Friday, February 07

It’s “National Pay a Compliment Day” and I must do my part: The readers of this newsletter are, without exception, strong and good-looking people possessed of appealing personality, discerning taste and unimpeachable morals. OK, with that out of the way, welcome to The Baseball Traveler Newsletter. Let’s talk about Minor League Baseball.

We’re roughly two months away from Opening Day, but the offseason is in the books as regards one key metric: All new Minor League team names and primary logos have been unveiled.

Heading into the 2025 campaign, seven Minor League teams will sport a different look. The changes, encompassing entirely new identities (for relocating clubs) as well as overhauls of existing ones, are listed below for your pleasure and convenience.

Team: Hub City Spartanburgers (High-A TEX)
Unveil date: May 11
Occurrence: New identity for relocating team
Designer: Studio Simon
The Down East Wood Ducks, based in Kinston, N.C., played their final season in 2024. Approximately a month after this farewell campaign got underway, details regarding the next iteration of the franchise were unveiled. The Wood Ducks are now the Hub City Spartanburgers, a unique identity in that it includes a city nickname as the place name while incorporating the city itself into the team name. The Spartanburgers, who switched places with the Hickory Crawdads (now Single-A) in the Rangers’ farm system, will play in new Fifth Third Park. Their logos, as befit the name, are based around hamburgers and their accoutrements. READ MORE

Team: Columbus Clingstones (Double-A ATL)
Unveil date: Sept. 6
Occurrence: New identity for relocating team
Designer: Studio Simon
The Mississippi Braves, who played in the Jackson suburb of Pearl, are no more. In their place are the Columbus (Ga.) Clingstones, who utilize the color peach as part of their color scheme because they’re named after a type of peach (clingstones, as their name would suggest, cling to the pit). The Clingstones mark the return of Minor League Baseball to Columbus after a 17-year absence, and they’ll play in a ballpark that’s brand-new and has a storied past. Synovus Park is located on the site where the city’s previous stadium, Golden Park, once stood. And, to an extent, still stands, as various aspects of the old stadium are incorporated into the new one. READ MORE

Team: Oklahoma City Comets (Triple-A LAD)
Unveil Date: Oct. 26
Occurrence: New name and logos
Designer: Studio Simon
Since its establishment, Oklahoma City’s Triple-A team has employed five monikers: 89ers (1962-97), Redhawks (1998-2014), Dodgers (2015-23) and, we hardly knew ye, Baseball Club (2024). That final name was a placeholder, as the club transitioned from a Los Angeles Dodgers-linked ownership group to Diamond Baseball Holdings (the team’s affiliation with the Dodgers remains). The Comets name and outer space-themed branding references Oklahoma City’s aerospace industry and reflects a general sense of optimism regarding the growth of the city. It is also a tribute to the best ballplayer to come out of the state of Oklahoma: Mickey Mantle a.k.a The Commerce Comet. READ MORE 

Team: Knoxville Smokies (Double-A CHC)
Unveil date: Nov. 7
Occurrence: New place name, updated logos
Designer: GoTeez, updating original logos by Studio Simon
In 2000 the Knoxville Smokies relocated 20 miles east to the town of Kodak and christened themselves the Tennessee Smokies. The Knoxville Smokies have now returned, playing at new Covenant Health Ballpark in the city’s downtown. The new-era Smokies have tweaked their logos accordingly, with the biggest change being “Knoxville,” in cursive, replacing “Tennessee” in the primary logo. "Dan Simon [of Studio Simon] did a great job with the original logo,” said Smokies president Chris Allen. “We decided to be real subtle with the changes.” READ MORE

Team: Chesapeake Baysox (Double-A BAL)
Unveil date: Nov. 22
Occurrence: New place name, new logos
Designer: Younts Design
The Bowie Baysox, established in 1993, have always referenced the Chesapeake Bay in their name. Now that connection has been made explicit. Per team owner Greg Baroni, the change from Bowie to Chesapeake “reflects the broader fan base” of the six-state Chesapeake Bay region while “hold[ing] on to the local traditions and spirit of the Bowie name.” The longtime Baltimore affiliate unveiled new logos in conjunction with the name change, anchored by an “audacious” crab holding the Maryland state flag in its right pincer. READ MORE

Team: Salt Lake Bees (Triple-A LAA)
Unveil date: Nov. 25
Occurrence: New logos
The Bees refreshed their logos in advance of moving into a new stadium, The Ballpark at America First Square. The team’s black-and-gold color scheme remains the same, though an “Angels red” has been added in reference to the parent club. The logo set features several references to franchise history and Salt Lake City’s baseball legacy. The interlocking SL ligature is modeled after the original Bees teams of the early 20th century, as is the “flat bee” secondary mark. A logo featuring Bees script running diagonally through the state of Utah is modeled after a design used by the Angels from 1971-85. READ MORE

Team: Corpus Christi Hooks (Double-A HOU)
Unveil date: Jan 31
Occurrence: New logos
Designer: Courtney Gatlin (Hooks senior manager of creative services)
In advance of their 20th season, the Hooks significantly altered their look. The primary logo features the team wordmark atop a mirador, referencing the eight gazebo-style structures situated along the Corpus Christi bayfront. An outline of the state of Texas is placed between eight stars (representing the miradors) and the wordmark, with the point of a hook designating Corpus Christi’s starred location. An alternate “Sparkling City” logo refers to the south Texas locale’s “Sparkling City by the Sea” nickname. READ MORE

This is Josh Jackson, crashing in on Tricky Ben Hill, King of MiLB Newsletters. You know me as the host of Ghosts of the Minors, the segment on The Show Before The Show podcast that challenges you to identify the real historical Minor League Baseball team or player hidden among two phonies.

Last week, we cleaned up with the Marlin Bathers. This week, I ask which of these players was good enough to make you sick in the Minors of yesteryear?

1. Marvin Barf
2. Leo Pukas
3. Ted Vomitty

For the answer, tune into the next Ghosts of the Minors!

In last week’s newsletter I mentioned that the Winston-Salem Dash had sponsored the racecar and fire suit of teenage speed demon Riley “The Real Deal” Neal. Last week’s “Show Before the Show” podcast featured an interview with Neal and Dash GM Brian DeAngelis about how this sponsorship came about, and there’s a lot more excellent Minor League discussion where that came from. LISTEN HERE

Speaking of Riley but spelling it differently: Rylee Pay is the new voice of the Tacoma Rainiers, following the retirement of Mike Curto. Pay previously called games for the Portland Sea Dogs, working alongside Emma Tiedemann in an all-female broadcast booth. READ MORE

Yet again there’s a new Eastern League alternate identity to share, as the Hartford Yard Goats will play a game as the Thunder Chickens in 2025. Thunder Chickens is a nickname for a wild turkey, we’re told, and Connecticut is home to a lot of them. READ MORE

And did you know? The Yard Goats are not the first team to suit up as the Thunder Chickens. I should know. I was there. 

The Hudson Valley Renegades (not in the Eastern League) will play a game as the Retrievers, in part as a tribute to their own ballpark retriever, Bella. The logo looks fetching. READ MORE

Finally, here’s a trivia question I don’t know the answer to: As detailed last week, the Syracuse Mets have the longest championship drought in all of Minor League Baseball. What Minor League team held this (dubious) honor prior to Syracuse assuming the mantle? Email me if you know the answer.

Alternately, email me for any reason at all (including, in the spirt of today’s holiday, to pay me a compliment). Thanks, as always, for reading all the way to the conclusion of the final sentence.

Contact Benjamin Hill

View Online

© 2025 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

Please review our Privacy Policy.

You (josh.jackson@mlb.com) received this message because you registered to receive commercial email messages or purchased a ticket from MLB. 

Please add info@marketing.mlbemail.com to your address book to ensure our messages reach your inbox. If you no longer wish to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com, please unsubscribe or log in and manage your email subscriptions.

Postal Address: MLB.com, c/o MLB Advanced Media, L.P., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.