Earlier this week, the Salt Lake Bees announced their first-ever alternate identity: the Utah Dirty Sodas.
The team will debut the persona April 1 and will use it only on Wednesday home games during the 2026 season.
Many minor league teams adopt fun and creative alternate identities as a promotional strategy, even though their regular names can also be unusual or downright funny — take the Rocket City Trash Pandas, for example.
This trend of alternate identities has been growing over the last decade, creating connections to local culture by showcasing regional flavor.
In honor of the Bees’ new alternate identity, here are nine of the wackiest minor league team names — one for each spot on the diamond.
Richmond Flying Squirrels
The Richmond Flying Squirrels are the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants and have gone by the name since 2009. Flying squirrels are common in the Virginias, where Appalachian forests and old-growth trees provide ideal habitat. Beginning this season, they will play at CarMax Park in Richmond, Virginia, which replaces The Diamond, where the Squirrels spent the past 15 years.
Toledo Mud Hens
First of all, what is a mud hen? They’re real birds known as American coots, commonly mistaken for ducks. In the late 1800s, the team, then known as the White Stockings or Swamp Angels, played at a park near marshland inhabited by American coots, also called mud hens. The local press quickly nicknamed the team the “Mud Hens.” Other versions of the Toledo-based team followed until the name became permanent in 1965. The team is the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers.
Binghamton Rumble Ponies
The Binghamton Rumble Ponies are the Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets. The name was submitted by a local resident in 2016, after 24 years as the Williamsport Bills. It pays homage to six vintage carousels donated to the city by a local philanthropist. The primary owner at the time, John Hughes, said the Rumble Ponies are a “fierce horse that no carousel can contain.” It’s certainly an upgrade from the Williamsport Bills.
Amarillo Sod Poodles
This one is another head-scratcher — unless you’re a Texas native familiar with prairie dogs, which are apparently locally known as Sod Poodles. They are the Double-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks and adopted the new identity in 2019. Several years ago, general manager Tony Ensor, responding to skeptics, said that when Starbucks was first created, the name probably made no sense to anyone either. Fair point.
Midland RockHounds
Although poodles and hounds are both part of the canine family, neither team is related to man’s best friend. The Sod Poodles reference prairie dogs, while the RockHounds refers to geologists. The name is a nod to the area’s oil and gas industry. The RockHounds are the Double-A affiliate of the Athletics. The team has three mascots: Chip the RockHammer, Rocky the RockHound, and Juice the Moose.
Springfield Cashew Chickens
The Springfield Cashew Chickens, an alternate identity for the Springfield Cardinals, debuted three years ago in Missouri. They are the Double-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. You’ve probably had cashew chicken at Panda Express, but deep-fried cashew chicken was first served in Springfield 60 years ago by chef David Leong, according to Stephanie Sheehan.
Staten Island Pizza Rats
The name was conceived in 2016 after a viral video showed a rat dragging a slice of pizza down subway stairs in New York City. The alter ego appeared in about 12 games during the 2018 and 2019 seasons with the Staten Island Yankees. The team ceased operations in 2020 during the pandemic. The Staten Island FerryHawks began play in 2022. R.I.P., Pizza Rats — gone too soon.
Albuquerque Isotopes
The Isotopes are the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. The name is a nod to the TV series “The Simpsons,” which first featured the fictional Springfield Isotopes in a 1990 episode. In 2001, a group of businessmen purchased the Calgary Cannons and moved the team to Albuquerque. The local newspaper asked readers to help select a new name, and Isotopes received overwhelming support. ESPN aired a brief feature on the team last summer.
Pensacola Blue Wahoos
The Blue Wahoos are the Double-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. In 2011, fans voted for the Wahoos, a local fish species, in an online poll conducted by the Pensacola News Journal. Fans also selected the team’s mascot, Kazoo, a large blue fuzzy aquatic creature. The team had previously been known as the Mudcats for more than 20 years.
Honorable mentions
Of course there are a few more that are simply just too hard to ignore.
Hartford Yard Goats
A yard goat isn’t actually an animal — it’s a small, maneuverable train engine, also called a switcher, used to rearrange train cars in a rail yard. Hartford’s history is closely tied to the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, which operated from 1872 to 1968 and dominated rail traffic in Southern New England. The team name was submitted by a New Jersey schoolteacher and UConn graduate. The Hartford Yard Goats are the Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. The team played its first season in 2016 and features two goat mascots, Chompers and Chew Chew — because goats have a bit more personality than a train engine ever could.
Akron RubberDucks + Cream Stick Donuts
This one’s a 2-for-1 special. Akron’s nickname nods to the city’s history in the rubber industry, as the birthplace of tire and rubber companies such as Goodyear and Firestone. The team, the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, recently announced a two-night alternate identity this season: the Akron Cream Stick Donuts. The long, rectangular doughnuts are topped with cake icing and filled with cream. While the treat goes by different names across the country, in Northeast Ohio it is known as a Cream Stick.
Palm Beach Frozen Iguanas
Normally known as the Cardinals, the Palm Beach team is the Single-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. Its alternate identity references a South Florida phenomenon in which iguanas freeze and often fall from palm trees when temperatures drop. Earlier this month, CBS News reported that, “Over 5,000 iguanas have been removed across Florida after freezing temperatures recently put the cold-blooded invasive species in a coma-like state.” Palm Beach will celebrate this reptilian anomaly at every Saturday home game this season.