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Aberdeen IronBirds*
Acereros del Norte
Águila de Veracruz
Aigles de Trois-Rivières
Akron RubberDucks
Albuquerque Isotopes
Algodoneros de Unión Laguna
Altoona Curve
Amarillo Sod Poodles
Arkansas Travelers
Asheville Tourists
Augusta GreenJackets
Beloit Sky Carp*
Billings Mustangs
Biloxi Shuckers
Binghamton Rumble Ponies
Birmingham Barons
Boise Hawks
Bowie Baysox
Bowling Green Hot Rods
Bradenton Marauders
Bravos de León
Brooklyn Cyclones
Buffalo Bisons
Capitales de Quebec
Carolina Mudcats
Cedar Rapids Kernels
Charleston Dirty Birds
Charleston RiverDogs
Charlotte Knights*
Chattanooga Lookouts
Chicago Dogs
Clearwater Threshers
Cleburne Railroaders
Columbia Fireflies
Columbus Clippers
Corpus Christi Hooks
Dayton Dragons
Daytona Tortugas
Delmarva Shorebirds
Diablos Rojos del México
Down East Wood Ducks
Dunedin Blue Jays
Durham Bulls
El Paso Chihuahuas
Empire State Greys*
Erie SeaWolves
Eugene Emeralds
Evansville Otters*
Everett AquaSox
Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks
Fayetteville Woodpeckers
Florence Y'Alls
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels
Fort Wayne TinCaps
Fredericksburg Nationals
Fresno Grizzlies
Frisco RoughRiders
Gary SouthShore RailCats
Gastonia Honey Hunters
Gateway Grizzlies
Generales de Durango
Glacier Range Riders
Grand Junction Jackalopes
Great Falls Voyagers
Great Lakes Loons
Greensboro Grasshoppers
Greenville Drive
Guerreros de Oaxaca
Gwinnett Stripers
Harrisburg Senators
Hartford Yard Goats
Hickory Crawdads
High Point Rockers
Hillsboro Hops
Hudson Valley Renegades
Idaho Falls Chukars
Indianapolis Indians
Inland Empire 66ers of San
   Bernardino

Iowa Cubs
Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp
Jersey Shore BlueClaws*
Joliet Slammers
Jupiter Hammerheads
Kane County Cougars
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
Kansas City Monarchs
Lake County Captains
Lake Country DockHounds
Lake Elsinore Storm
Lake Erie Crushers
Lakeland Flying Tigers
Lancaster Barnstormers
Lansing Lugnuts
Las Vegas Aviators
Lehigh Valley IronPigs
Leones de Yucatán
Lexington Counter Clocks
Lincoln Saltdogs*
Long Island Ducks
Louisville Bats
Lynchburg Hillcats
Mariachis de Guadalajara
Memphis Redbirds
Midland RockHounds
Milwaukee Milkmen
Mississippi Braves
Missoula Paddleheads
Modesto Nuts
Montgomery Biscuits
Myrtle Beach Pelicans
Nashville Sounds
New Hampshire Fisher Cats
New Jersey Jackals
New York Boulders
Norfolk Tides
Northern Colorado Owlz
Northwest Arkansas Naturals
Ogden Raptors
Oklahoma City Dodgers
Olmecas de Tabasco
Omaha Storm Chasers
Ottawa Titans
Palm Beach Cardinals
Pensacola Blue Wahoos
Peoria Chiefs
Pericos de Puebla
Piratas de Campeche
Portland Sea Dogs
Quad City River Bandits
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
Reading Fightin Phils
Reno Aces
Richmond Flying Squirrels
Rieleros de Aguascalientes
Rochester Red Wings
Rocket City Trash Pandas
Rocky Mountain Vibes
Rome Braves
Round Rock Express
Sacramento River Cats
Salem Red Sox
Salt Lake Bees
San Antonio Missions
San Jose Giants
Saraperos de Saltillo
Schaumburg Boomers
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders
Sioux City Explorers
Sioux Falls Canaries
Somerset Patriots
South Bend Cubs
Southern Maryland Blue Crabs
Spokane Indians
Spire City Ghost Hounds*
Springfield Cardinals
St. Lucie Mets
St. Paul Saints
Staten Island FerryHawks
Stockton Ports
Sugar Land Skeeters
Sultanes de Monterrey
Sussex County Miners*
Syracuse Mets
Tacoma Rainiers
Tampa Tarpons
Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos
Tennessee Smokies
Tigres de Quintana Roo
Toledo Mud Hens
Toros de Tijuana
Tri-City Dust Devils
Tri-City ValleyCats
Vancouver Canadians
Visalia Rawhide
Washington Wild Things
West Michigan Whitecaps
Wichita Wind Surge
Wilmington Blue Rocks
Windy City Thunderbolts
Winnipeg Goldeyes*
Winston-Salem Dash
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
Worcester Red Sox*
York Revolution
Fresno Grizzlies -1

Notice: All logos on this page are included within the parameters of 17 U.S.C. § 107, which states that the reproduction of a copyrighted work for purposes of criticism and/or comment is not an infringement of copyright. No challenge to the copyrights of these logos is intended by their inclusion here.
Posted 2021 August 29

If you're ever in need of a laugh, an easy way to find one is to pick a random city with a baseball team and do a search (Wikipedia and Baseball Reference are both good places to look) to find out the names of old teams in that city. There are few if any cities that have baseball now that didn't have baseball back in the first half of the Twentieth Century, and different approaches to naming teams means you've got a good shot of finding a real doozy. To give you an idea, the closest team to me is the Carolina Mudcats, who play in Zebulon. And looking for old teams in Zebulon, I find that...oh, yeah. Zebulon is one of those rare exceptions; the Mudcats were the first team that town has ever had. Okay, so let's go to the second-closest team to me today, which is the Durham Bulls. Bulls is a solid name, but if you go back and look at their early teams you wind up with such gems as...oh, right. The Durham Bulls name goes all the way back to 1900; there have been only four seasons that a team in Durham had any other name, and two of those four they simply used the affiliates' name.

I'm not doing a good job of proving how well this works, am I?

But it does work pretty well with Fresno. Fresno's first team whose name is known (there was an earlier team, but the records only refer to it as "Fresno" with no nickname) was the Fresno Raisin Eaters, who played in the Pacific Coast League in 1906. As references to local industry go, it's all right, but overall it's a terrible name. The main problem, I think, is that raisin eater sounds like either an epithet or a euphemism. Maybe both. Anyway, the Raisin Eaters only lasted a single season, but after a one-year hiatus baseball returned to the city in the form of the Fresno Tigers of the California State League. Not a bad name, right? But they only used that name for the 1908 season, choosing in 1909 to become the Fresno Raisin Growers. That name (thankfully) only lasted one season as well; in 1910 they were once again the Fresno Tigers. Then they folded, and Fresno went without a team for two years, at which point they got a team called the Fresno Packers. Yes, this was another reference to raisins, although they at least had the decency to not call themselves the Fresno Raisin Packers (which sounds even worse than Raisin Eaters). Guess what happened at the end of the season? Yep, they changed their name to the Fresno Tigers as well, and after a season as the third incarnation of the Fresno Tigers they folded and the city didn't get another team until the 1940s.

From the above paragraph we can see three things. One, the teams were all indecisive as hell about what to call themselves. Two, the problem seems to have been that they wanted a name with local color but every such name they thought of sucked. Three, the lousy names were the least of their worries, since they never went more than three consecutive years with baseball.

Fortunately, in later years baseball in Fresno got its shit together. Baseball returned to Fresno in 1946 and stayed for over four decades. For all but two seasons the team simply used its affiliate name, which was either the Cardinals or the Giants. Not terribly original, but certainly serviceable, and a damned sight better than Raisin Eaters. The other two years were 1957, when they had no major league affiliation and called themselves the Fresno Sun Sox, and 1988, when they once again had no affiliate called themselves the Fresno Suns. 1988 was, incidentally, the end of the run for that team in Fresno; after finishing in last place (it's not easy being an unaffiliated baseball team in an affiliated league) the team was sold and moved to Salinas where, ironically, they regained the Giants affiliation they had lost at the end of the 1987 season.

Then, in 1998, the Fresno Grizzlies came along. This is a good, solid name. And for most of the time they've had sense enough to have a logo featuring a bear that doesn't try to look cute the way some teams try to do. The current logo is a good example. The bear is certainly stylized somewhat, but there's nothing cute or cartoony about it. The red outline is a bit of an odd color to pair with brown, but it does have the benefit of suggesting blood, especially around the claws. Then you've got the slashes that make it look like the logo itself has been slashed by a bear. That's a nice touch.

In short, this is a no-nonsense name and a no-nonsense logo. Good for them. If only the teams in the early Twentieth Century could have some up with names like this, they just might have lasted to see a fourth season.

Final Score: -1 point.
Penalties: Diamond (half-penalty...note the right side of the logo), 8 pts;
Bonuses: Graphic, -9 pts.


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