The Salem Red Sox are among the 15 percent of affiliated minor league baseball teams still named for their parent club, but that won’t stop them from brewing up at least a little bit of fun. The team, Boston’s Class-A Advanced affiliate, will play every Thursday this season as the Salem Beer Mongers, a wink and a nod to the robust craft brewing industry in Virginia’s Roanoke Valley.
“Craft beer has taken off here locally and across the entire state with the number of breweries increasing for less than 50 in 2011 to over 200 today,” said Salem’s General Manager Allen Lawrence, quoted on MiLB.com. “We thought it was appropriate to recognize the growth of the craft beer industry and the importance that it plays in our local economy.”
The first Beer Mongers game is on tap for Thursday, May 2.
