The offseason has been full of crazy new team names

The offseason is a time of change in all levels of baseball. Players change teams, coaches and executives are fired and hired, and some teams even get new names. New team names have been popular this offseason, and the latest comes from the collegiate Northwoods League. They’re getting a new team in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin, and their name and logo is wild and scary.

The new team is the Fond Du Lac Dock Spiders, and it beat out four other options: Barn Owls, Lake Flies, Pipsqueaks and Shantymen. Given the other choices, Dock Spiders was the way to go, even though the full name is a mouthful. But the lengthy team name is less concerning than their relatively terrifying spider mascot. That’s the angriest spider I’ve ever seen, though most people’s exposure to animated spiders is limited to Charlotte from “Charlotte’s Web.” Maybe the spider is angry because his body is a baseball? It’s worth considering.

But the Fond Du Lac Dock Spiders is just the latest in a spate of new, crazy team names. Four minor league baseball teams have changed their names since the offseason began. First it was the Florida Fire Frogs, who had been the Brevard County Manatees. The Manatees are becoming an affiliate of the Atlanta Braves and moving to Kissimmee, Florida, and to celebrate they decided to rechristen themselves the Fire Frogs, complete with a long, fiery tongue holding a baseball.

Okay, that frog in the upper right hand corner has horns. Are we ready for fire-breathing devil frogs? I’m not sure we are.

Next, the Jacksonville Suns (the Double-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins) made a big name change, adopting a crustacean as their mascot.

Yes, now they’re the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, and that shrimp is feisty! One logo features the shrimp trying to crush the state of Florida with his tail, and another one has him angrily emerging from a pot of gumbo (at least it appears to be gumbo, since there are several slices of sausage and corn on the cob around him in the water). Wouldn’t you be angry if you were trapped in a pot of gumbo? Also, that shrimp has very muscular arms, which somehow feels wrong.

Then, the New York Mets’ Double-A affiliate the Binghamton Mets decided they needed to spruce up their name a little bit, and went with the Rumble Ponies.

Binghamton is actually known as the “Carousel Capital of the World,” so the change isn’t completely random. Knowing about the town’s history of carousel’s helps you figure out what’s going on with those logos, too. On the main Rumble Ponies logo on the left, you can see the top and bottom of the carousel pole sticking out of the horse, and the “B” is made up of carousel parts. It does not explain, however, why that rumble pony is so angry (maybe because he’s been a carousel horse?), or why he’s taking an at-bat with boxing gloves. Wouldn’t that make batting harder?

There’s still one more name change, and it’s a doozy. Even though Mike Oz covered it last week, I couldn’t leave out what the New Orleans Zephyrs (a Marlins affiliate) changed their name to.

They’re now the New Orleans Baby Cakes, and their new logos are the stuff of nightmares. A creepy baby with a large head? I’m afraid to imagine what their on-the-field mascot will look like. Maybe it’ll be a person-sized baby head that will toddle around the stadium scaring young children and adults alike.

Teams need to keep the crazy names and mascots going. They might seem slightly insane, but they’re super fun. And isn’t that what baseball is all about?

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Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher