Quartet of alternate identities joins MiLB landscape

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.

Wednesday, May 29, turned out to be an unexpectedly above-average day for fans of Minor League Baseball promos. Four teams, one from each level of play, unveiled a new alternate identity that will make its on-field debut later this season. If you somehow missed this unexpected onslaught of fresh new looks, fear not. I, as always, have you covered.

BBQS
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Single-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers)
June 8; Aug. 2; Sept. 5
The Quakes are the only team in Minor League Baseball whose name starts with a Q. They may, in fact, be the only team in the world whose name starts with a Q. Their new alternate identity also makes use of this oft-neglected letter, as the longtime Dodgers affiliate will play its first game as the BBQs on June 8. There isn't a convoluted backstory with this one, as the Quakes are simply offering "a salute to California BBQs." The team also points out that BBQ is an acronym, as BB=Baseball and Q=Quakes.

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For more from Rancho Cucamonga, check out last week’s episode of MiLB.com’s “Show Before the Show” podcast. Mike Lindskog, longtime voice of the Quakes, was our featured guest. Come for the BBQs discourse, stay to hear Mike’s recollections of calling games for the late, lamented High Desert Mavericks.

LISTEN TO EPISODE #459 OF THE SHOW BEFORE THE SHOW PODCAST HERE

Italian Beef
Winston-Salem Dash (High-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox)
July 19
As you are no doubt aware, May 25 was National Italian Beef Day. To commemorate this holiday, Winston-Salem Dash president Brian DeAngelis tried (and failed) to eat nine Italian beef sandwiches over the course of nine innings. It turned out that this was a prelude to the release of the Dash’s Italian Beef identity, an homage to Chicago’s signature sandwich. The Dash are a Chicago White Sox affiliate, so this all doubles as a tribute to their parent club and the Second City writ large. The team will play as the Italian Beef on July 19, with DeAngelis atoning for his gluttonous shortcomings by serving as the batboy.

Raft Racers
Tulsa Drillers (Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers)
Aug. 14-18
The Drillers’ annual 918 Weekend, named for Tulsa’s area code, is a celebration of local pleasures and pastimes. For this year’s iteration the team will play as the Raft Racers, an homage to a recently resurrected local tradition in which participants float down the Arkansas River on homemade rafts. The primary logo features a man floating in a beverage cooler, suggesting that this is a competition in which just about anything goes.

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Please note, however, that the Drillers are not the first Texas League team to unveil an identity related to an idiosyncratic Arkansas River race. That honor belongs, of course, to the Wichita Turbo Tubs. I am hereby demanding that in 2025, the Raft Racers and Turbo Tubs play against one another. It’s only right and natural.

Shoofly Pie
Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies)
July 13
The IronPigs have long been dedicated celebrators of Pennsylvania foodstuffs, saluting the culinary traditions of Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley in equal measure. Shoofly Pie, a Pennsylvania Dutch staple, hails from the latter region. The origins of the name are uncertain, but the IronPigs note that it is “likely derived from a brand of molasses, Shoo-Fly Molasses, that was used to make the pie originally.” Whatever the etymology, the logo’s entomology is clear. It features a pie-filching fly, who has grabbed a slice for itself.

And, of course, thank you for reading. Get in touch anytime. My upcoming road trip itineraries can be found HERE.

Designated Eaters still wanted. Get in touch about that, or anything at all, at any time.