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NYPL State College Spikes

State College Name the Team Contest Set to Begin Final Round

June 30, 2005 - New York-Penn League (NYPL)
State College Spikes News Release


STATE COLLEGE, PA- The new State College Professional Baseball Club has moved one step closer to selecting a team nickname as its "Name the Team Contest" will enter the final round beginning this Friday and will run through Sunday, July 10th.

As part of the semifinal round of the contest, which ran from June 17-26, fans had the opportunity to select from a list of seven popular submissions from the initial round, or cast a write-in vote for a nickname not on the list. Of the seven semifinal round names-Black Bears, Copperheads, Miners, Mountain Bats, Ridge Riders, Sliders and Stags-none received overwhelming support; in fact, more votes were submitted for write-in candidates than were cast for any of the seven semifinal names.

"Despite the fact that none of the seven semifinal round names surfaced as a solid choice for varying reasons, the entire process has been very beneficial because we've had the opportunity to receive a lot of feedback from the residents of Centre County about what is important to them when it comes to the nickname that ultimately will be selected," said State College Professional Baseball Club General Manager Rick Janac. "One of the comments that we heard loud and clear was that none of the semifinal round choices represented anything about the history of State College and Centre County or accurately portrayed everyday life and the things that make residents of the area proud."

"For example, ‘Sliders' represented a popular type of turtle as well as a name that has an obvious baseball context, however, we discovered that the slider turtle is not indigenous to Central PA," added Janac. "Copperheads are found in the area, but are more scarce than rattlesnakes; ‘Mountain Bats' really don't exist at all; and ‘Miners' represented Pennsylvania's rich coal mining history, but we found that mining wasn't as prominent in the State College area. We also were forced to eliminate very strong write-in choices like ‘Pride', ‘Valley Cats' and ‘Beavers' because they are names of other current minor league baseball franchises."

As a result, through conversations with residents of the region, and based on submissions sent in during both the initial and semifinal rounds, the team identified five categories which represented everyday life, recreation, civic pride and the heritage of the State College and Centre County region-Farming, Fishing, Iron-Making, Penn State University and Wildlife. Each of those five categories has been represented by a nickname which will be available for fans to vote on during the final round of the "Name the Team Contest".

The five finalists for the name of the new State College Professional Baseball Club are:

ANGLERS... Representing the fishing category, an "angler" is another name for a fisherman who uses a hook and line. Centre County is blessed with 37 different trout streams, meaning many residents can already call themselves "anglers".

COALYS... The name "Coalys" represents a tale from the early days of Penn State University. Coaly was the name of a legendary mule that helped haul materials in the construction of Old Main and other campus buildings in the mid- and late-1800s. "Old Coaly" became such a favorite of students, that he served as the informal university mascot before the adoption of the Nittany Lion in 1904. So great was the University's affection for Old Coaly that after his death in 1893, his skeleton was preserved and is currently on display inside the HUB-Robeson Center on the Penn State campus.

FURNACE... From the rich history of iron production in Centre County comes the name "Furnace". The borough of State College is located on land originally part of the land holdings of a community named Centre Furnace, which was established in 1791 by Revolutionary War veterans John Patton and Samuel Miles in an area rich with iron ore.

HAYMAKERS... As a nod to the rich agricultural history of Centre County--and Penn State University itself--comes the name "Haymakers", referring to farmers who make hay for the purpose of feeding their livestock. Interestingly, Penn State University was established in 1855 by the Pennsylvania Agricultural Society as a school for farmers to learn improved methods to grow crops.

SPIKES... Representing the wildlife category is the name "Spikes", referring to the unbranched antler of a young male deer. The name signifies the popularity of deer-hunting in Centre County, while also serving as a metaphor for a young minor leaguer who may or may not develop into a major leaguer, just as a young deer may or may not develop a full set of antlers. "Spikes" also has a railroad connotation, which links it to the Altoona Curve, whose secondary logo includes a railroad spike through a baseball.

Fans will have the opportunity to vote for one of the names during the Final Round, which will run from this Friday, July 1, through Sunday, July 10th. As was the case in the first two rounds of the "Name the Team Contest", voting can be done by visiting www.statecollegebaseball.com or by filling out an entry ballot located in several area newspapers, including the Centre Daily Times and Altoona Mirror.

The new franchise will play in the Class-A short-season New York-Penn League, pending relocation approval by the New York-Penn League and Minor League Baseball, and review by the Baseball Office of the Commissioner. Through a unique operating agreement between the ownership of the Altoona Curve Baseball Club and Penn State University, the affiliated minor league club will share brand-new Medlar Field at Lubrano Park with the Nittany Lions' Baseball Program, which competes in the Big Ten Conference.

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New York-Penn League Stories from June 30, 2005


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