The city of Toledo, Ohio, has been home to Jeep since the company’s founding in 1943. More than eight decades later, the Toledo Assembly Complex is now the only place in the world where the iconic Jeep Wrangler is produced. To that end, the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens, who have
Category: Minor League Baseball
Cougars convert to Atomic Pork Chops
If the Albuquerque Isotopes and Lehigh Valley IronPigs got together and had a baby, the offspring very well might be the new alternate identity for the Kane County Cougars. The Kane County Atomic Pork Chops will take the field for at least three games this season. After fans requested that
Minor league team honors Dodgeball as Average Rocks
It’s been 15 years since the late Patches O’Houlihan, former champion of the American Dodgeball Association of America (ADAA), bequeathed us with this wisdom: “If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.” That bit of dodgeball insight, along with a demanding coaching style that would make Bob
Augusta GreenJackets celebrate pimento cheese with rebrand
The recent wave of temporary minor league baseball rebrands has left teams wondering what local food specialty represents their region. In some cases, the answer has been more obvious than others. For a team playing in Augusta, Georgia, there’s no more appropriate food item than the pimento cheese sandwich, a
NW Arkansas Naturals to play as Growlin’ Chickens
Poultry is a big deal in Arkansas. According to Farm Bureau Arkansas, poultry is the largest agricultural product in the state, and the industry accounts for a quarter of all jobs in Arkansas. This is in large part to the existence of Tyson Foods, Inc., which is headquartered in Springdale,
Lehigh Valley IronPigs salute Philly as Jawn
Jawn is Philadelphia slang for a thing, or possibly stuff. The exceedingly non-specific term, which is popular in the Jawn of Brotherly Jawn and can mean pretty much anything, is basically unheard of outside of eastern Pennsylvania. And so, of course, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, who play about 60 miles
El Paso Chihuahuas pay tribute to Selena with jerseys
The Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas will honor the legacy of the Queen of Tejano music with a promotional jersey this season. The jerseys will feature Chihuahuas set in a script that emulates Selena’s signature, with a single white rose closely associated with the model, actress, and fashion designer, who was
Akron RubberDucks rebrand as giant ice cream helmets
I’m going to try not to get emotional about this, but I happen to have a certain affinity for ice cream served in helmet sundae cups. I have what I believe to be one of the largest collections of unique plastic ice cream helmets out there—about 200 Major League and
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers to play as Udder Tuggers
When the Fond du Lack Dock Spiders, a collegiate summer league team that plays at the southern tip of Wisconsin’s Lake Winnebago, debuted in 2017, there was a lot of chatter about their arachnid-based logo. As a Richmond Spider myself, I was of course charmed. But before they debuted, when
Clearwater Threshers play as Beach Dogs
When the Clearwater Phillies rebranded in 2004, the nickname Threshers, a kind of shark, won out over Beach Dogs. But as with many minor league baseball teams, that did not stop the Threshers from wondering what could have been. Late last season, the Threshers, high-A affiliate of the Phillies, introduced
Minor league promo supports sea turtle conservation
It will be a battle of the turtles in the high-A Florida State League when the Jupiter Hammerheads rebrand as the Loggerheads for one game against the Daytona Tortugas. The promotion will benefit the nonprofit Loggerhead Marinelife Center, located less than five miles from the Hammerheads’ ballpark. The so-called Turtle
Mahoning Valley Scrappers to play as Peppers in Oil
If nothing else, this wave of minor league baseball teams adopting temporary identities based on local food specialties has demonstrated an astounding array of food items that are considered delicacies. The latest to the smorgasbord of edible identities is the Mahoning Valley Peppers in Oil, the one-game alter ego of