It happened last month but this is the first chance I have had to write about it: Finally after 40 years Major League baseball recognized my father Jerry Dior for designing the Major League baseball logo in 1968. For years I would tell friends this only to be met by barely disguised skepticism. After all-If he designed that shouldn’t you be rich and if so why are you on this crappy gig!!!
Well the fact is he did it in a few hours and was working for an agency at the time so he was paid a small amount (his salary at the time) and forgot all about it. It then showed up in the 1969 world series and that’s the first time he realized that they had used his design. Many other logos such as the NBA, NHL,etc. are patterned after this design. I’m sure most of you have seen it but if not here it is:
This process took about 10 years so I’m really glad it has come to fruition. Personally I never thought MLB would do anything since a). They did not have to and b). They could open themselves up to financial issues.
But the fact is that my dad never wanted any kind of financial restitution whatsoever. He just wanted to be recognized for the thing that he is most proud of in his graphic design career. Most logos undergo many changes over their useful lifetimes but this one is completely unchanged in 40 years and it’s everywhere you look. I think he is very proud of that fact alone.
One thing that really bugged me is that a comic book artist named James Sherman has said he designed it for many years now but that obviously was not the case. You can also search on the web for this – it’s a very interesting story which should invoke in you a mixture of laughter and disgust.
Anyway, as a result of the acknowledgement MLB honored my father at both Yankee Stadium and Citi field (the Mets home) in September. I went to the ceremony at Yankee stadium and it was truly awesome. I have attached some pictures at the end of this post.
The new stadium is amazing and my kids were blown away. It‘s also nice that they won the world series this year so when we watched some the games on TV my kids kept saying “we were just there!”
If this story teaches us anything it teaches us that perseverance pays off (my mom worked on this tirelessly for several years) and that large corporations-MLB in this case, are sometimes really capable of doing the right thing even if it takes a very long time.
There is tons of stuff on line about this story and if you are interested you can do a search on google for Jerry Dior MLB logo.
Here’s some pictures:
At the Yankees Ceremony with Ethan Orlinsky Head of public relations for the Yankees
On the big screen at Citi Field with Bob DuPuy COO of Major League Baseball
A Family portrait in the Yankees lobby
Mom and Dad with Sandy Alomar at Citi Field
