Hello, and welcome to the latest and therefore greatest era in Ben’s Biz Blog history.

As you may or may not have noticed, the entire MLBlogs network has transitioned from Typepad to WordPress. This switch in blogging platforms has not been without growing pains, but like the Davies brothers on treadmills the Kinks are being worked out.

Minor League Baseball news waits for no blogger, however, so I’ll put aside my anxiety and dive right into the fray. I have two lead items for today, both hailing from indestructible subgenres of the Minor League experience: mascots and logos.

On the costumed character front, the Tucson Padres have jumped out of the frying pan and into the friar. Behold this spectacular seminarian, a dimpled deacon with a haircut that’ll bowl you over:

Sez the team:

The Tucson Padres are excited to announce the “identical long lost twin” of the Swinging Friar, the San Diego Padres mascot, is here in Tucson.

Weird, you’d think that a friar would be more likely to have a fraternal twin.  Regardless, this missing mendicant needs a name and that’s where you come in. The team is currently accepting submissions, at media@tucsonpadres.com as well as their official Facebook page. A few fans have already suggested “Friar Tuc”, and while I like that in theory it would lead to rampant pronunciation confusion.

Moving on to the world of logos, the Bowie Baysox hope that you’ll fall for this one hook, line, and sinker:

Reminiscent of pitching greats such as Steve Trout and Catfish Hunter, this logo will be worn by the team during each and every Friday home game. Explains the team:

The fish is a combination of the rockfish or striped bass and the Oyster toadfish. Those two species were selected because both thrive in a healthy Bay. In conjunction with the new logo, the Baysox have partnered with the Chesapeake Bay Trust to help raise funds for the independent, nonprofit grant-making organization.

The logo was designed by the Philadelphia-based 3601 Creative Group, proving that there are other fish in the sea besides Plan B Branding and Studio Simon. Baysox fans are split in their opinion of the new look, with many registering disapproval on Facebook. I recommend that the team compile these dissenting views under the headline “Friday Fish Fried!” Surely the Friar would approve, based both on name similarity as well as day of the week dietary restrictions.

It’s time to bring this first post of a brave new era to an end, but not before mentioning the Tennessee Smokies’ “Deal of the Century.”

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of professional baseball in East Tennessee, the team is selling Opening Day tickets for a dollar (100 cents). But this deal is only available for 100 hours, starting yesterday at 1 pm and extending through Thursday at 5 pm. Act now!

And, please, let me know if you are having any issues with this blog (finding old entries, post layouts, missing photos, etc). I will do my best to rectify.

benjamin.hill@mlb.com

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