Fans squeal about name of Saints' new ball pig

If there’s one thing the St. Paul Saints know better than baseball, it’s pigs.

When former team president Mike Veeck was taking a walk along the Mississippi River, he came across a historical marker that read: "St. Paul, formally known as Pig’s Eye Landing." Named after an old French trapper called Pig’s Eye Perrant, Veeck saw this history and knew he had to incorporate it somehow into the Saints franchise.

So he sent a St. Paul staff member on a mission to find a pig to become the team's live animal mascot. The quest went all the way to Wisconsin, but eventually, the team struck gold.

“That was really the first contract ever signed by the St. Paul Saints,” team GM Derek Sharrer said. “It wasn’t a player. It was a pig farmer.”

For the past 30 years, the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate has engaged in the unique tradition of a ball pig who delivers baseballs and sports drinks to the home plate umpire, often with wonderfully punny names like 867-530Swine, Notorious P.I.G, Ham Solo, Kevin Bacon and SlumHog Millionaire, chosen by St. Paul staff via thousands of fan submissions.

But as is the case with many long-standing rituals, sometimes changes must be made. The Saints, formerly an independent ballclub, used to only play a handful of home games that required a ball pig’s presence. As a Minor League franchise, they have 75 home games to play, and in the span of 150 total games, a pig will grow from 1 pound to over 300, at which point it becomes unmanageable.

To accommodate this, the pig farmer recommended the team have two pigs, so the club decided on a first-half and second-half pig. Since the Saints now announce a new pig midseason, they recently conducted an in-game contest on social media in which fans submitted name suggestions and the staff picked a new one on the spot.

So what’s the name of the 2023 second-half ball pig? None other than Squealon Musk.

Bet you'll get a hoof kick out of this one... pic.twitter.com/WLlb5CvN53

— St. Paul Saints (@StPaulSaints) July 16, 2023

"When the PA announcer made the announcement, you could hear the split in the crowd,” Sharrer said. “Some clapping, some booing. … Our PA announcer (Lee Adams) quickly responded with, ‘Oh, I suppose you would have liked Mark ZuckerPork better?’ Which was brilliant.”

The ball pig undergoes training, of course, to prepare it for its hard work during every St. Paul home game. While the Saints ball pig has been around since the franchise’s inception, not everyone knows about the traditions associated with the swine.

“There’s a tradition of, any time an umpire comes to St. Paul for the very first time, they have to kiss the pig,” Sharrer said.

No matter who or what the pig is named after, it’s truly a tradition like no other -- which is saying a lot in the world of Minor League Baseball. From loyal season ticket holders to folks stepping into CHS Field for the first time, the ball pig resonates with everyone coming to home games.

“The history of the ball pig is as much a part of the Saints’ story and history as any promotion we’ve done, or any player that’s played for the team,” Sharrer said. “There’s always someone willing to tell the story.”