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How do they come up with the names of these teams....Hartford Yard Goats, Montgomery Biscuits, etc etc......I wonder how well their merchandising is selling...smh
In the case of the Yard Goats it has to do with Hartford's past as a railway hub. A Yard Goat is another name for the switching locomotive in a rail yard used for moving cars around. In the case of Montgomery, the city's historic team name for its baseball teams (the Rebels) was deemed inappropriate when the Orlando Rays moved to Montgomery in 2004, so they decided to go with something fun. In general teams moved away from using their parent club's name in the early '90s in part to boost merchandise sales and also to avoid having to rebrand when/if their affiliation changed.
With regards to your question about merchandise sales, the most recent figures are for 2014 where the Top 25 teams for licensed merchandise sales were (in alphabetical order):
Akron RubberDucks (Double-A, Eastern League affiliate of the Cleveland Indians)
Albuquerque Isotopes (Triple-A, Pacific Coast League affiliate of the Colorado Rockies)
Birmingham Barons (Double-A, Southern league affiliate of the Chicago White Sox)
Carolina Mudcats (Advanced-A, Carolina League affiliate of the Atlanta Braves)
Charlotte Knights (Triple-A, International League affiliate of the Chicago White Sox)
Columbus Clippers (Triple-A, International League affiliate of the Cleveland Indians)
Corpus Christi Hooks (Double-A, Texas League affiliate of the Houston Astros)
Dayton Dragons (Low-A, Midwest League affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds)
Durham Bulls (Triple-A, International League affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays)
El Paso Chihuahuas (Triple-A, Pacific Coast League affiliate of the San Diego Padres)
Fort Wayne TinCaps (Low-A, Midwest League affiliate of the San Diego Padres)
Indianapolis Indians (Triple-A, International League affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates)
Lake Elsinore Storm (Advanced-A, California League affiliate of the San Diego Padres)
Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Triple-A, International League affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies)
Louisville Bats (Triple-A, International League affiliate of Cincinnati Reds)
Portland Sea Dogs (Double-A, Eastern League affiliate of the Boston Red Sox)
Quad Cities River Bandits (Low-A, Midwest League affiliate of the Houston Astros)
Reno Aces (Triple-A, Pacific Coast League affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks)
Richmond Flying Squirrels (Double-A, Eastern League affiliate of the San Francisco Giants)
Rochester Red Wings (Triple-A, International League affiliate of the Minnesota Twins)
Sacramento River Cats (Triple-A, Pacific Coast League affiliate of the San Francisco Giants)
Salt Lake Bees (Triple-A, Pacific Coast League affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels)
Toledo Mud Hens (Triple-A, International League affiliate of the Detroit Tigers)
Trenton Thunder (Double-A, Eastern League affiliate of the New York Yankees)
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Low-A, Midwest League affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers)
You'll note that none of those teams carry the names of their MLB affiliates and several have the sort of off-beat names you deride. The 2015 figures should be out in a month or so, so it'll be interesting to see how much, if any change, there is.
"Fireflies" is pretty good! Though as others have rightly noted, they could probably more appropriately be called the Columbia Lightnin' Bugs. I'd be completely okay with that.
For what it's worth, one of the primary reasons to go with Fireflies over lightning bugs is to tie in The FIRE aspect with Columbia being "Famously Hot". I get it that a lot of people, myself included, tend to call them lightning bugs and there could have been an interesting logo made from combining a bug with a lightning strike, but I personally like the logo that they came up with and their use of flames throughout.
Also, the team wanted to refer specifically to the Photinus carolinus species of Firefly that light up simultaneously at Congaree National Park as the inspiration for the team name. You'll be hard-pressed to find anything that refers to these synchronous fireflies as "lightning bugs" as Congaree National Park and others all refer to them as fireflies, so by keeping that same name Hardball was able to draw a more direct connection between the team name and the phenomenon over at Congaree.
The merchandise looks great IMO and seems to be selling pretty well based on the crowds I've seen in the store, the amount of fireflies gear I've seen popping up all over town, and the early feedback from the team management.
For what it's worth, one of the primary reasons to go with Fireflies over lightning bugs is to tie in The FIRE aspect with Columbia being "Famously Hot". I get it that a lot of people, myself included, tend to call them lightning bugs and there could have been an interesting logo made from combining a bug with a lightning strike, but I personally like the logo that they came up with and their use of flames throughout.
Also, the team wanted to refer specifically to the Photinus carolinus species of Firefly that light up simultaneously at Congaree National Park as the inspiration for the team name. You'll be hard-pressed to find anything that refers to these synchronous fireflies as "lightning bugs" as Congaree National Park and others all refer to them as fireflies, so by keeping that same name Hardball was able to draw a more direct connection between the team name and the phenomenon over at Congaree.
The merchandise looks great IMO and seems to be selling pretty well based on the crowds I've seen in the store, the amount of fireflies gear I've seen popping up all over town, and the early feedback from the team management.
All good reasons for the name. And even though I'm not a Columbia resident anymore, I might just have to pick up a hat. (I especially like the mason jar cap. Cool play on the mascot.)
For what it's worth, one of the primary reasons to go with Fireflies over lightning bugs is to tie in The FIRE aspect with Columbia being "Famously Hot". I get it that a lot of people, myself included, tend to call them lightning bugs and there could have been an interesting logo made from combining a bug with a lightning strike, but I personally like the logo that they came up with and their use of flames throughout.
Also, the team wanted to refer specifically to the Photinus carolinus species of Firefly that light up simultaneously at Congaree National Park as the inspiration for the team name. You'll be hard-pressed to find anything that refers to these synchronous fireflies as "lightning bugs" as Congaree National Park and others all refer to them as fireflies, so by keeping that same name Hardball was able to draw a more direct connection between the team name and the phenomenon over at Congaree.
The merchandise looks great IMO and seems to be selling pretty well based on the crowds I've seen in the store, the amount of fireflies gear I've seen popping up all over town, and the early feedback from the team management.
Very interesting. I've seen people wearing hats all over Columbia, it seems that people are taking a liking to the home town team and the logos/name in general. I have several friends of mine that couldn't care less about baseball, but they've been to 3 games already just for the atmosphere and the Thursday specials for drinks. It seems to be a great hangout. Now I need to make it over there sometime.
In the case of the Yard Goats it has to do with Hartford's past as a railway hub. A Yard Goat is another name for the switching locomotive in a rail yard used for moving cars around. In the case of Montgomery, the city's historic team name for its baseball teams (the Rebels) was deemed inappropriate when the Orlando Rays moved to Montgomery in 2004, so they decided to go with something fun. In general teams moved away from using their parent club's name in the early '90s in part to boost merchandise sales and also to avoid having to rebrand when/if their affiliation changed.
With regards to your question about merchandise sales, the most recent figures are for 2014 where the Top 25 teams for licensed merchandise sales were (in alphabetical order):
Akron RubberDucks (Double-A, Eastern League affiliate of the Cleveland Indians)
Albuquerque Isotopes (Triple-A, Pacific Coast League affiliate of the Colorado Rockies)
Birmingham Barons (Double-A, Southern league affiliate of the Chicago White Sox)
Carolina Mudcats (Advanced-A, Carolina League affiliate of the Atlanta Braves)
Charlotte Knights (Triple-A, International League affiliate of the Chicago White Sox)
Columbus Clippers (Triple-A, International League affiliate of the Cleveland Indians)
Corpus Christi Hooks (Double-A, Texas League affiliate of the Houston Astros)
Dayton Dragons (Low-A, Midwest League affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds)
Durham Bulls (Triple-A, International League affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays)
El Paso Chihuahuas (Triple-A, Pacific Coast League affiliate of the San Diego Padres)
Fort Wayne TinCaps (Low-A, Midwest League affiliate of the San Diego Padres)
Indianapolis Indians (Triple-A, International League affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates)
Lake Elsinore Storm (Advanced-A, California League affiliate of the San Diego Padres)
Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Triple-A, International League affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies)
Louisville Bats (Triple-A, International League affiliate of Cincinnati Reds)
Portland Sea Dogs (Double-A, Eastern League affiliate of the Boston Red Sox)
Quad Cities River Bandits (Low-A, Midwest League affiliate of the Houston Astros)
Reno Aces (Triple-A, Pacific Coast League affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks)
Richmond Flying Squirrels (Double-A, Eastern League affiliate of the San Francisco Giants)
Rochester Red Wings (Triple-A, International League affiliate of the Minnesota Twins)
Sacramento River Cats (Triple-A, Pacific Coast League affiliate of the San Francisco Giants)
Salt Lake Bees (Triple-A, Pacific Coast League affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels)
Toledo Mud Hens (Triple-A, International League affiliate of the Detroit Tigers)
Trenton Thunder (Double-A, Eastern League affiliate of the New York Yankees)
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Low-A, Midwest League affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers)
You'll note that none of those teams carry the names of their MLB affiliates and several have the sort of off-beat names you deride. The 2015 figures should be out in a month or so, so it'll be interesting to see how much, if any change, there is.
Thanks for the sharing this... I guess its better than being a Mud Hen or a Rubber Duck...I just wouldn't where their merchandise outside of those respective cities...
Lady Street garage SOLD. Hopefully start to see proposals of the tower soon!
I've heard that this development is moving forward, but the Lady Street garage will not be a tower of apartments, but instead maybe 4-6 stories above the existing garage
I've heard that this development is moving forward, but the Lady Street garage will not be a tower of apartments, but instead maybe 4-6 stories above the existing garage
Wow what a bummer. Anything is better than nothing I guess. Wonder why they drastically reduced the hight. One would think that wouldn't be financially feasible with all the obstacles of the garage.
Parker Annex has been completed and ready for tenants.
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