Future Madison (AL) team unveils new name

With the Mobile BayBears moving to Madison after the 2019 season, the future team needed a new name. The new owners organized a name the team contest from which the five best were chosen. Fans could vote for what they thought was the best name. The result of that voting was announced last night. 

 The name of the new team will be Rocket City Trash Pandas. I hear you think “What the…”  Rocket City is referring to the past of Huntsville as NASA developed its rockets over there with Werner von Braun as the originator. Since Madison is a suburb of Huntsville it explains itself.

Trash Pandas is slang for Raccoons. It received 41.37 percent of the votes. The second-place name (ThunderSharks) received 13.81 percent. In the round of five, Trash Pandas received 44.75 percent, to second-place ThunderShark’s 19.25 percent. Moon Possums was third (12.57 percent), Space Chimps fourth (12.05percent) and Comet Jockeys was fifth (11.38 percent).

The regional identifier was also chosen by the community. More than 250 fans suggested Rocket City during the nominating round. The identifier was put to a vote during the round of ten, and out of 13,559 votes, 67.4 percent chose Rocket City, over North Alabama (18.09 percent) and Madison (14.51 percent).

The next step in the process that will lead to the new ballclub is the logo and the looks. The owner of the club, Ballcorps will has hired Brandiose (who else) to develop a logo and the looks of the team. On Saturday, October 27, the new look will be presented at a free community celebration, starting at 6 p.m. at Dublin Park in Madison.

With the move to Madison in 2020, an era of twenty-three years in Mobile will come to an end. One can wonder what will happen to Hank Aaron Stadium and Hammering Hank’s childhood home that is displayed next to it.