The votes are in: The Mobile BayBears will become the Rocket City Trash Pandas

Tampa Bay Rays Cincinnati Reds inning of their spring training baseball game in Port Charlotte, Fla., Wednesday March 18, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) (Charles Krupa/AP)

By Michael Clair

September 6, 2018

Forget the visual arts, literature and music: The most fertile creative work is being done is in the realm of Minor League team names, and the newest one is a corker. When the Mobile BayBears -- the Double-A affiliate of the Angels -- move to Madison, Ala., in 2020, they will transform into ... the Rocket City Trash Pandas. Oh, would a raccoon by any other name smell as sweet?
The name beat out the ThunderSharks, Moon Possums, Space Chimps and Comet Jockeys as the preferred moniker for the club. If you're curious why all the space names, Madison is a short 15-minute drive from the U.S. Space and Rocket Center -- the largest space museum in the world and the place where the rockets that put man on the moon were originally developed.

Trash Pandas voted nickname for new Madison baseball team https://t.co/1BYPZMvJir pic.twitter.com/kVPoWo3ZAG
— AL.com (@aldotcom) September 5, 2018

With the voting just completed, we'll have to wait until Oct. 27 to see the new logo and merch. While we can't wait to pick up our Trash Panda gear, I suppose it's time to mourn for this horrifying creature of the night: The BayBears mascot, with his never-closing, all-seeing eyes:

(image via Wikimedia Commons)

Teams in this article:

Los Angeles Angels