There are minor league baseball promotional jerseys all over social media today—and none of them are anthropomorphized regional food specialties!
First up, tonight, the Greensboro Grasshoppers will throw back to their days as the Hornets, one of many previous identities the team has gone by since 1902. The franchise went by the name Hornets for a decade and a half from 1979 to 1993. They adopted the name six years after the Charlotte Hornets baseball team let it go (1973), and nine years before the Charlotte Hornets basketball team revived it (1988). The franchise changed names to the Bats in 1994 after reaching a settlement with the NBA.
Also tonight and through July 9, the Tulsa Drillers will commemorate “918 Nights” (the city’s area code), wearing uniforms that evoke Tulsa’s new city flag, which includes a yellow Native American shield, a red circle with a star meant to commemorate victims of a 1921 massacre, and a beige star emblematic of the city’s bright future.
Tomorrow night, July 6, the Daytona Tortugas offer their twist on the movie Talladega Nights, with “Daytona Nights” jerseys featuring Karen, Ricky Bobby’s cougar. (“You’ve gotta learn to drive with the fear. There ain’t nothin’ more frightenin’ than drivin’ with a live cougar in the car.”)
And finally, July 12, the Dunedin Blue Jays will pay homage to their city’s citrusy heritage with uniforms that feature artwork by local muralist Steve Spathelf, whose work adorns walls throughout Dunedin.
