The Jacksonville Suns are a Class AA minor league baseball team playing in the Southern League, and the name ‘Suns’ has been part of Jacksonville’s sports culture for generations. Since 1962, the Jacksonville Suns have called Duvall County, Florida home but now they’re making a name change to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, and as far as I can tell they are now the only minor league sports team with an oxymoron for a name.
The Florida Times Union reports
The Jumbo Shrimp logo will have a large “J” running through it, with the colors being St. John’s Navy and patriotic blue, accented with American red.
Babby, who has repeatedly emphasized “affordable, family fun” in promoting both his Jacksonville and Akron Double-A franchise in Ohio, believes Jumbo Shrimp meets his criteria of wanting a creative name that has a direct tie-in to the local community.
“There’s something fun and quirky about minor-league team names,” said Babby. “In our league alone, you have the [Pensacola] Wahoos and [Montgomery] Biscuits. When people see this logo and hear the name for the first time, they’ll see this experience is all about fun.”
I was thinking, given that the Jumbo Shrimps are in the same league as the Montgomery Biscuits it would be a crying shame if they didn’t do a rivalry night crossover food offering, alongside a Bubba-Gump Shrimp Co. night, which is mandatory.
As a born and raised Floridian I wholeheartedly support this change. The ‘Suns’ is tired, we get enough sunshine here in Florida and we don’t need to be reminded of it from our sports teams. What we should be talking about is how the average Floridian’s diet consists of 30% shrimp, 30% fish, and 40% fast food. This is a discussion that should be going on and I think the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp’s new name will help facilitate that conversation.
…(h/t BallParkDigest)…