LOUISIANA, Mo. — Amarillo Sod Poodles, Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, Binghamton Rumble Ponies and the Rocket City Trash Pandas.
There are some unique – and just plain weird – team names in baseball’s minor and collegiate leagues.
With the start of the 2023 professional season, the Louisiana Area Historical Museum and Gatherings at 601 event center want Pike County kids ages 17 and younger to dream up a cool moniker for a make-believe local squad.
It shouldn’t copy the Carolina Disco Turkeys, Hartford Yard Goats, Sugarland Space Cowboys or Traverse City Pit Spitters (who for one night called themselves the Up North Cork Dorks as a tribute to Michigan wine country).
Be original. No Train Robbers (Topeka) or River Bandits (Quad Cities). And all entries must begin with “Pike County.”
As in the Pike County Booyah? Sorry, Green Bay has that one. Perhaps the Pickles? Nope. Already taken by Portland. Maybe the Corn Belters? Wait, that’s used in Normal, Ill.
You get the drift, though. Come up with something classy, sassy or brassy. Use local references. The entry chosen to be a home run will win its author $50, courtesy of the museum and the event center.
Don’t be a (Wichita) Wingnut. Get your (Rocky Mountain) Vibes on and come up with something creative.
For instance, many cities use water-related themes, such as the Fond Du Lac Dock Spiders, Great Lakes Loons, Beloit Sky Carp, Norwich Sea Unicorns and the Everett AquaSox.
Animals and bugs always make for interesting names – the Burlington Bees, Columbia Fireflies, Florida Fire Frogs, Daytona Tortugas, Pensacola Blue Wahoos, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, Hickory Crawdads and Akron RubberDucks, to name a few.
Food is good, too. Just ask the Macon Bacon, Montgomery Biscuits, Savannah Bananas, Modesto Nuts, Cedar Rapids Kernels, New Orleans Baby Cakes or the Tri-City Chili Peppers.
If you’d like to follow Traverse City’s one-night name game, avoid the Reading Whoopie Pies, Fresno Tacos, Syracuse Salt Potatoes, Coney Island Franks, San Jose Churros, Rochester Plates or Aberdeen Steamed Crabs.
The idea of a contest isn’t anything new, of course. A team in Virginia was christened “The Flying Squirrels” as part of a newspaper promotion.
As a point of historical reference, there was a local vintage baseball team in the early 2000s called the Pike County Champs. And don’t go using another Bowling Green team’s name – the Hot Rods. They play in Kentucky.
Judges will pick a winner based upon originality and creativity. Entries should include the author’s name, a parent or guardian name, address, a telephone number and an e-mail address if possible.
Entries may be e-mailed to bengel2022@gmail.com or addressed to Louisiana Area Historical Museum, 304 Georgia St., Louisiana, Mo., 63353. They must be sent or postmarked by March 24.
If there are duplicates of the name chosen, a winner will be selected at random. The winning entry will be announced on March 30, the date of the St. Louis Cardinals’ home opener against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Louisiana Area Historical Museum has added a baseball-themed window display in conjunction with its “Name the Team” contest. The deadline for entries is March 24. More information is available from the museum or its Facebook site.