The Charleston RiverDogs, who are playing their 25th season this year, will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the movie Cool Runnings with Jamaican Bobsled Night May 3. The RiverDogs, Class-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, will wear uniforms derived from those worn by the 1988 Jamaican Olympic team, including
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Charleston RiverDogs celebrate 175 (dog) years
The Charleston RiverDogs, Single-A affiliate of the New York Yankees in the South Atlantic League, will play their 25th human-year season in 2018. If your lifespan is roughly one-seventh that of a human’s, that translates to 175 baseball seasons as measured in dog years. “We are grateful to be a part
The Bear Facts: The Story Behind the Tennessee Smokies
Ask most people what the most-visited national park in the United States is and their minds will almost certainly go first to one of the iconic sites out west. But the answer to that question is not the Grand Canyon or Yosemite or Yellowstone, but Great Smoky Mountain National Park, which
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”
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
Minor league teams to adopt Spanish-language identities
Minor League Baseball unveiled a program that targets Hispanic and Latino fans of the sport in the United States. “Es Divertido Ser un Fan” is the Spanish-language version of Minor League Baseball’s “It’s Fun to Be a Fan” campaign, which was launched earlier this year. The program, which will see
A Puerto Rican Amphibian in Kissimmee: The Story Behind the Florida Fire Frogs
The Florida Fire Frogs have ambition. First, they’re one of only a handful of minor league baseball teams named for an entire state. A few others spring to mind, like the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Arkansas Travelers, and Connecticut Tigers—and hey, the Carolina Mud Cats are named for two states—but
Gwinnett Braves announce finalists in name-the-team contest
The Triple-A Gwinnett Braves, who will rebrand for the 2018 season, announced the six finalists in their name-the-team this morning. The names listed below and the rationale behind them come from the G-Braves website, where the vote is taking place as you read. I have broken them down into four
In the Hunt: The Story Behind the Down East Wood Ducks
The story behind the brand-new Down East Wood Ducks, a brand-new Single-A team in the Carolina League, needs to be addressed in two parts: 1. Where exactly is Down East? and 2. What is a Wood Duck? First, as a geographic signifier for a sports team, “Down East” is probably as
Rochester Red Wings pay tribute to Garbage Plates
Our continuing coverage of baseball players dressing up like food items continues with the cryptically named Rochester Plates. The Rochester Red Wings, Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, will take to the field for one game later this season in uniforms that pay homage to the 100th anniversary of a