Minor league baseball is a treasure trove of bizarre promotions, and one of the most popular traditions in recent years has become teams rebranding as special, alternate identities for a series of games each season.
Many of these rebrands are food-related, while others run the gamut of having some sort of local connection to just being plain weird. In the case of the Double-A Somerset Patriots (an affiliate of the New York Yankees), they’ve gone with the former for 2024, rebranding as the Jersey Diners (at one point, the name “Greasy Spoons” was considered, which might be even better).
New Jersey is known as the Diner Capital of the World, with more than 500 diners in the state, more than anywhere else in the U.S. It only stands to reason that the Patriots would want to honor that.
One of the best parts of a minor-league team rebranding is the logos that come with it, and the Jersey Diners are no exception. The wordmark is in the form of the classic “pink poodle” neon in a boxcar diner-style design. The main logo is a smiling cup of coffee, with secondary logos that include a full coffee pot (with a stylized “J” on it), bacon and eggs, a stack of pancakes with a baseball-shaped glob of butter on top, and a grilled cheese sandwich with bacon and tomato.
The team will play as the Diners for just three home games this season, which isn’t nearly enough. But hey, at least you can buy the merch to remember the Diners forever (some of us might still have their Reading Fightin Phils hat when the team rebranded as the Reading Hot Dogs).
And in addition to the new look, Jersey Diner games will include classic music, blue-plate specials at the concession stands, diner-themed promotions, and much more.
The History of Diners in New Jersey and Beyond
Though the diner became an integral part of American culture throughout the 20th century, its roots are in New Jersey, dating back to when Jerry O’Mahony built and sold his first lunch wagon in Bayonne back in the 19th century. The mobile lunch wagon was essentially an early predecessor to the modern diner concept, which are typically the classic diner cars in fixed locations.
Thanks to more than twenty diner manufacturers throughout New Jersey (including the Jerry O’Mahony Diner Company, which is the biggest diner builder in the world), the concept of diner cars became tremendously popular throughout the country. Many have incorporated what we view as classic diner elements: the neon signs, stools with big red cushions, jukeboxes, juicy burgers and milkshakes, gigantic breakfast platters, and pie.
There are a lot of reasons why Americans still love their diners so much. Not only do diners often offer a retro décor that people gravitate towards, but what’s more American than a good old-fashioned road trip? Diners have long served as a veritable oasis in the desert (sometimes literally) for road-weary travelers, from families on long trips to truckers and everyone in-between. The diner continues to hold a special place in the hearts of Americans exploring their great country.
