No, this is not an Onion article. A professional baseball team has officially changed their name to the Baby Cakes.
Minor league baseball has a reputation for finding great gimmicks to get fans to the ball park. Since the New Orleans Zephyrs were last in attendance last year, they decided to focus on re-branding.
The Miami Marlins Triple-A affiliate considered more than 4,000 name ideas submitted by fans. They narrowed it all down to a few options, including the Tailgators and the Night Owls. They announced Tuesday night they settled on the Baby Cakes.
Yes, Baby Cakes.
“It’s so emblematic of what’s important to these folks,” said Cookie Rojas, New Orleans’ senior vice president and general manager. “Families having fun and the cake bringing people together.” …
… “Basically we sat down with [design firm] Brandiose and our season ticket holders, and we had an epiphany,” Rojas said. “Everyone down here refers to everyone as ‘baby’ as a term of endearment. And, of course, they have the famous baby in the king cake, which is celebrated during Mardi Gras
In case you’re unfamiliar, ‘king cakes’ are a Mardi Gras staple in New Orleans. They’re covered with not only pounds of sugar, but decorations, including a baby figurine. It’s tradition for the person who gets the baby to buy the next cake.
I mean, really, there’s nothing like a newborn baby in eye-black, wearing a crown, swinging a bat while popping out of a purple, green and yellow cake to intimidate opposing teams.
Here’s a look at all the logos. Just imagine the merch that will sell like, dare I say, hot cakes?
You can read the entire release here.
And just imagine, we thought the name change the New Orleans Pelicans sounded weird?
Josh Helmuth is the editor of Crave Sports.
Photos via minor league baseball
