the new Stockton Arena this fall, and join the once-again named Ports as the franchise cornerstones for the city.

Since Seidler and O’Malley own the rights to the “Mudville Nine,” the Nine may take the field again in a city not named Stockton. But until then, Mighty Casey will just have to wait to make up for that whiffed at bat.