The Triple-A baseball club in Rochester, New York, has a remarkable history. Founded in 1899, it lays claim to being North America’s longest continuously operating non-Major League franchise. It also lays claim to being part of the longest baseball game in professional history—a 33-inning affair against the Pawtucket Red Sox
Category: The Story Behind the Nickname
This Logo Has Legs: The Story Behind the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders
The town of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, sits at the southern tip of Lake Winnebago—its name, translated from French, means “bottom of the lake.” (Lake Winnebago, I was sad to realize as I started writing this article, is not to be confused with New Hampshire’s Lake Winnipesaukee, where the movie
Fat Little Bird: The Story Behind the Idaho Falls Chukars
The Idaho Falls Chukars, a Kansas City Royals affiliate in the Rookie-level Pioneer League, are not named for the most intimidating bird out there. “No, in fact, it’s essentially a little partridge,” said the team’s longtime president and general manager Kevin Greene. “It’s a fat little bird. They’re out in
Seventh Heaven: The Story Behind the Lynchburg Hillcats
The city of Lynchburg, Virginia, is surrounded by hills—seven of them, to be exact. The identity of the city’s minor league baseball team, the Lynchburg Hillcats, High-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, has been tied to those hills for more than two decades. “The reason we’re called the Hillcats is
A Dog’s Purpose: The Story Behind the Mahoning Valley Scrappers
Like many industrial towns, Niles, Ohio, has had its share of ups and downs. The town thrived with the iron industry in the late 1800s, then struggled through an economic depression and a flood in the early 1900s. The steel industry took over, with mills lining the Mahoning River, and
Fear the Stache: The Story Behind the Lexington Legends
Baseball goes way back in Lexington, Kentucky. But after playing host to a handful of teams dating back to the 1800s, the city went without baseball for most of the second half of the 20th century. After the Negro Leagues’ Lexington Hustlers and the independent Lexington Colts disbanded in 1954,
Life in the Fast Lane: The Story Behind the Greenville Drive
I had never been to Greenville, South Carolina, before last Thursday, when I rolled into town in a van with eight longtime friends to kick off a four-day minor league baseball road trip we call “Baseballpalooza.” Greenville pops up a lot on those annual lists of “Coolest Towns for Young People”
True Patriot Love: The Story Behind the Vancouver Canadians
Vancouver, Canada, is a fascinating, beautiful city. More than half of its population claims something other than English as a first language. Vancouver’s population density is Canada’s highest and North America’s fourth highest, but it also has the 1.5-square-mile Stanley Park (not the continent’s second largest, as previously reported, but
Great Orange Heron: The Story Behind the Delmarva Shorebirds
The Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds play in Salisbury, Maryland, a town of roughly 30,000 residents that bills itself as the crossroads of the Delmarva Peninsula. This raises the important question, what in the world is the Delmarva Peninsula? While most sports teams identify their geographic location by a city or state,
A Brand with Some Bite: The Story Behind the Jupiter Hammerheads
Let’s be honest, of all the sharks out there in the world, hammerheads are one of the few that can be described as goofy looking. They have tiny mouths under their big, crazy noggins (technically called cephalofoils), which they use to stun and pin prey like stingrays, octopus, and shellfish
Buzzing Sound: The Story Behind the New Britain Bees
The official seal of the city of New Britain, Connecticut, features a beehive and the Latin inscription, “Industria implet alveare et melle fruitur,” which translates to “Industry fills the hive and enjoys the honey.” The city embraces the simile “busy as a bee”—an expression whose origins go back more than
There’s Always Money in the Banana Stand: The Story Behind the Savannah Bananas
When you go to the website for the Savannah Bananas, a summer collegiate-level team in the Coastal Plain League, the first thing you see, in big, bold, all caps type, is this slogan: WE MAKE BASEBALL FUN. When it comes to telling the story behind the team’s nickname, that’s pretty