Connecticut, Leading The Nation In Bad Minor League Team Names

luckiestman

Son of the Harpy
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
32,618
Yard Goats is Awesome. Sea Unicorns is a bit goofy but Norwich is a weird place
 
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8slim

has trust issues
SoSH Member
Nov 6, 2001
24,829
Unreal America
Yard Goats is great. I mean, Worcester Red Sox, now that’s a stupid flipping’ name.

To me, the more outlandish a minor league baseball name, the better. Connecticut Tigers is better than Norwich Sea Unicorns?! Puhleeeeze.
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
SoSH Member
Oct 31, 2013
72,430
I love Tigers. I love the state of Connecticut (except maybe East Hartford and New Haven). But Connecticut Tigers is a stupid non-sensical name.

Yard Goats is awesome
 

Papelbon's Poutine

Homeland Security
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2005
19,615
Portsmouth, NH
Yard Goats is awesome. Sea Unicorns...meh. Middle of the pack. Neither are the Montgomery Biscuits or Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, but they can’t all be. I think I still have a Chattanooga Lookouts hat kick around somewhere, probably with my Isotopes and LumberKings hats.
 

PC Drunken Friar

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 12, 2003
14,540
South Boston
In high school, we played Keefe Tech High (in Framingham) in basketball. Their colors were brown and orange. Their nickname was the Unicorns. I never understood that one.
 

stepson_and_toe

New Member
Aug 11, 2019
386
Aren't team nicknames largely a matter of selling merchandise? A few years back, MLB ruled that a minor league club had to wait X number of years before they could change its nickname unless there was a new owner or they changed location. It's all about money: sell ball park naming rights to a company that offers the most; pick team nicknames that ring up the registers.

Yard Goats is a term for engines used to switch cars between tracks in a rail yard. Hartford was once a big industrial center and the gateway to trains to the rest of New England. So, you can sell kids tee shirts with Yard Goats or bring back the nickname of the 1885 team, the Hartford Babies. Which would sell better?
 

oumbi

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 15, 2006
4,167
I vote we expand this thread to include college level teams as well.
2736727368
 

Spacemans Bong

chapeau rose
SoSH Member
What's not helping the Sea Unicorns' look is they transparently got the same design agency for their rebrand as the Yard Goats'.

Reminds me of how the Padres refreshed their duds in the 80s and ended up looking like a thrift shop version of the Giants...because they hired the same agency. Ironically, the agency that did the HYG and NSU logos, Brandiose, is based in San Diego.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

Homeland Security
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2005
19,615
Portsmouth, NH
Meh, the new ones all look similar in their stylings.My only disappointment is that Narwhals didn't win the team naming contest, there was all kinds of ties ins available there - the kids would have loved to see the walrus, polar bear and arctic puffin race against Buddy or the narwhal in between innings.
 

luckiestman

Son of the Harpy
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
32,618
Meh, the new ones all look similar in their stylings.My only disappointment is that Narwhals didn't win the team naming contest, there was all kinds of ties ins available there - the kids would have loved to see the walrus, polar bear and arctic puffin race against Buddy or the narwhal in between innings.

SO you could kind of say they have C uniforms?
 

InstaFace

The Ultimate One
SoSH Member
Sep 27, 2016
21,754
Pittsburgh, PA
minor league teams should be as ridiculous as possible. im a big fan of jacksonville's squad

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacksonville_Jumbo_Shrimp
Team names that are oxymorons are automatic winners in my book. They need a Northern Virginia Military Intelligence. An Atlanta Walking Dead.

Alliteration is a decent fallback. For that reason alone, Norwich Narwhals is much better than Sea Unicorns.

And of course, best of all are Simpsons references, so the Albuquerque Isotopes are probably the best team name in sports. Yeah sure they've had Los Alamos since the 40s, but they never would have named the team that without the Simpsons.
 

section15

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 23, 2007
227
Bradford, MA and section 15
The now-defunct Bradford College , in my neighborhood - had Fighting Squirrels as their mascot. They actually had a co-ed basketball team at one time.

For some reason, "Bradford Fighting Squirrels" logo'd gear is someone cultish on the 'web. I'm not sure if the school had anything to do with it but some of it has, obviously, shown up as gangwear. Needless to say, there was no gang activity at Bradford College.squirrel.jpg
 

Fred not Lynn

Dick Button Jr.
SoSH Member
Jul 13, 2005
5,253
Alberta
And of course, best of all are Simpsons references, so the Albuquerque Isotopes are probably the best team name in sports. Yeah sure they've had Los Alamos since the 40s, but they never would have named the team that without the Simpsons.
From the moment they won their last game at Burns Stadium on a walk-off strikeout, everyone KNEW they would quickly re-emerge as the Albuquerque Isotopes...
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
SoSH Member
Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
Team names that are oxymorons are automatic winners in my book. They need a Northern Virginia Military Intelligence. An Atlanta Walking Dead.

Alliteration is a decent fallback. For that reason alone, Norwich Narwhals is much better than Sea Unicorns.

And of course, best of all are Simpsons references, so the Albuquerque Isotopes are probably the best team name in sports. Yeah sure they've had Los Alamos since the 40s, but they never would have named the team that without the Simpsons.
I used to say, before I was woke, that MLB should expand to Richmond or the Alexandria suburbs and name the team the Army of Northern Virginia.
 

PortlandSoxFan

Father of Idontgiveafuckism
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Is there a worst collective group of mascot names than the NESCAC?
Contintentals (of which I am one)
Camels
Lord Jeffs (I know they changed, but whatever)
Jumbos
Ephs
Bantams (truly a bunch of cocks)
Polar Bears
White Mules
 

Savin Hillbilly

loves the secret sauce
SoSH Member
Jul 10, 2007
18,783
The wrong side of the bridge....
Is there a worst collective group of mascot names than the NESCAC?
Contintentals (of which I am one)
Camels
Lord Jeffs (I know they changed, but whatever)
Jumbos
Ephs
Bantams (truly a bunch of cocks)
Polar Bears
White Mules
Cheers fellow alum!

Kind of the epitome of NESCAC sports in my day was Hamilton's all-kazoo football band, known IIRC as the Aaron Burr Lucky Shot Society Marching Band.
 

Devers1stBeer

New Member
Mar 26, 2020
8
Oregon may have you licked. Not with ironically funny names that suck, but rather names that just plain ol' suck.
South to North:
Eugene Emeralds
Salem-Keizer Volcanoes
Hillsboro Hops
All N.L. single-a short season, whaleshit baseball teams. Only saving grace is that Volcanoes half season box tickets only cost $200 a pop.
 

Savin Hillbilly

loves the secret sauce
SoSH Member
Jul 10, 2007
18,783
The wrong side of the bridge....
Oregon may have you licked. Not with ironically funny names that suck, but rather names that just plain ol' suck.
South to North:
Eugene Emeralds
Salem-Keizer Volcanoes
Hillsboro Hops
All N.L. single-a short season, whaleshit baseball teams. Only saving grace is that Volcanoes half season box tickets only cost $200 a pop.
Having Oregon family on my father's side, I suspect that it would be considered too flashy in Oregon to have a quirky team name. There's a side to Oregon culture that's almost Amish (or pop-culture-stereotype Amish)--they prize modesty and dislike ostentation.