News - 04/08/2004

Texas League (baseball) - Corpus Christi Hooks

Corpus Christi Hooks Unveil Name, Logos

April 8, 2004 - (CORPUS CHRISTI, TX) – The wait is over. Corpus Christi Baseball officials today announced the name of the new Houston Astros Double-A affiliate coming to South Texas in 2005. It’s the Corpus Christi Hooks.

THE NAME

“We wanted a name that would be unique to Corpus Christi and that would tell the story of the area and its history,” said team owner Reid Ryan.

Seeking help from the community, the team started with a “name the team” contest in December where fans were asked to submit their suggestions. In just two weeks over 5,000 entries were received representing 1,900 different names.

“The most popular names all had something to do with marine life or the ocean,” Ryan said. “Our thinking is that selecting "Hooks" achieved several of our goals on many different levels.”

“One of the goals was to create a name that could be marketed locally, regionally and nationally,” Ryan added. According to the International Fish and Wildlife agency, there are over 50,000,000 people that fish in the US and over 2,000,000 that fish in Texas. “Our goal is not only to be Corpus Christi's favorite minor league team, but also every angler’s favorite minor league team,” Ryan added.

THE LOGO

The primary logo, home cap logo and away cap logo were designed by Studio Simon. The primary logo features the name “Hooks” with the “H”, “k” and “s” in light blue, and the two “o’s” in silver shaped as fish hooks. Above the name is a waving banner in the Texas Flag color scheme with the name Corpus Christi spelled out.

Studio Simon's Louisville, KY-based creative firm develops comprehensive branding strategies and solutions for a wide range of professional sports teams, leagues, colleges and universities. In addition to their work with the Corpus Christi Hooks, Studio Simon has teamed with more than 25 Minor League Baseball franchises.

“We wanted to create a logo that was different from anything in professional baseball or anything in south Texas on the professional or collegiate level,” said Ryan. “Corpus Christi Hooks makes us stand out from the pack.”

“The goal in choosing our team colors was to be different from every other team in the Texas league but also to represent Corpus Christi,” Ryan said. “That drove our decision to select two shades of blue, the deep blue of the ocean and the light blue of the sky which both seam endless in Corpus Christi,” he added.

“In the many sports branding projects in which Studio Simon has been involved, we have experienced our share of formidable tasks, often revolving around the need to give human qualities to various mammals, reptiles, fish and fowl,” said Dan Simon, president of Simple Simon. “But when contacted by the Corpus Christi Baseball Club with a very unusual -- and, certainly, original -- request, we were faced with navigating previously uncharted waters (so to speak). Specifically, we were asked to create an anthropomorphized character out of a hook!”

The home cap will feature the hook character “Rusty.” Rusty is a fierce silver hook featuring a red cap and tan bat. “We wanted to create a character that would be kid friendly and could lend it's self to various mascots. Rusty the hook will have a cast of characters from the sea as his friends,” Ryan added.

The away cap logo will feature two silver hooks that are shaped in the form of two C’s that represent Corpus Christi.

By determining early on that the hook character did not necessarily need to be incorporated into every piece within the branding system, an overall identity was forged in a manner that was not only appropriate for a professional baseball team, but would have aspects that appealed to any fan, including the baseball purists.

MERCHANDISE

Starting today at noon Hooks t-shirts and caps will be available exclusively at all coastal bend Circle K stores. The shirts cost $15.00 and the caps cost $20.00 and will be available for a limited time only.

The Corpus Christi Hooks have plans to open the official team store in downtown Corpus Christi later this month. A formal grand opening date for the store will be released soon. The store will be located in the Waterstreet Market area.