The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, a Single-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, found themselves with a bit of a mess on their hands when they unveiled their Spanish-language “Copa de la Diversión” identity this week. The team announced it will play select games this season as the Chaquetas, a Spanish term for jacket worn by Mariachis. The brand is meant to be an homage to the Mariachi jacket that Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly wore to the White House for the celebration of the 2020 World Series.
But when the team unveiled the brand Thursday, they were surprised by comments from fans on social media suggesting they look up the term on Urban Dictionary. Had they done so, they would have learned that Chaquetas has a second meaning—pertaining to the practice of intimate self indulgence.
According to an LA Times article by Chuck Schilken, the team had not gone solo in creating the brand. Quakes Executive Vice President and General Manager Grant Riddle told the Times that the team vetted the brand with Major League Baseball, local Hispanic-Latin community members, a Mariachi group, family members, and staff, none of whom saw a problem.
“We went live at 10 o’clock and we’re so excited,” Riddle said, quoted in the Times. “You know, we’ve been working for this for two years, gone through this extensive process, all of that. And then we started to get some comments that we didn’t understand.”
After initially pulling the announcement from social media, the Quakes decided to give it another go and embrace the nickname. After all, if it’s good enough for the most successful team in Major League Baseball history, it’s good enough for the Quakes…
The Quakes will play as the Chaquetas April 13, May 16 and July 19.
