Keep it, throw it back: MiLB teams bring past to life

This is an excerpt from the latest edition of the Ben's Biz Beat Newsletter, bringing Minor League Baseball business and culture news to your inbox each and every Thursday. Check out the full newsletter HERE. Subscribe HERE.

Absence, as they say, makes the heart grow fonder. When a Minor League team changes its name, it is very likely that there will soon be strong feelings of nostalgia for what once was. “Things were better then,” we mutter to ourselves. “It was a simpler time.”

Teams across the Minor Leagues have capitalized on this innate human characteristic by incorporating regular “Throwback Nights” into their promotional schedules. The concept is simple: Have the players don uniforms from a previous era of franchise history, and – why not? – sell some corresponding merch online and in the team store. Here are three of my favorite throwback identities. What are yours?

Winston Salem Warthogs – “Warthog Wednesdays” has to be one of the best alliterative phrases going these days, at least from a Minor League Baseball perspective. The Winston-Salem Dash suit up as such on hump day, hearkening back to the Warthogs era of 1995-2008. (Warthogs was the winning entry in a local newspaper “Name the Team” contest, an apparent reference to the North Carolina Zoo having recently acquired some warthogs.) The Dash, who represent what is actually a hyphen in their city name, debuted in 2009. The following year they moved from Ernie Shore Field to their current home of Truist Stadium.

Piedmont Boll Weevils – Before the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers were the Cannon Ballers, they were the Intimidators. Before they were the Intimidators, way back in the 1990s, they were the Piedmont Boll Weevils. Wait, what? Piedmont referred to the larger geographical area. Boll weevils, of course, are beetles with a reputation for decimating cotton plants. Kannapolis was a textile town, so these nefarious crop chompers were certainly well known in the region. The Cannon Ballers played as the Boll Weevils four times this season, most recently on Aug. 28. Kudos to whoever in the front office came up with the tagline of “Unbollweevible.”

El Paso Diablos – The El Paso Chihuahuas stage monthly “Diablo Days,” paying homage to the Texas League El Paso Diablos (1974-2004). The Diablos played at the legendary “Dudley Dome” through 1989, a facility known for its raucous energy and massive offensive potential, before moving to Cohen Stadium. The Chihuahuas currently wears the later-era “Chile D” uniforms, purple-tinged beauties featuring a bat-wielding anthropomorphic hot pepper.

To read the rest of the Ben's Biz Beat Newsletter, click HERE.