Friday, February 28

Today is the penultimate day of the month, so this intro only has a second to last. Welcome to The Baseball Traveler newsletter. Let’s talk about Minor League Baseball.

I was on vacation last week, but this newsletter continued unabated due to a hostile takeover by autodidactic orator Josh Jackson. Thank you, Josh, for using this space to natter on about the Morristown Roosters. Now it’s my turn to do the nattering, which will focus, yet again, on alternate identities. 

Minor League Baseball’s alternate identity unveiling season recently hit its peak, with teams nationwide revealing alter-egos that will occasionally take the place of their day-to-day monikers. This article includes six just-released alter-egos, but we’ll start with the latest iteration of an all-time classic.

Fresno Grizzlies (Single-A COL): Fresno Tacos
In 2014 the Lehigh Valley IronPigs began wearing bacon-themed alternate uniforms. The following season the Fresno Grizzlies took this concept and expanded upon it, announcing that they would play a game as the Tacos. This, per the Grizzlies, made them “the first team to take the field under a name that was different than their traditional identity.” The 2025 iteration of the Tacos features a taco truck primary logo – the Grizzlies have long hosted an annual Taco Truck Throwdown event – and includes a sleeve patch that states “The OG Alter-Ego.”  The first Tacos game of the 2025 season takes place May 30. 

Akron RubberDucks (Double-A CLE): Akron Cheese Salads
If you’ve paid attention to the RubberDucks over the past several seasons, then you’ve received a crash course on the culinary specialties of Northeast Ohio. From the team that brought you Jojos, Sauerkraut Balls, Barberton Fried Chicken and Hot Rice, White French and Galley Boys comes Cheese Salads, an homage to a side dish of “salad favorites topped with a mountain of shredded mozzarella cheese.” The team will suit up as such on July 11.

“The cheese salad is truly an Akron creation,” said RubberDucks president Jim Pfander. “Just as the mountain of cheese hides the other part of the salad to create a surprise in every bite, there is a unique piece of history hidden around every turn in the city of Akron.” 

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Double-A TOR): New Hampshire Space Potatoes
Be on the lookout for Unidentified Frying Objects on April 19, when the Space Potatoes make their debut. This is the Fisher Cats’ second-ever alternate identity, following 2022’s Manchester Chicken Tenders, and it’s a real mash-up. Potatoes are New Hampshire’s official vegetable, and the state also holds a prominent place in alien abduction history (see the Barney and Betty Hill incident of 1961). So, there you have it: Space Potatoes. It doesn’t really make sense, but does it really need to? 

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Triple-A MIA): Jacksonville Honey Drippers
The Jumbo Shrimp have long been one of the most innovative teams in the Minors when it comes to promotions, which may explain why they’ve resisted the alternate identity trend until now. Why do what everyone else is doing? But, then again, why not? The Honey Drippers have dropped, a pink, yellow and blue tableau that celebrates a beloved dessert within Jacksonville’s Eastside neighborhood. The anthropomorphic Honey Dripper in question wields a spoon as a bat, ready to decimate any forkballs or cutters that come his way. The first of four Honey Dripper games takes place on May 24. 

Winston-Salem Dash (High-A CWS): Winston-Salem Hooch Pooches
What do you get when you combine a Boston Terrier, a Chicago affiliation, illicit liquor production and a physical location within the cradle of automobile racing? A Hooch Pooch is what you get, at least according to the idiosyncratic calculations of the Winston-Salem Dash. The logo features a pooch “dressed in his bootlegging best, representing those who delivered hooch in Chicago and made way for the rise of racing in North Carolina.” The Roaring '20s aesthetic builds on last year’s Tobacco Beetles alternate identity, as well as the team’s “Golden” alternate jerseys. Just go with it. The Hooch Pooches take the field on June 20. 

Toledo Mud Hens (Triple-A DET): Toledo Mud Crawlers
Jeeps have been manufactured in Toledo since the 1940s, and the Mud Hens tip their cap to this large regional employer with their Mud Crawlers identity. The logo features a duck behind the wheel, a nod to the propensity of Jeep owners to adorn their vehicles with toy ducks. The duck is depicted doing the Jeep wave, another long-established practice, in which Jeep owners wave hello to each other while cruising down the road in their Toledo-made vehicles. The Mud Hens play as the Mud Crawlers on six occasions in 2025, beginning on June 12.   

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (High-A MIL): Wisconsin Frozen Pizzas
Did you know that the Tombstone pizza company was started at the Tombstone Tap, a Wisconsin bar located across the street from a graveyard? This is but one of many of the state’s claims to frozen pizza fame; as the Timber Rattlers note in their press release, "Wisconsin’s large cheese production, manufacturing know-how and big appetites all contribute to its frozen pizza dominance.” That dominance will be celebrated on July 20, when the Frozen Pizzas take the field. The first 1,000 fans in attendance receive a pizza oven bobblehead.

By the time you read this, even more Minor League alternate identities will have been announced. We’ll cross that bridge later, because right now someone is demanding we make a roadside stop.

This is Josh Jackson, ready to place an order. You know me as the host of Ghosts of the Minors, the segment on The Show Before The Show podcast that demands you identify the real historical Minor League Baseball team or player disguised among a pair of fakes.

Last week, we clucked up the dirt on the Morristown Roosters. This week, I ask which of these players really hopped to it in the Minors of yesteryear?

1. Rabbit O'Hare
2. Roo-Roo Stultz
3. Bunny Mick

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

The Little Rock Nine sounds like it could be the name of a baseball team playing in Arkansas' capital city, and for three nights during the 2025 season, it will be. The story behind the name transcends baseball. For three nights in August the Arkansas Travelers will pay tribute to the group of students -- the Little Rock Nine -- who desegregated the Little Rock school system in 1957.

Yes, this is an alternate identity but given the seriousness of the subject matter it deserves to be listed separately. Also, before I left for vacation last week, I was able to write a standalone story about it. This is a great initiative by the Travelers:

READ ABOUT THE TRAVELERS’ LITTLE ROCK NINE WEEKEND HERE

People are always asking me this question and as of this moment I’m not exactly sure. What ballparks do you think I should visit this season, and why? What ballparks are you planning to visit? It’s time to get some itineraries together. Stay tuned.

And thanks, as always, for reading. Get in touch anytime. 

Contact Benjamin Hill

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