The baseball-team-as-regional-food-item trend continues in Binghamton, New York, where the Double-A Mets affiliate, the Rumble Ponies, will take on the moniker Spiedies for a game this spring. A spiedie, for the uninitiated, includes marinated cubes of meat on a stick, served on a hoagie roll.
According to Brandiose, the firm responsible for the design, “The term “spiedie” is derived from the Italian ‘spiedo’ meaning spit. It was brought by Italian immigrants to upstate New York in the early 1920s.”
The rebrand is a partnership with the local restaurant Lupo’s, whose spiedies, among other food items, have been served at Binghamton’s ballpark for 26 years. The design of the uniform reflects the connection to the restaurant; the jersey script derives from Lupo’s logo, and the red-and-white-checked sleeve cuffs are a reference to the water-resistant tablecloths found in Lupo’s (and nearly every other restaurant in central and upstate New York).
The Spiedies will take the field at 6:05, May 26, against the Bowie Baysox.