The Bush League Factor

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Teams with asterisks are not yet posted

Aberdeen IronBirds*
Acereros de Monclova
Aigles de Trois-Rivieres*
Akron Aeros*
Albuquerque Isotopes*
Alexandria Aces*
Altoona Curve*
Amarillo Sox*
American Defenders of
New Hampshire*
Arkansas Travelers
Asheville Tourists*
Auburn Doubledays*
Augusta GreenJackets
Bakersfield Blaze*
Batavia Muckdogs
Bay Area Toros*
Beloit Snappers
Billings Mustangs*
Binghamton Mets*
Birmingham Barons*
Bluefield Blue Jays*
Boise Hawks*
Bowie Baysox*
Bowling Green Hot Rods*
Brevard County Manatees*
Bridgeport Bluefish*
Bristol White Sox*
Broncos de Reynosa*
Brooklyn Cyclones
Buffalo Bisons*
Burlington Bees
Burlington Royals*
Calgary Vipers*
Camden Riversharks*
Capitales de Quebec*
Carolina Mudcats
Cedar Rapids Kernels*
Charleston RiverDogs*
Charlotte Knights
Charlotte Stone Crabs*
Chattanooga Lookouts*
Clearwater Threshers*
Clinton LumberKings*
Colorado Springs Sky Sox*
Columbus Clippers
Connecticut Tigers
Corpus Christi Hooks*
Danville Braves
Dayton Dragons
Daytona Cubs*
Delfines del Carmen
Delmarva Shorebirds*
Diablos Rojos del México
Dunedin Blue Jays*
Durham Bulls
El Paso Diablos
Elizabethton Twins
Eugene Emeralds*
Evansville Otters*
Everett AquaSox*
Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks
Florence Freedom
Fort Myers Miracle*
Fort Wayne TinCaps*
Frederick Keys*
Fresno Grizzlies
Frisco RoughRiders*
Frontier Greys*
Gary SouthShore RailCats
Gateway Grizzlies
Grand Junction Rockies*
Grand Prairie Air Hogs*
Great Falls Voyagers*
Great Lakes Loons*
Greeneville Astros*
Greensboro Grasshoppers
Greenville Drive
Guerreros de Oaxaca
Gwinnett Braves
Hagerstown Suns*
Harrisburg Senators*
Helena Brewers
Hickory Crawdads
High Desert Mavericks*
Hillsboro Hops*
Hudson Valley Renegades*
Huntsville Stars
Idaho Falls Chukars*
Indianapolis Indians
Inland Empire 66ers
Iowa Cubs
Jackson Generals*
Jacksonville Suns*
Jamestown Jammers*
Johnson City Cardinals*
Joliet Slammers*
Jupiter Hammerheads*
Kane County Cougars*
Kannapolis Intimidators*
Kansas City T-Bones
Kingsport Mets*
Lake Elsinore Storm*
Lake Erie Crushers*
Lakeland Flying Tigers*
Lakewood BlueClaws*
Lancaster Barnstormers*
Lancaster JetHawks*
Lansing Lugnuts
Laredo Lemurs*
Las Vegas 51s*
Lehigh Valley IronPigs*
Leones de Yucatán*
Lexington Legends
Lincoln Saltdogs
Long Beach Armada*
Long Island Ducks
Los Potros de Tijuana*
Louisville Bats*
Lowell Spinners
Lynchburg Hillcats
Mahoning Valley Scrappers*
Memphis Redbirds
Midland RockHounds
Midwest Sliders*
Mississippi Braves
Missoula Osprey*
Mobile BayBears*
Modesto Nuts*
Montgomery Biscuits*
Myrtle Beach Pelicans
Nashville Sounds*
New Britain Rock Cats
New Hampshire Fisher Cats*
New Jersey Jackals
New Orleans Zephyrs*
Newark Bears
Norfolk Tides
Northwest Arkansas Naturals*
Ogden Raptors*
Oklahoma City Redhawks
Olmecas de Tabasco*
Omaha Storm Chasers*
Orem Owlz
Palm Beach Cardinals*
Pawtucket Red Sox
Pensacola Blue Wahoos*
Peoria Chiefs
Pericos de Puebla*
Petroleros de Minatitlán*
Piratas de Campeche*
Portland Sea Dogs
Potomac Nationals*
Princeton Rays*
Pulaski Mariners*
Quad City River Bandits*
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
Reading Fightin Phils
Reno Aces
Richmond Flying Squirrels*
River City Rascals*
Rochester Red Wings
Rockford Aviators*
Rojos del Águila de Veracruz
Rome Braves
Round Rock Express*
Sacramento River Cats*
Salem Red Sox
Salem-Keizer Volcanoes
Salt Lake Bees
San Antonio Missions*
San Jose Giants
Saraperos de Saltillo*
Sarasota Reds*
Savannah SandGnats*
Schaumburg Boomers*
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders*
Sioux City Explorers*
Sioux Falls (Fighting) Pheasants
Somerset Patriots*
South Bend Silver Hawks*
Southern Illinois Miners*
Southern Maryland Blue Crabs*
Spokane Indians
Springfield Cardinals*
St. Lucie Mets*
St. Paul Saints
State College Spikes
Staten Island Yankees*
Stockton Ports*
Sultanes de Monterrey
Syracuse Chiefs
Tacoma Rainiers
Tampa Yankees*
Tennessee Smokies*
Texarkana Gunslingers*
Tigres de Quintana Roo
Toledo Mud Hens
Traverse City Beach Bums
Trenton Thunder*
Tri-City Dust Devils*
Tri-City ValleyCats
Tucson Padres
Tulsa Drillers
Vancouver Canadians*
Vaqueros Laguna*
Vermont Lake Monsters
Visalia Rawhide*
Washington Wild Things
West Michigan Whitecaps
West Virginia Power*
Wichita Wingnuts*
Williamsport Crosscutters*
Wilmington Blue Rocks*
Windy City ThunderBolts*
Winnipeg Goldeyes
Winston-Salem Dash*
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers*
York Revolution*

Each rule has a basic value -- most are positive, but there are a handful of negative-value rules for doing good things. Second, violations may be termed "egregious". Some rules have set guidelines for egregious violations (see the "Region" rule as an example), while for others it's simply a matter of me deciding that the team broke the rule worse than most teams. For egregious violations, the value of the penalty is 2x+1 — i.e., x + (x+1). Violations can be doubly-egregious, in which case the value is of the penalty is 3x+3 — i.e., x + (x+1) + (x+2). In some cases violations can be triply-egregious or even worse.

Region (8 pts) — The place name is a region, not a city (e.g., "Hudson Valley"). Automatically egregious if the region in question is a state. Automatically doubly-egregious for regions larger than a state. Automatically egregious for each other team in the same league in the same region.
Reference (10 pts) — The name includes a direct reference to some aspect of baseball, such as part of the field ("Diamond Jaxx"), equipment ("Bats"), etc. Each additional reference is egregious. The word "Sox" is its own penalty and thus does not count, but if the word preceding "Sox" is a reference, it gets the penalty in addition to rendering the "Sox" penalty egregious. (For example, if a team was named "Diamond Sox", the total penalty for the name would be 45 points: "Sox" is made egregious since it is preceded by a word that isn't a color, so 20 + (20+1) = 41; the word "Diamond" earns four points of its own for being a reference; 41 + 4 = 45).
Singular (15 pts) — The nickname is singular or collective (e.g., "Avalanche").
Sox (20 points) — The word "Sox" appears in the nickname. Automatically egregious if preceded by any word other than a color.
Wordplay (23 pts) — Any form of wordplay is involved in the name. This includes names that have an obvious baseball reference where the logo implies some other meaning (such as the mammal as a logo for the Louisville Bats).
Ers (26 pts) — The nickname is a made-up word ending in "-ers" (e.g., "66ers").
Software (27 pts) — The name has capital letters appearing in the middle of a word as if it were a software product (e.g., "RailCats"). Egregious if there are two capital letters appears in the middle of the word; doubly-egregious is there are three; et cetera.
Misspell (29 pts) — Something in the team name is misspelled (e.g., "Diamond Jaxx"). Automatically egregious if the misspelling occurs in the place name. The word "Sox" is its own penalty and thus does not count.
Compound (34 pts) — The nickname is a made-up compound word (e.g., "RiverDogs"). This penalty does not apply to any nickname involving the word "Sox", since this is dealt with under the "Sox" penalty.
Alliteration (5 pts) — More than one word (usually but not always the place name and nickname) start with the same sound and/or letter (e.g., "Jamestown Jammers", "Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings").
Script (7 pts) — The city or team name appears in cursive lettering.
Scenery (11 pts) — Some form of scenery (mountains, waves, etc.) appears in the logo. This penalty does not apply when it is directly related to the nickname, but does if it is related to the location name.
Offspring (12 pts) — The team logo borrows heavily from the parent team's logo and/or the team has the same name as the parent team. (e.g., "Mississippi Braves").
Equipment (13 pts) — Baseball equipment appears in the logo (e.g., the ball in the Tulsa Drillers' logo) in any context other than being used by a baseball player (there is a separate "Player" penalty to handle such instances).
Diamond (16 pts) — A diamond appears in the logo. This can be either a baseball diamond, a simple rotated square, or even a drawing of a gem.
Obvious (17 pts) — The word "baseball" appears in the logo to remind people at the game what sport they are watching.
Letter (24 pts) — A letter is one of the main features of the logo. This may be a single letter, a pair of letters (as with the Wilmington Blue Rocks), or the entire name (as with the St. Paul Saints).
Humanoid (30 pts) — Human features (hands, teeth, etc.) have been given to something that isn't human (e.g., the Toledo Mud Hens). Usually this happens to animals, but it can also happen to weather phenomena, letters, etc. In most cases, when something that isn't an animal earns this penalty, it will be egregious (weather phenomena always will). When the object in question is a mythical creature (such as the dragon in Dayton's logo), it is my discretion whether this rule applies.
Colorful (31 pts) — The logo either has too many colors in the logo, or inappropriate colors. What constitutes "too many" and "inappropriate" are judgment calls.
Irrelevance (39 pts) — The dominant feature of the logo has nothing to do with the nickname (e.g., the nutria in the New Orleans Zephyrs' logo).
Cartoon (47 pts) — The logo features a cartoon character (e.g., the duck in the Long Island Ducks' logo). Note that stylized renderings of animals (such as the bird in the St. George Roadrunners' logo) are not cartoons.
Player (51 pts) — A baseball player appearing in the logo is worth a minimum of 51 points. Egregious for use of any non-standard equipment (for example, the two-by-four being used as a bat in the Clinton LumberKings' logo), although this won't apply to clothing (for example, the naval outfit worn by the player in the Lake County Captains' logo) as long as the clothing a) relates to the nickname and b) isn't too ridiculous. Any equipment that is being used by the player will not count toward the "equipment" logo, but it is possible to have unrelated equipment earn this penalty (e.g. the second baseball in the Traverse City Beach Bums' logo).
Name (10 or -10 pts) — This can be a penalty or a bonus. If my general reaction to a name is to say "Yuck!" (e.g., the Lansing Lugnuts"), then ten points are added to the score; if my general reaction is to say "Cool!" (e.g., the Dayton Dragons), then ten points are subtracted.
Logo (12 or -12 pts) — Same as above, but for logos. You want examples? Okay, how about the Asheville Tourists for a penalty and the Charlotte Knights as a bonus.
Local (-6 pts) — The name has a valid connection to the town (e.g., "South Georgia Peanuts"). This one is subjective and I do get the final say, but feel free to drop me a line if you think I'm unaware of the significance of a name. Please note that in rare instances I may turn this into a penalty if I feel the name is spectacularly inappropriate for the city (such as the Tampa Yankees)
Graphic (-9 pts) — A nine-point bonus is given to any team whose logo has absolutely no letters in it.