(Above: Savannah Sand Gnats Logo)
(The United States of America) While controversy surrounding team mascots is by no means new to truly professional sports, MiLB has reached some new ground all on its own: a shortage of contemptuous mascots. Teams like the Savannah Sand Gnats, the New Orleans Baby Cakes, and the Topeka Train Robbers stretch the imagination when it comes to what exactly a mascot should be. Should they be respectable, threatening, or simply surprising?
Floyd Schultz, a representative for the South Appalachian League, had this to say:
"Look, we aren't the big leagues, right? You come to our games because you want to have some beers, see the boys, and probably gawk at some of your teenage daughter's friends without coming off like a total creeper. We know what we are. What a lot of you probably don't know is how many team names end up on the cutting room floor."
Schultz's job as a representative is only part time, paying him roughly fifteen packs of peanuts every other week, depending on game attendance.
"We had the Reidsville (NC) Nazis - that one was too popular, but, you know, we meant it ironically. We had to shut that down for safety reasons. Then, there was the Groatsville (GA) Ebola Virii, but people didn't get the whole Latin plural thing, I think. No one really cheers for these teams, not like they do the Chicago Blackhawks, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Cleveland Indians, the Atlanta Braves, or the Philadelphia Phillies. The team names are meant to get people to buy the merch(andise) ironically. You know, the Flocksville (FL) Paramecia were a big hit with the hipster kids. I heard that the Southeastern Swamp League had most of their orders from Brooklyn."
As Schultz pointed out though, the leagues are running into trouble in flirting with bad taste but not actually opening themselves up to legal action.
"I mean, for godsakes, who are we trying to push out there, the Redskins?"
