Best Minor League Baseball Alter Egos Part I
If you've never seen a Eugene Exploding Whales game, you're missing out
Last week I finished my tour of minor league team names and logos I like. If you would like to read it please click the link below.
Today I will continue our trip through the minors with a look at one of the strange ways they generate fan interest and some income, alternate identities. Some of the teams we visit here will be familiar from the last post but others will be brand new and like I said before, a celebration of the minor leagues is always called for.
Minor league teams are always looking for new ways to generate fan interest and additional income. One way teams do it nowadays is the “alternate identity”. In the 21st century it seems like every minor league team has at least one “alternate identity”, meaning on certain days, they play under a different name with different uniforms and logos. Quite often there is some kind of connection to the local area and frequently, there is a food connection and the organization serves a corresponding item at their food counters. Considering there are around 1800 players from Spanish-speaking countries on minor league rosters, there has also been an effort on the part of Minor League Baseball headquarters to have a Latin-inspired alternate name for teams, in order to tap into that market. It is called Copa de la Diversion, which means “fun cup” and is just a way for the teams to connect with a Latin American fan base that loves baseball. I know it is just a marketing tool and a way to make a boat load of money in hat and jersey sales but, I think many of them are really cool and I know that if I'm at a minor league park and they have an alter ego, I'm probably going to buy the hat. Today I’m going to look at some of my favorites and some that are just plain strange, this should be real fun. If you were wondering about the Exploding Whales you will have to wait for Part II. One piece of housekeeping, with all the pictures in this post, you will most likely not be able to read the full post in the email. Just click on the title and it will take you to the entire post.
Hartford Yard Goats:
First up or our old friends from the Double A Eastern League, the Hartford Yard Goats. The Colorado Rockies farm team. They have three alternate names:
Hartford Bouncing Pickles
This name comes from an obscure Connecticut Blue Law that made it illegal to sell a pickle that did not bounce. I was not able to find if the pickle had to bounce a certain height or just not splat on the ground. Their jerseys are shades of green with the bumps associated with all good pickles, and if you look close the o in “Bouncing” is a pickle chip. The logo on the sleeve and the hat is a smiling pickle wearing a backwards baseball cap and to make sure he bounces, the pickle is on a Pogo stick. During their times as the Bouncing Pickles, Hartford sells deep-fried pickle chips at their counters.
Hartford Steamed Cheeseburgers
For those unfamiliar with the finer points of the Nutmeg State’s culinary history, the steamed cheeseburger is one of Connecticut’s most iconic, if maligned, contributions to the American menu. It traces its origins back to Ted’s Restaurant in Meriden Connecticut, and is exactly what it sounds like: a cheeseburger, where the burger is streamed rather than grilled and the burger is rectangular. The uniforms Hartford wears during these games are yellow, or what might be considered bun-colored. Both the hats and jerseys have a brown “burger” section atop a “lettuce section and under a “ketchup” section, with three french fries forming the H on the cap. One even has ketchup dripping off of it, and I know I'd buy one. In fact I'm sure I'd buy all of these hats.
Los Chivos de Hartford
The third name is Hartford’s Copa name. It is Los Chivos de Hartford, it translates to Goats of Hartford. The logo is a stylized goat skull decorated, like many of the Copa logos, in a el Dia de los Muertos sugar skull style with lots of colors and designs. The jerseys are aqua blue with navy blue sleeves with the goat head logo.
West Michigan Whitecaps:
Next up are the Double A Tigers farm club, and as I said, it is the minor league team I have seen the most. They also have three alter egos.
Beer City Bung Hammers
The Grand Rapids area of Michigan has 40 craft beer breweries within a thirty minute drive of downtown and therefore claims the title of Beer City USA (I'm not agreeing or disagreeing, just explaining). Everyone knows that beer travels from point a to point b in barrels. How, you might wonder, does the brewer seal the barrel after the beer goes in? Well, that would be the job of a piece of wood called the bung and a piece of equipment called a bung hammer. It goes something like this. Insert bung into hole in barrel, use bung hammer to hammer the bung further into the hole, barrel sealed. That is a roundabout way to explain the reason the West Michigan Whitecaps are sometimes called the Beer City Bung Hammers but it gets the job done. The Whitecaps have been the Bung Hammers once a season since 2018 and therefore have two different hat and jersey combos.
Grand Rapids Dam Breakers
Even though the city is called Grand Rapids, there haven’t been rapids on the Grand River since the 1850s when dams were put up on the river to assist with industrialization. Recently there has been a movement to restore the river to its former glory. The Dam Breakers are part of that effort, and part of the sale of all Dam Breakers gear goes to Grand Rapids WhiteWater, a group which aims to restore habitats, enhance recreational opportunities, remove dangerous dams, block invasive species and bring the rapids back to a two-and-a-half-mile stretch of the Grand River. Once a year the Whitecaps don new uniforms and caps emblazoned with a sturgeon holding a bat, breaking a dam.
Calaveras de West Michigan
The Calaveras de West Michigan is the Whitecaps Copa identity, the Calaveras moniker translates to skulls and pays homage to the Dia de los Muertos and the sugar skulls given out to children. The hat they wore the first year is a sugar skull with the 616 area code of Grand Rapids on it, over the Whitecaps wave. The second season hat is the area code and resembles a mask one might wear on that day.
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers:
The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are the High A Midwest League affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers and they two alter egos.
Wisconsin Udder Tuggers
The Timber Rattlers become the Udder Tuggers every year during their Salute to Cows promotion. It was created to celebrate America's Dairyland during Dairy Month in June. The way they incorporated the overalls look into the uniforms last year is pretty cool, even if the name is ridiculous. They do offer both white and chocolate milk at their food counters.
Cascabeles de Wisconsin
The Copa identity of the Rattlers is the Casabeles de Wisconsin. The name translates to Jingle Bells and is a take of the rattle of the Timber Rattler. In my opinion they didn’t buy into the Copa idea as much as some of the other teams. They chose to just take a feature of their regular name and “Latinize” it, rather than trying to find a similar thing in Latin culture. For example Quetzalcoatl the Aztec god of the sun and wind, is represented by a wing serpent. Seems pretty good to me, sure it’s a little hard to pronounce but why wouldn’t you want to name your team after a god?
Rochester Red Wings:
The Rochester Red Wings are the Triple A affiliate of the Washington Nationals in the International League. There has been a baseball team in Rochester since 1899.
Rochester Plates
Every Thursday in Rochester, the team takes the field as the Rochester Plates to celebrate a legend of local Cuisine - The Garbage Plate. An authentic Garbage Plate is a mix of meat (burger or hot dog), home fries, macaroni salad, and topped with meat sauce. The Garbage Plate has a history dating back nearly 100 years to a place called Nick Tahou Hots. The dish – originally referred to as "hots and potatoes" – started out as a "kitchen sink" sort of menu item, beloved by those coming off of the third shift or anyone looking for a filling meal on the cheap. Sometime in the ‘50s years after its creation, some local college kids were in Nick Tahou’s and one of them said, "I’ll have a plate with all the garbage on it," and thus the Garbage Plate earned its name. In 1992, the term "Garbage Plate" was trademarked by the restaurant.
Cocos Locos de Rochester
Cocos Locos is their Copa identity, it is a Caribbean drink made with white tequila, melon liqueur, coconut rum, pineapple juice and a lime, that they serve in the stadium when they play as the Cocos Locos. However, just like the Timber Rattlers I think they haven’t fully grasped the Copa idea. It seems like a cop out, to name your team after a drink, that is mostly served to people in Miami. Since they are the Red Wings, they should have been Aguila Arpias, or the Harpy Eagles, one of the biggest eagles in the world and the national bird of Panama.
Norfolk Tides:
The Tides are the Triple A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. They have an unusually large, five, alternate identities and they don’t even have a Copa one.
Norfolk Coffee
The Tides give a nod to the local area with this name. The Hampton Roads region is called the East Coast Capital of Coffee because it is home to many coffee roasters and prominent coffee brands like Chock full o’ Nuts, Hills Bros. and Kauai. The region's warehouses hold over 50 million pounds of coffee, enough to brew 2 billion cups of coffee, and has the third-highest concentration of people employed in coffee and tea processing in the entire country. The team let the fans vote on whether they should wear the “hot coffee” hats or the “iced coffee” hats. Iced coffee won by a large margin but you can still buy either on their website.
Norfolk Squeezers
If you are not familiar with the bar scene in the Hampton Roads area you will not be aware of a drink called an Orange Crush (no, not the orange pop). The Orange Crush first came to Hampton Roads in 2004 when a local restaurant owner returned home from a trip to Maryland, bringing with him a reformulated version for Virginia. Nearly twenty years later, the drink can be found on nearly every restaurant menu on the oceanfront and on the bay. The drink, and they do serve it at the stadium, is a navel orange freshly juiced, vodka, grand marnier and lemon-lime soda with a orange wedge.
Norfolk Lumpia
Norfolk celebrates the region’s robust Filipino-American culture, by becoming the Norfolk Lumpia once a season. The Hampton Roads community, which encompasses the cities of Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach and Williamsburg, is home to one of the largest Filipino American populations in the country. Many Filipinos immigrated to the area via the United States military, particularly the United States Navy, as well as health professions, and teachers. A lumpia is a type of spring roll filled with either sweet or savory fillings and served at most Filipino gatherings as an appetizer.
Norfolk Red Stockings
Once a season the Norfolk Tides transform their identity into the Norfolk Red Stockings to celebrate the Negro League team that played in Norfolk from 1878 into the early 1900s. The Red Stockings were one of the first professional black baseball teams in the country and the first in the south.
Tidewater Tides
The Tidewater Tides played from 1969 to 1992 at Frank D. Lawrence Stadium in Portsmouth and Met Park in Norfolk. The Tides won the Governors‘ Cup, the International League championship, in 1972, 1975, 1982, 1983, and 1985 and in 1983, they won the Triple-A World Series, between the winner of the International League and the Pacific Coast League. Minor League Baseball stopped playing the series in 2000. The Norfolk Tides honor their forbearers once a season by wearing a modern version of the old uniforms with their trademark pillbox hat.
Fort Wayne TinCaps
The TinCaps are the High A affiliate of the San Diego Padres in the Midwest League. The name TinCaps comes from the legend that Johnny Appleseed died in Fort Wayne, and according to the legend he wore a cooking pot on his head. They really lean into it by serving applesauce at every food counter in the stadium.
Hoosier State Tenderloins
The Breaded Tenderloin Sandwich has long been a Hoosier tradition and the TinCaps have embraced it. It is essentially a large breaded pork tenderloin cutlet on a hamburger bun with lettuce, tomato, pickles and onions along with ketchup and mustard. The sandwich looks ridiculous because it hangs over the edges of the bun so much. It also looks tasty and, of course, they serve it at the stadium.
Manzanas Luchadoras
The Copa identity of Fort Wayne, is a take on their regular name as well as the part that Lucha Libre wrestling plays in Mexican culture. Manzanas Luchadora, means Fighting Apples, and their logo with the apple wearing a Lucha mask and two fists floating oddly to each side, drives the point home. Lucha Libre professional wrestling blends the luchadores' vibrant masks and wardrobes, with their showmanship and athleticism and is the perfect secondary name for a baseball team.
Fort Wayne Daisies
The TinCaps also honor the Fort Wayne Daisies by wearing a jersey that is reminiscent of the uniforms the Daisies wore. The Fort Wayne Daisies were a women's professional baseball team that played in Fort Wayne from 1945 to 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Even though the Daisies made it to the playoffs in every year from 1948 to 1954, and earning first place from 1951 through 1954, they failed to win a championship title. Among its notable players were the sisters Betty Foss and Joanne Weaver, who were able to win the final five batting championships of the league and two Player of the Year awards. In their history, Daisies players won six batting crowns, setting a league record.
Hudson Valley Renegades
The Hudson Valley Renegades are the High A affiliate of the New York Yankees in the South Atlantic League.
Hudson Valley Cider Donuts
What is Cider? This question has plagued mankind for centuries. The ancient Greeks believed that Cider was the teardrops of the lonely Hesperis, the clear-voiced maidens who guarded the tree bearing golden apples that Gaia gave to Hera at her marriage to Zeus. The Romans believed that Cider was the sweat of Pomona, the Roman goddess of orchards and fruit trees. And the people of the northern US, including New York, believe that Cider is the juice that comes from smashing a bunch of apples. Regardless of where you are from or what you believe, the one thing we can all agree on is that Cider is apple related and delicious. When cider is made into a donut it goes to a whole other level. Invented in New York in the mid-20th century, and with 33 apple orchards and two dozen cideries calling the region home, you could argue that apple cider donuts are synonymous with fall in the Hudson Valley, The Renegades have taken this gift from the heavens and turned it into an alter ego. The donut on their hats is called Dusty, for the dusting of cinnamon sugar on every tasty donut, their jerseys have their own “dusting” of cinnamon sugar on them, and in a nod to realism, a “hole’ in the middle, on both the front and back of the jersey, and a bite out of the side. And, yes, for those of you that are wondering, they do sell cider donuts as well as cider at the stadium.
Los Fenómenos Enmascarados del Valle de Hudson
Los Fenómenos Enmascarados del Valle de Hudson or The Masked Phenoms of the Hudson Valley, celebrates and pays homage to the Lucha Libre culture. They say on their website that Hudson Valley aims to provide the same blend of fighting spirit and showmanship at the ballpark as the wrestlers do in the ring. Their hat has the Renegades mascot, Rascal, wearing a Luchador mask in the middle of a title belt. Their jersey has the title belt slung over the shoulder like a wrestler would.
Syracuse Mets
The Syracuse Mets are the Triple A affiliate of the New York Yankees. There has been a team in Syracuse in one form or another since 1934. The Mets have three alter egos, two of which, are related. Philip and I went to Syracuse in July of 2023 but the game was rained out after an hour delay but we were able to get their signature food item and our favorite hats.
Salt City Mets
Syracuse is known as Salt City because of the large salt industry in the area for much of the 19th century. The salt was not mined like in other areas but came from salt springs on the southern end of Onondaga Lake. The brine was processed either by solar evaporation or boiling. In the solar evaporation method, the salt water was pumped into large, shallow vats and exposed to the sun for a few weeks. As the water evaporated, salt was raked up and then packaged for shipping. This process produced coarse salt. The boiling method produced fine salt. In this process, the salt water was pumped into large cauldrons that were heated from beneath and brought to a boil. As the water boiled off, the remaining salt was scooped out and made ready for shipping. This method produced fine salt. When we were there for our only rained out professional baseball game since 2016, Philip bought the blue Salt City hat.
Syracuse Salt Potatoes
Salt Potatoes were invented in Central New York many years ago when the Irish workers in the Syracuse area salt mills, brought their white potatoes to work for lunch. They boiled their potatoes in the brine from the salt mines and dipped them in butter or drizzled butter on top. To this day, salt potatoes are enjoyed by Central New Yorkers. To make a batch, boil four pounds of new potatoes with two cups of kosher salt for 15 minutes let them dry to form the salt crust and pour melted butter on top. I have made them and they are delicious. When we were there I bought the Salt Potatoes hat and whenever I wear it, I always get question about what it is.
Congueros de Syracuse
The Mets’ Copa identity is a tribute to the conga drum and the place it has in many Latin countries. Originating in Cuba, the sound of the Conga drums has traveled throughout the world, and became the Copa identity for the Mets.
Springfield Cardinals
Springfield is the Double A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, playing in Springfield Missouri. They have one cool identity and a Copa one that might be the lamest one of all time.
Springfield Cashew Chicken
The Ozark Mountains region might not seem like an area in which to seek out groundbreaking Chinese cuisine, but things are often not what they seem. Sixty years ago in Springfield, chef David Leong created a cashew chicken dish which remains a local and national favorite to this day. The dish's popularity inspired the Springfield Cardinals to play as the Cashew Chickens several times a season. The team also serves cashew chicken at the ballpark, calling it a "miraculous combination of perfectly fried chicken, roasted cashews and chopped green onions all in a savory sauce."
Cardenales de Springfield
Cardenales de Springfield is the Copa identity of the Cardinals. All they did was the use the Spanish version of their name and give the hat some fancy designs. Like I said a second ago, this is probably the cheesiest idea for a Latin theme in the entire Copa world. I think they should have been the Buitre Negro de Springfield, the Springfield Black Vultures. It’s still a bird and a much scarier bird at that and the Black Vulture is found from the southern US to the southern tip of South America.
Iowa Cubs
The Cubs are the Triple A team for the Chicago Cubs and have been playing in Des Moines since 1969.
Iowa Caucuses
Iowa's "first in the nation" voting status in the presidential campaign is a source of pride for Iowans and prompted the Cubs to use that as an alter ego. The uniform retains the iconic Cubs pinstripes while incorporating stars and stripes as a tribute to our nation's flag. The red, white, and blue caps feature the Iowa Caucuses logo, which is shaped like the state of Iowa, with a "1st" foam finger to indicate Iowa's "first in the nation" position.
Iowa Oaks
The Cubs were known as the Iowa Oaks from 1969 until 1983 and the current club has honored their forbearers several times over the years. Fans of the Oaks got to see players like Hall of Famer Harold Baines, Bucky Dent, Goose Gossage and Vida Blue.
Demonios de Des Moines
The Cubs’ Copa identity pays tribute to the professional baseball team in Des Moines known as the Demons that played from 1925-1937 and again from 1959-1961. They were Western League Champions in 1925 and 1926 and then took the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League title in 1959. The name Demonios is nearly an anagram of Des Moines, it just needs an extra 'e' and 's'. The Demonios logo was designed to be a modern version of an old favorite with a mischievous look that makes you wonder what he knows that you don't.
Pensacola Blue Wahoos
The Blue Wahoos are the Double A team for the Miami Marlins and have played in Pensacola since 2012.
Pensacola Pok-ta-Pok
The identity for the Pensacola Pok-Ta-Pok was created by Mexico City based artist Jacobo Vidal. The logo shows a Pok-Ta-Pok player playing the game in front of the famous El Castillo pyramid at the Mayan city of Chichen Itza in Mexico. Chichen Itza has one of the largest and most well-preserved original Pok-Ta-Pok courts. The rules of the game are not known but it seems like it was similar to handball but the players hit the ball with their hips and with the added stone hoops to increase scoring chances. It might have also involved ritual sacrifice with the losers of the game also losing their lives.
Pensacola Mullets
Everyone loves a mullet, (just think Jaromir Jagr or Billy Ray Cyrus), and the Wahoos have caught the fever. They are playing a few games this season as the Pensacola Mullets (a mullet is also a type of fish), and even if their players don’t have a real mullet, there is a stylized one on the back of the jersey.
Pensacola Crabzillas
In 2021 the Pensacola Blue Wahoos served their fans a feast for the eyes at the Festival of Crabzilla by taking the field in the worst uniforms in sports history. The team unveiled head-to-toe eyesore orange uniforms. While the front of the uniforms are atrocious, the true fashion crime rests on the backside, where a cartoon crab makes unflinching eye contact from the rear of the pants. With crab claws crawling down the legs of the pants and crab eyes staring squarely from the butt of the pants, the team was sure to both terrify and confuse opponents. The Festival of Crabzilla celebrates the humongous Crabzilla sandwich that was named the Best New Food Item in the country by Ballpark Digest in 2019. The feast of a sandwich includes a full soft-shell crab, crab remoulade, pork belly, parmesan crab mac and cheese, fried shrimp, hush puppies, lettuce, and tomato on a brioche bun with a heaping helping of crab fries on the side. After its introduction at the stadium, the sandwich became so popular with fans that a pre-game hotline had to be established to allow fans to call in their Crabzilla order before heading to the ballpark.
Buffalo Bison
Back again are our old friends the Buffalo Bisons, the Triple A team of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Buffalo Wings
Who doesn’t love a dozen (or more) spicy buffalo wings? The answer is no one, and the Bison have capitalized on that fact along with the ubiquitous food item being invented in Buffalo, to come up with one of the more popular alter egos in minor league baseball. It is so successful that they have been the Buffalo Wings at least once every season for the last few years. They have taken their identity to another level with the Wing races at every game and of course the original Buffalo Wings at every food counter
This is my non-exhaustive list of my favorite alter egos for minor league teams. I could go one for a really long time since there are so many minor league teams and pretty much all of them has at least one alternate identity but I will keep it to just two parts with Part II coming next week. I hope you are enjoying these posts and find them, at least a little amusing and maybe a little educational.
Chris