This is an excerpt from the latest edition of the Ben's Biz Beat Newsletter, bringing Minor League Baseball business and culture news to your inbox each and every Thursday. Check out the full newsletter HERE.
The season is imminent and yet new alternate identities just keep on coming. Here are five recent entries to the Minor League scene.
Winston-Salem Dash: Hype Hens
Soon after the release of their Tobacco Beetles identity, the Winston-Salem Dash added another new animal to their on-field kingdom. Hype Hens has an interesting backstory as ¡°a nod to the success of the recent ¡®Fowl Ball,¡¯ a dance party for chickens that was hosted on-field at Truist Stadium.¡± How was I not aware of this? The Dash also announced that they are ¡°debuting their very own chicken coop for fans to interact with all season long. The coop will house five chickens, one of which fans will have the chance to name via social media.¡±
Left unsaid is that ¡°Hype Hens¡± closely resembles Hyphens, an alternate identity that the Dash debuted last season (because the dash between Winston and Salem that inspired the team name is, grammatically, a hyphen).
Biloxi Shuckers: Beach Chickens
Speaking of Spring fowl-iage, the Shuckers will play four games as the Beach Chickens this season. A beach chicken is another name for a seagull, which are prevalent on the Gulf Coast and, in fact, can always be found at Biloxi¡¯s MGM Park in the form of team mascot Schooner. Beach Chickens comes on the heels of the Shuckers¡¯ King Cakes identity, a tribute to Biloxi¡¯s long-running celebration of Mardi Gras.
Lehigh Valley IronPigs: Cats
The IronPigs have declared that April 27 is "Caturday," during which the usually porcine International League entity will transform into the Cats. Fans are invited to bring their feline friends to the game, and local cat rescue organizations will be in attendance as well.
¡°I realized we were dog-centric for years and how irresponsible it¡¯s been to not recognize the thousands of cat-lovers we have in the Lehigh Valley,¡± said IronPigs president and general manager Kurt Landes, in the press release. ¡°It was a CATastrophe that needed fixed, and this was the purrrfect solution.¡±
Columbia Fireflies: Grits
The world can now live in peace and hominy, as the Fireflies will play as the Grits on six occasions in 2024. This is the team¡¯s first food identity and they seem really excited about it. The press release waxes quite rhapsodic regarding South Carolina¡¯s love of grits, noting that ¡°they are so embedded in the history of our state that in 1976, a motion was passed to make grits the state food of South Carolina, quoting them as ¡®a symbol of its diet, its customs, its humor, and its hospitality.¡¯¡± The Grits debut on April 26, which is highlighted by a Grits figurine giveaway featuring a bobble spoon. Butter up!
Chattanooga Lookouts: Wreckers
The Lookouts have finally dipped their ¡°tow¡± in alternate identity waters, as they¡¯ll be suiting up as the Wreckers on six occasions this season. Why? Because Chattanooga is ¡°the birthplace of towing.¡± The vintage orange wrecker featured in the logo is a tribute to Ernest Holmes, inventor of the tow hitch. Today the city is home to Miller Industries (¡°The World¡¯s Largest Manufacturer of Towing and Recovery Equipment¡±) as well as the International Towing and Recovery Museum. It¡¯ll be tough to pull this one off without a hitch, not that the Lookouts would even want to.
OK, gotta go! Get in touch if you¡¯d like; I¡¯d like it if you did: benjamin.hill@mlb.com.