9 Strangest Minor League Team Names

By Daniel Friedman
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The New York Rangers' ECHL affiliate announced on Wednesday it'd be re-branded as the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, which is certainly one of the more creative team names we've ever heard -- to say the least.

They are far from alone in that category, however. Here are nine others:

9. Rockford IceHogs (AHL)

I have multiple beefs with this. First, how do you have a team from Rockford and not call it the Peaches and, second, "IceHogs"? C'mon, now.

8. Akron RubberDucks (AA)

There's only one adjective for ducks that's ever worked for a sports team, and that's "Mighty."

7. Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL)

It's a play on words, sure, but it's still stupid. What the heck is a solar bear?

6. Albuquerque Isotopes (AAA)

A strange name, but they get points for the Simpsons reference (named after a fictional baseball team from the show called the Isotopes).

5. Las Vegas 51s (AAA)

Usually when we see teams with numbers for names, it's to commemorate an important year, not a restricted military base.

4. Fort Wayne Mad Ants (NBA D-League)

Angry and insignificant. Makes sense.

3. Pensacola Blue Wahoos (AA)

At least it rhymes (that's all I've got).

2. Hartford Yard Goats (AA)

This was the result of a fan vote to decide the team's name. Unless people were paid off, I don't know how "Yard Goats" ever won.

1. Normal Cornbelters (Frontier League)

Normal happens to be the name of a town in Illinois, but it also highlights the irony of the team's full name. Never would "normal" and "cornbelter" be used in the same sentence when talking about sports clubs.