Casper and the Politically-Incorrect Pork Chop

MAJOR BLOGS - www.majorblogs.net - It's no secret that logos and mascots are big money in baseball. One name disappears in Casper, while the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs new mascot has already experienced being politically incorrect for twelve hours.

The Pioneer League meetings ended with the Casper, Wyoming team changing its name from the Rockies to the Casper Ghosts. Not a huge surprise, and the hats will fly off the shelves. Great Falls will make a change, but they withheld the name.

Wichita is relocating and renaming as the Northwest Arkansas Naturals.

Perhaps the most surprising name though, was in the controversy that erupted over the mascot of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, the new Triple-A Phillies affiliate.

The pig mascot was dubbed "Pork Chop" after a fan vote, then 12 hours later, his name was changed to "Ferrous." 

Why the switch?

"Although none of us had ever heard of such a thing, we found threads and other information that validated the fact ‘PorkChop’ was a derogatory term towards Puerto Ricans. It is an older term from generations one or two older than ours, and maybe one more localized to this region," said Matt Provence of the IronPigs. "We figured that it was more important to keep from offending (sincerely) one fan than it was to keep a name that was only 12 hours old."

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