Latest posts
-
Team Names: Plants
We covered my favorite tree options here. We covered canines here. And here’s an old-school let-the-name-happen-organically plan. Time for some plants! Existing Plant Teams Plants are not a common source for team names. The only major sport franchise is the Toronto Maple Leafs. The leaf is pluralized as any proper noun (Leafs not Leaves) and…
-
What to Expect When You’re Expecting MLB
Yes I’m playing off a famous book about pregnancy. And since Raleigh is not yet pregnant with an expansion franchise, we’re still on Chapter One: Before You Conceive. Pre-conception(s): We are definitely stuck in a cycle of pre-conceptions- mostly about the attractiveness and viability of Raleigh vs. Nashville. This is to be expected. The case…
-
Jinx!
There’s a bird in Eurasia called the Wryneck. The Greek word for the wryneck is “iynx.” This is the origin of the English word “jinx” that came to be known for spells and curses. Growing up you yell “jinx” in the face of anyone who synchronizes with you. If you say it first, you are…
-
Team Colors
Most sport teams in America are using some amount of red and blue for their team colors. Trivia question right off the top- in your head, no cheating, can you name the 9 MLB teams that (mostly) don’t feature red or blue? I’ll have the answer for you below. Maybe Raleigh’s MLB team joins the…
-
Podcast 4
-
Realignment Theories
A famous political scientist, V.O. Key Jr., theorized that certain elections illustrate fundamental shifts in coalitions such that a new combination of issues and interests forms a new dominant majority. The broadly accepted examples are the 1860 abolition Republicans, the 1932 New Deal Democrats… and, I would argue, the 1980 Reagan-Christian-Right Republicans. These are basically…
-
Pod 3
-
Ballpark Location: St. Aug’s Campus
My favorite ideas for a Raleigh baseball team are not likely outcomes. I recognize that. Timeline, team name, team colors, ballpark location… there are more probable choices than my choices. Nevertheless, I think it is a worthy exercise to try out creative, fringe ideas. My favorite location for a Raleigh MLB team is the current…
-
Podcast 2
-
Is Raleigh a Baseball Town?
There are certain cities with MLB teams that just seem like baseball towns. Sometimes that is because baseball is the only major sport, sometimes not. So what makes a baseball town? What are the odds that Raleigh is the kind of city that could be a baseball town? I think there are a few ingredients-some…
-
First Podcast!
-
Raleigh Team Names: Dogs
I originally planned to write a post about animal team names, and I’ll still get to that. But let’s focus on canis lupus familiaris. Our domesticated versions of the gray wolf. A vast majority of people like dogs, and even those who don’t are more “a-dog” rather than “anti-dog.” Popular critters. We’re probably talking about…
-
Financial Might and the Trade Deadline
Make it to the end for my calculations of a Raleigh franchise’s financial profile! Monday August 3rd at 6pm is the deadline for teams to make trades this year. If you’ve never heard or considered what a trade deadline looks like for baseball teams, I’ll give a quick synopsis below. One of my favorite sites…
-
Approaches to Baseball and Life
Are you only here for the Raleigh-specific chats? That’s okay by me, but this post veers into real baseball and philosophy. Beware! The term small ball refers to a strategy of maximizing the short-term practical moves you can make on a baseball field. You have a runner on first? Bunt the ball. That batter is…
-
Raleigh Team Names: Trees
This is the first in a series of posts exploring team names in different categories. Don’t worry, we’ll get to the animals eventually. First up, though, trees! I’m going to ignore the city/region signifier, but if you’re interested in my take, check it out here. The short version is that I prefer Raleigh to Carolina,…