The last professional baseball team to carry the nickname Expos was not from Montreal, but rather Burlington, Vermont. When the Montreal Expos moved to Washington DC after the 2004 season, the team’s short-season single-A affiliate did not have time to change names before the 2005 campaign started. “When Major League
Tag: minor league
Aces Are Wild: The Story Behind the Reno Aces
When I reached out to the Reno Aces, triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, to talk to them about their logo and team name, I did not expect to end up talking about Ewoks. But when I asked Aces marketing director Brett McGinness about how the team’s sophisticated, traditional look bucks
Little Rascals: The Story Behind the Quad Cities River Bandits
The Quad Cities River Bandits, the Midwest League’s low-A Houston Astros affiliate, have done things a little differently. They are embodied perfectly by their logo and mascot, Rascal the raccoon—scrappy, undersized, and kind of adorable, but they’ll hold their own in a fight. In a market a fraction of the
Get your kicks with the Inland Empire 66ers: The story behind the nickname
The Inland Empire 66ers, an affiliate of the LA Angels and reigning champions of the single-A California League, are located in San Bernardino, California, a town noted for its place along the iconic highway Route 66. Since their inception in 2003 (they were previously the San Bernardino Stampede), the 66ers
It’s Elementary: The Story Behind the Albuquerque Isotopes
In a March 2001 episode of The Simpsons, Homer Simpson staged a nine-day hunger strike to thwart plans by Springfield Isotopes owner Howard K. Duff VIII (of Duff Beer fame) to move the local baseball team to Albuquerque, New Mexico. The ordeal ended with Homer victorious, standing on the outfield grass
Stinging Sensation: The Story Behind the Salt Lake Bees
The origin of minor league baseball’s triple-A Salt Lake Bees’ nickname traces back a couple thousand years—to the Biblical “land of milk and honey.” Utah’s Mormon settlers called the state “Deseret,” a word from the Book of Mormon that means honey bee in the Jaredite language. It’s the reason the
The Dog Days of Summer: The Story Behind the El Paso Chihuahuas
Admit it, the first time you heard the nickname for one of minor league baseball’s newest teams—the El Paso Chihuahuas, Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres—you thought of Paris Hilton. Or possibly Taco Bell. This is one of the reasons the announcement of the new nickname in El Paso
Holy Sea Cow! The Story Behind the Brevard County Manatees
If the rumors are true, the reason that there’s a minor league baseball team called the Manatees is that fans wanted a Major League team called the Manatees, but the powers that be wouldn’t allow it. Here’s Kyle Smith, general manager of the single-A Brevard County Manatees of the Florida