Sharks-Morehead City Announce "The Golden Chumbucket" Rivalry Series
Published on May 24, 2021 under Coastal Plain League (Coastal Plain)
Wilmington Sharks News Release
Wilmington, NC - The Wilmington Sharks and Morehead City Marlins announced the 2021 "The Golden Chumbucket" rivalry series on Monday beginning with the team's mutual season-opening game on Thursday, May 27.
Approximately 100 miles separate the two teams, having led to an enduring rivalry in previous campaigns. The Sharks and Marlins are scheduled to play a total of 18 games in the course of the regular season with the winner of the season-long series earning "The Golden Chumbucket" trophy.
"We felt that with the years of competitive history between our clubs, it was a only natural to move the rivalry forward with a 'bragging rights' trophy like the Chumbucket," explained Sharks Assistant General Manager Nick Carey, "We hope having a physical totem at stake will only improve the competition between our clubs and allow the fans to further vest their interest in the games as well."
The Chumbucket itself is cast in textured gold, stands approximately one foot tall and features ten golden baseballs. Beyond 2021, it will feature the logos of each club and each year they win the trophy.
As for the origin of "The Golden Chumbucket" itself, the Sharks produced the following origin from the club's historical archives:
"Everyone knows the tale of the lost treasure of infamous pirate Blackbeard. In fact, hunters continue to seek the legendary riches today centuries after the death of the pirate captain.
What most don't know, at least until now, is that one item of that treasure was once recovered. In fact, that one prize has been a hotly contested part of a baseball rivalry for many years.
It's known as The Golden Chumbucket.
As the lost legend describes, near the end of his days, Blackbeard was flush with pillaged valuables and found some very ordinary uses for some very extraordinary items. Like the gold-forged bucket he and his crew salvaged from a trading ship en route to Spain from what was left of the Aztec gold stores not hidden in the mythical city of El Dorado.
Being pirates at sea and working up a mighty hunger from robbing and freebooting every ship on the North Carolina coast, the golden bucket was used to chum for fish large enough to feed the harty crew of Blackbeard's last ship The Adventure. That is until Blackbeard met his fate shortly after hiding his treasure.
The Golden Chumbucket was presumed to be lost with the rest of the fortune until it was simultaneously happened upon by two large, adventurous ocean dwellers. They were Finn the Marlin and Sherman J. "Sharky" Sharkington. Despite being two completely different types of very large and athletic fish, Finn and Sharky were great friends always on the hunt for the adventure of a baseball game or lost ocean treasure buried deep in the sea.
Until they found The Golden Chumbucket.
Perhaps it was a curse laid upon the bucket by Blackbeard himself when the bucket fell overboard or just the divisive allure of gold but as soon as Finn and Sharky saw the sparkle of The Golden Chumbucket in the sand that day, they became the fiercest of rivals.
The rivalry and back-and-forth stealing of The Golden Chumbucket became so hazardous, the Elders of the Atlantic commanded that Finn and Sharky find a more reasonable way to settle who would keep the treasured vessel.
Begrudgingly, they decided the best way to settle the matter was a game of baseball with their respective teams and the rivalry for The Golden Chumbucket began.
Now, each year, as decided by the pair and approved by the Elders of the Atlantic, the winner of the most games between all Coastal Plain League contests played by the Finn's team Morehead City Marlins and Sharky's Wilmington Sharks takes home The Golden Chumbucket."
The Wilmington Sharks begin the 2021 season at Buck Hardee Field in Wilmington on Thursday, May 27 against the Morehead City Marlins at 7:05 PM, gates open at 6:00 PM.
Coastal Plain League Stories from May 24, 2021
- Sharks-Morehead City Announce "The Golden Chumbucket" Rivalry Series - Wilmington Sharks
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