June 26, 2024 – When your childhood nickname is Baby Fernando Valenzuela, you know that you’re always going to be connected to baseball.
When you have the opportunity to design apparel for Nike that bears the Jordan name, you know you’re working in the big leagues.
And when you get the call to help create the look of a future Major League team, you are ready.
That’s the case with seasoned creator, connector and innovator Gemo Wong, whose experience designing top-end apparel for Nike and his love of the game have combined to inspire a new look for Nashville Stars Baseball Club sportswear. From his Oregon studio, Wong — a Nashville Stars Marketing Advisor — has taken the story of the Nashville Stars and created a style and a visual presence that in his words “feel fresh and new, but is grounded in tradition and history.”
“In designing this new Stars logo, I wanted to communicate the soul and the depth of the story of baseball and the Negro Leagues,” Wong said. “I want fans to look at the logo and feel the stadium, hear the crowd and sense the spirit of the Negro League games. That soul is about storytelling that comes from a very specific point of view – the Negro Leagues – and that’s about community and family and struggles and joy and sports.”
In some ways, Wong was a mirror of his childhood nickname. He threw right-handed, unlike the lefty Valenzuela, but whatever way he threw — and whichever way he batted (see photo above) — he loved the game. He grew up cheering for the St. Louis Cardinals, taken by Ozzie Smith’s play and his somersaulting entrances to the field before every game. But it was the 1986 New York Mets that secured his greatest fandom.
“I became a big Mets fan that year,” he stated, “and I was glued to the TV for every World Series game. I loved watching Doc Gooden command the mound, Darryl Strawberry terrorize pitchers, and the whole dynamics of that team. They were special, their stories were special, and they captivated me.”
That’s a big reason that Wong is as excited about this design as he has been about his work for Nike and Gatorade and numerous other international brands.
“My goal was to deepen the storytelling around baseball through this graphic,” he said. “Storytelling is such a big part of sports, and there’s no better sports storytelling than in baseball, and no better baseball stories than those from the Negro Leagues. They are loaded with soul and richness, which adds to the game and to a fan’s appreciation for the sport. I’m proud to do a part in bringing that soul to Major League Baseball with the Nashville Stars.”
Wong’s playing career may have ended early, but his love of the game never waned. And even though he won’t make it on the field as an MLB player, he’s finding his spot in the game, doing what he loves, and sharing that love in the designs he creates that his future baseball heroes will wear.
Play ball! And keep an eye out for the new design in the coming weeks.