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Logo of one of major league baseball’s most storied franchises, the St. Louis Cardinals. This particular logo was used between 1956 and 1966. St. Louis has had a baseball team since the Brown Stockings played in 1882, and the Cardinals’ franchise has been in the National League since 1900. During the era when this logo was used, the Cards won a World Series, in 1964, and boasted many of the game’s all-time players, including Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Tim McCarver, Julian Javier, Ken Boyer and Bill White, who would later become a broadcaster and briefly serve as president of the National League.

The original team logo of the National Hockey League’s Los Angeles Kings, who entered the league in 1967 in the first round of expansion in which 6 new teams were added to the “original six”. The club was owned by Jack Kent Cooke,  and their purple and gold color scheme matched that of the NBA Lakers, who were also owned by Cooke at that time. The Kings haven’t won much over the years, but their roster has included some of the all-time greats of the game, including Eddie Shack, Marcel Dionne, Rogatien Vachon, Bob Pulford, Luc Robitaille, Dave Taylor and even Wayne Gretzky.

Logo of the National Football League’s Pittsburgh Steelers, used briefly in the early 1960s. Unlike today, when the Steelers are a model NFL franchise, having won six Super Bowls, the Steelers of the 1960s were usually a sad-sack losing team that wound up at or near the bottom of the Eastern Division standings. Their roster was loaded with players at the end of their careers, like Bobby Layne, Gene “Big Daddy” Lipscomb, John Henry Johnson and Tom Tracy. Although they normally wound up with losing records, the Steelers had a reputation for playing tough defense and even being a borderline dirty team. They also hold the distinction of having released 2 future Hall of Fame quarterbacks, John Unitas and Len Dawson.

Logo of the Houston Mavericks of the American Basketball Association, a charter member of the league who played in the ABA’s first 3 seasons, from 1967 until 1969. Houston Oilers owner Bud Adams was one of the Mavericks’ owners, and the team was competitive, led by Art Becker, Willie Somerset and DeWitt Menyard, but never drew well at the gate. They were moved to Carolina after the ’69 season and reborn as the Carolina Cougars. Their last home game in Houston was a victory over the New York Nets, before an announced crowd of 89 people. Ouch.

Logo of the minor league baseball Durham Bulls, who play in the International League. The Bulls existed as a Class A team for years but in 1988, following the release of the baseball comedy movie Bull Durham, starring Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon, the fictional team became famous, and a Triple-A team was placed in Durham in 1998 and named the Bulls. The Bulls have won 3 Governors’ Cups as IL champs since ’98 and were Triple-A national champs in 2009.

This is the “alternate” logo of the NHL’s Calgary Flames, used on the team’s alternate “third” jerseys from 1998 until 2007. They were introduced in the 1998 season to signify the “Year of the Cowboy”, honoring the culture of one of Canada’s great Western cities. The franchise was moved to Calgary from Atlanta in 1980 and was immediately embraced by the community. The team rewarded the fans with a surprise Stanley Cup win in 1988-89. Some notable players from the team’s history in Calgary include Joel Otto, Theoren Fleury, Kent Nilsson, Gary Suter, Al McInnis, Lanny McDonald and current star Jarome Iginla.

Logo of a team from the old World Football League, The Hawaiians. The team played 2 seasons in the WFL, 1974 and ’75, and oddly, were the only team in the league to play their games on Sundays, while the rest of the league schedule was played on Wednesday nights. A couple of notable players on the team were former Dallas Cowboy running back Calvin Hill and quarterback Jim Fassel, who would later coach in the NFL.

Logo of the American Basketball Association’s Kentucky Colonels, who played in the ABA for all 9 years of the league’s existence,  from 1967 until 1976. They won more games than any other ABA team and had the league’s highest winning percentage. Despite their success, the Colonels were not absorbed into the NBA when the leagues merged,  and the team ceased operations. The Colonels made some high profile player moves that led to their success, signing college stars Dan Issel and Artis Gilmore to long term contracts. They also had a competent coach in Hubie Brown. Other notable former Colonels’ players include Louie Dampier, Ted McClain, Maurice Lucas, Johnny Neumann and Bird Averitt. When the leagues merged, Colonels owner John Y. Brown agreed to fold his franchise in exchange for $3 million, which he used to buy the NBA Buffalo Braves.

Logo of the National League’s Chicago Cubs, used from 1927 until 1936. The Cubs were a competitive team in this era, but had mostly 2nd place finishes and, of course, didn’t win a World Series. Amazingly, they played in Wrigley Field, the same ballpark used by the club today. Hall of Famers who played for the Cubbies in this era are Gabby Hartnett,  Hack Wilson,who still owns the major league record for most RBIs in a season with 191 in 1930, and Kiki Cuyler.

Logo of the World Hockey Association’s Phoenix Roadrunners, who played 3 years in the league before folding after the 1977 season.  The most notable players on their roster were probably Robbie Ftorek, who was league MVP in ’77, and Howie Young, who played briefly for the franchise before being sold to the Winnipeg Jets. Considering the “Roadrunners” nickname, I wonder if the owners of the current NHL Phoenix Coyotes realized the cartoon irony of their choice of names for the team.