Minor League Baseball remains the best place for silly team names.
Case and point, the Florida Marlins Double-A affiliate, the Jacksonville Suns, announced a major rebranding on Wednesday. The club didn’t choose a common and uninspired sports name, like the Tigers or Wildcats. Instead, the organization opted for something entirely different.
The Suns are now the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. For real.
Hello Jacksonville!!! pic.twitter.com/6rnpjsU1ce
— Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (@JaxShrimp) November 2, 2016
The logos are actually tons of fun. A jumbo shrimp shaped like a J and a burly shrimp jumping out of a bucket are insanely stupid but entirely unique.
Owner Ken Babby praised the change, telling Jacksonville.com. he’ll understand if the change isn’t positively received by all.
“This is a high-energy, impactful, bold move,” Babby said Tuesday. “There’s certainly risk that goes along with it. There’ll be feedback and, I’m sure, some resistance. We’ve been holding on to this for a while and look forward to sharing it with the community. The tradition of the Jacksonville Suns is entrenched in Northeast Florida. It’s been known and loved. The passion for minor-league baseball in Jacksonville doesn’t change [with a new team name]. It’s just a new chapter in its evolution.”
The new threads look pretty slick.
Quick look at the new uniforms @UniWatch pic.twitter.com/pBDEvxXSBU
— Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (@JaxShrimp) November 2, 2016
Naming a team after local industry works. The Florida area’s shrimp game is top-notch. Of course, the Jumbo Shrimp will work the delicacy into their concessions.
Babby says the new name personifies the team.
“It’s a gritty, tough, hard-working shrimp,” Babby said. “The word that probably best describes it is tenacious.”
What?
Regardless, at the end of the day, what’s more interesting? The Suns, or the Jumbo Shrimp? The rebrand is odd, but fitting in the Southern League, which also includes the Biloxi Shuckers, Montgomery Biscuits, and Pensacola Blue Wahoos. The more ridiculous team names and logos in MiLB, the better. Go Jumbo Shrimp.
