Paying homage to past events is a great way to come up with new uniforms that honor an area’s history. An Oregon minor league baseball team recently introduced new uniforms that honor a famous Oregon event: the explosion of a giant, dead sperm whale.
The Eugene Emeralds are a Northwest League team affiliated with the San Francisco Giants. The Eugene-based team wanted to encapsulate an Oregon moment with their new threads by making their uniforms pay homage to the 45-foot-long, eight-ton whale that was detonated in Florence in November 1970 after it washed ashore on the coast.
The beaches were under the jurisdiction of the state’s Highway division at the time and after consulting with the US Navy, they decided to remove the whale with dynamite. Officials believed that blowing up the dead whale would result in small pieces for animals to consume.
The result was an event that would be remembered in the history books in Oregon. And now, the event is being enshrined in baseball uniforms over 50 years later.
The team shared their new uniforms and merch for the 2023 season on Twitter. “Starting in April, the Emeralds will become the Exploding Whales for four different games (April 12, April 22, May 6 and August 19),” the team announced. “The Emeralds have worked with the city of Florence, the mayor, city counsel and other business leaders in Florence to carefully create this alternate identity.”
Source: https://twitter.com/EugeneEmeralds/status/1638948922352869377