Paying homage to Negro Leagues, this team is MiLB's 'hoppinest'
Joe Trezza
Nicknamed ¡°baseball¡¯s most hoppinest team¡± by the local newspaper coverage at the time, the Fredericksburg Frogs were one of the Chesapeake Bay area¡¯s more successful Negro League teams in the 1920s, standing out amid a long lineage of segregated Black teams that played in downtown Fredericksburg, Virginia, between the 1880s and 1940s. This season, the Single-A Fredericksburg Nationals are jumping at the chance to pay homage to that history with a new alternate identity.
The team unveiled its ¡°hoppy¡± new identity¡¯s logo and uniforms at Virginia Credit Union Stadium on Thursday night, as part of a panel event featuring distinguished community members connected to the region¡¯s African American baseball history, which dates back to the 19th century. The panel was moderated by Dr. Gaila Sims, the curator of African American History and vice president of programs at the Fredericksburg Area Museum, and included former Fredericksburg mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw.
¡°The story of the Fredericksburg Frogs always resonated with me,¡± team co-owner Seth Silber told MiLB.com. ¡°We want people to understand the historical significance."
The FredNats partnered with the Fredericksburg Area Museum, Germanna Community College and Dovetail Cultural Resource Group/Mead & Hunt to get a comprehensive look at the rich history of African American involvement in baseball in the Fredericksburg region. The new alternate identity is an expansion of an extensive, ongoing history project undertaken by these groups when the FredNats arrived in the region in 2020. The scoreboard at Virginia Credit Union Stadium, for instance, features a 60-foot-high history wall highlighting these efforts and the area's deep baseball history.
While that extensive research effort unearthed loads of information about the Frogs, scant photographic references seemed to have survived the ensuing 80-plus years since the team's final game. As such, the FredNats team needed to reimagine how the Frogs may have depicted themselves.
¡°As much and as hard as we looked, there were no pictures of jerseys or hats,¡± Silber said. ¡°So what we decided to do was come up with something that tied into the feel of the Negro League teams."
The design they landed on is intentional about staying true to that tradition. The green-and-gold logo depicts an impressive-looking frog marching like a band conductor. He is holding a scepter in one outstretched arm, wearing a crown on his head, and a blue tuxedo jacket and bow tie. He looks triumphant. That was by design.
¡°He¡¯s puffing his chest up high like he¡¯s a proud, proud frog,¡± general manager Robbie Perry said. ¡°Our colors are pretty much red, white and blue, and here we went yellow, green and baby blue. When we were doing our research and talking to our designer company, the number one theme with Negro League logos was they wanted to show value. They wanted to show wealth, almost like it was royalty. If you look at a lot of these old logos, there would be a scepter, a crown, a jewel.¡±
That royal theme will also be evident in the Frogs¡¯ jersey tops, which will be white with yellow-and-green script ¡°Fredericksburg¡± written across the chest. The ¡°i¡± in ¡°Fredericksburg¡± is dotted by another crown.
Early in the design process, the team worked off the prototype of Michigan J. Frog, the classic and recognizable Warner Bros. cartoon character.
¡°He was bubbly, he would dance, he would always puff his chest up high, he was a masculine frog,¡± Perry said. ¡°That was kind of our starting point.¡±
Ultimately, they created a froggy identity all their own. Fredericksburg will play as the Frogs five times this season, assuming their new identity every other Friday beginning on May 9. The FredNats will also reprise their Copa de Diversi¨®n alternate identity, the Fundadores de Fredericksburg, for select games in 2025.