Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is not exactly known for its Italian beef, but the High-A Winston-Salem Dash will wear jerseys featuring the sandwiches later this season. Italian beef sandwiches—made of slow roasted beef and giardiniera, an Italian relish of pickled vegetables—are a signature food item in Chicago, where the Dash’s parent
Author: Paul Caputo
Paul Caputo is a grown man who collects plastic ice cream helmet sundaes from minor league baseball stadiums because he likes logos that much. Paul is the host of the Baseball By Design podcast and he is the author of the first book published by SportsLogos.net, The Story Behind the Nickname: The Origins of 100 Classic, Contemporary, and Wacky Minor League Baseball Team Names (also available on Kindle). He can be found on Twitter at @Count2Baseball and he maintains the Countdown to Spring Training on Facebook. Paul is a Philadelphia sports fan, but he's not so bad.
Lehigh Valley IronPigs City Connect series to highlight Bethlehem, PA
The Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs’ “City Connect” series pays tribute to three Pennsylvania towns, Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton, over the course of three seasons. Last year the first installment highlighted the famous strawberry pie at the Allentown department store Hess. This year the team will honor the “Christmas City” of
Portland Sea Dogs to play as Maine Lobster Bakes
The Double-A Portland Sea Dogs will pay tribute to one of their home state’s oldest and largest industries when they play as the Maine Lobster Bakes later this season. Per the team, the state of Maine harvests more than 100 million pounds of lobster every year—roughly 90 percent of the
Bismarck Larks honor ranchers with Heartland Holy Cow identity
The collegiate summer level Bismarck Larks will pay tribute to the ranching community of North Dakota (and roughly 19 surrounding US states) when they play a game as the Heartland Holy Cows this summer. The identity features a startled cow with a halo over its head, playing off both the
WooSox wonder what might have been with Ruby Legs fauxbacks
When the erstwhile Pawtucket Red Sox moved from Rhode Island to their current home in Worcester, Massachusetts, one of the names the team considered adopting was the Worcester Ruby Legs. The nickname is loosely associated with a short-lived National League team called the Worcester Worcesters, who played from 1880 to
IronPigs pay tribute to Lehigh Valley with Shoofly Pies alternate
The Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs will honor the Pennsylvania Dutch heritage of eastern Pennsylvania when they play as the Shoofly Pies this summer. While the name in the alternate identity suggests another minor league baseball food-based brand, the logo instead focuses on the fly that is being shooed away. Shoofly
Carolina Disco Turkeys to play as Camel City Humps
The town of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is called “Camel City” because since 1875 it has been home to the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, which produces Camel brand cigarettes. The town of Winston-Salem is also home to the collegiate summer level Carolina Disco Turkeys, who will put a new twist on
Minor League Baseball teams, local indie bands team up on brands
Three affiliated Minor League Baseball teams will partner with local independent musicians to create the “Capsule Collection.” This collaboration is intended to do what minor league baseball branding specializes in: highlight connections between teams and their local community. In its just-announced initial stages, the Capsule Collection will combine design elements
Hub City Spartanburgers unveil new name, brand
The newest entry in the world of Minor League Baseball branding is the Hub City Spartanburgers, just unveiled yesterday. The Single-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers, newly relocated from Kinston, North Carolina, will play in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The town of Spartanburg earned the nickname Hub City because historically, it
Ope! Madison Mallards unveil another alternate
There are a lot of theories about the origins of the quirky exclamation “Ope!”—none of which stand up to any real scrutiny. More onomatopoeia than actual word, the term has been likened to “oops” or “oh” plus the letter P, and associated with most anywhere human beings have made inadvertent
Tri-City Chili Peppers to play “Cosmic Baseball” under black lights
Nearly a century after the Negro Leagues’ Kansas City Monarchs became the first professional baseball team to host a baseball game under artificial lights, the Coastal Plain League’s Tri-City Chili Peppers are putting their own spin on that innovation. The team will play “Cosmic Baseball” under powerful black lights that
Rockford Rivets to rebrand as Screw City Sock Monkeys
The collegiate summer level Rockford Rivets will pay tribute to their hometown’s textile and manufacturing heritage when they take to the field as the Screw City Sock Monkeys for two games this season. The Sock Monkeys nickname derives from Rockford, Illinois’s claim to “Home of the Sock Monkey”—a term the