Origin of Minor League team names: K

Since 2004 I am addicted to Minor League baseball. Not that it is easy to attend a game when you live in the Netherlands, but I love the way those clubs are more focused on families, children and the related entertainment.
In 2008 I attended my first Minor League game at Adelanto, CA. The High Desert Mavericks (A Advanced affiliate of the Mariners) hosted the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (then an Angels affiliate, now part of the Dodgers organization) in a California League matchup. Since then I am in love.

This time the letter K:

K

Kane County Cougars:
When the Wasau Timbers moved to Geneva Illinois, a naming contest was held. 52 entries suggested Cougars and that’s the name it would be.

Kannapolis Intimidators:
The Intimidators franchise moved to Kannapolis in 1995 from Spartanburg, South Carolina, where they had been a Class A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. Debate raged in the Kannapolis area over what to name the team, with team officials finally decided to call the team the Piedmont Phillies for the 1995 season.
A name-the-team contest in the fall of 1995 drew thousands of entries, and team officials settled on the boll weevil as the team’s new mascot, indicative of Kannapolis’ history as a textile mill town (Kannapolis natives are even called “lintheads”). The Piedmont Boll Weevils would keep that mascot until after the 2000 season, when NASCAR racing legend Dale Earnhardt purchased a share in the team’s ownership. It was then that the name was changed to the Kannapolis Intimidators, in honor of Earnhardt’s legendary nickname.

Kingsport Mets:
From 1969 affiliated baseball is played in Kingsport. From that year on, three MLB teams signed PDC’s with the club (Kansas City Royals 1969-1973; Atlanta Braves 1974-1979; New York Mets 1980-)
In all cases the Kingsport team adopted the name of the parent club.