The Sugar Land Skeeters, an independent minor league baseball team in the Atlantic League, have created a temporary four-team league that will play from July 10 to August 30 at the team’s ballpark near Houston, Texas. In addition to the Skeeters, who have been around since 2012, the Constellation Energy League will feature newly conjured brands Team Texas, the Eastern Reyes del Tigre (Tiger Kings—get it?), and the Lightning Sloths.
The Eastern Reyes del Tigre logo features a tiger with the flowing blond locks that fans of Tiger King’s Joe Exotic will recognize.
The Lightning Sloths bring us the most oxymoronic minor league baseball nickname since the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. The logo features the notoriously slow animal gleefully riding a Flash-style lightning bolt.
Because I am a completist and appreciate symmetry, I will also mention that the comparatively uninspired Team Texas logo features a T for Texas and a star, also for Texas.
The Skeeters have been in the news in recent months. They were one of two independent teams (along with the Saint Paul Saints) rumored to be gaining MLB affiliation when the list of 42 currently affiliated teams scheduled to lose affiliation was leaked in November. There’s no telling where that plan stands now in light of the cancellation of the 2020 Minor League Baseball season.
