Golden Baseball League - Fullerton Flyers

Fullerton Flyers Unveil Nickname, Logo

by Danie Hug
Hornet News Editor

Fullerton Flyers - Primary Logo

Professional baseball is coming to Fullerton for the first time ever in May, when the Fullerton Flyers begin play in the inaugural season of the Golden Baseball League. The team announced its name and logo at a ceremony held at the Fullerton Transportation Center on Thursday.

Flyers Manager Garry Templeton and General Manager Ed Hart mingled with members of the community, while season tickets and team merchandise went on sale for the first time.

Besides Fullerton, seven other teams located throughout California, Arizona and Mexico will play in the Golden League, according to the league website. Players are mainly those cut from other, big league organizations looking for another chance in baseball, and the league is looking to foster a family-friendly atmosphere with affordable ticket prices.

Hart said the new team is generating excitement in the city, judging by the large crowd that showed up at the train station to learn the new name.

"There's a winning tradition here in Fullerton," Hart said. "The high-school teams, Cal State The Flyers name was selected out of over 500 names submitted in a “Name the Team” contest sponsored by Vons.

Fullerton Flyers - Secondary Logo

It pays homage to Fullerton’s railroad history with a train logo, done in the same burnt orange and blue colors of the College World Series champion Titans, whose stadium will also serve at the Flyers’ home field.

Tom Elliot, owner of a local sports collectable shop, came up with the winning entry. The team presented him with a $500 check after unveiling their logo.

Managing Fullerton’s first pro baseball team serves as a homecoming for Templeton. A native of Orange County, Templeton had a successful, 16-year career in the major leagues where he was a three time All-Star and the starting shortstop for the San Diego Padres during their World Series appearance in 1984. After his playing career ended, he managed several teams in the Angels’ farm system.

“It feels different,” Templeton said of managing the Flyers. “It’s all new for me.”

“Our pitching staff is almost intact,” said Templeton. “We’re gonna put a winner out there.”

The Flyers arrival on the Orange County sports scene comes as the major league Angels sparked outrage a few miles down State College Boulevard from the team’s home field for changing their name from “Anaheim” to “The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.”

The controversy was not lost on their new, minor league neighbors. Also unveiled at the ceremony was a T-shirt offering a “Reason to be a Fullerton Flyers fan: we’re not the ‘Los Angeles Flyers of Fullerton’.

“We will always be the Fullerton Flyers,” Brian Delahoy, the team's director of ticket sales, told the crowd, who responded with applause.

When asked if the decision to leave Fullerton in the name would draw fans, Templeton laughed.

“I didn't want to say that!” he said.

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