This Minor League Baseball Team's New Name Will Make 'Guardians of the Galaxy' Fans Happy

With director James Gunn fired and Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 on an indefinite hold, [...]

By Russ Burlingame

With director James Gunn fired and Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 on an indefinite hold, Guardians fans need a win -- and in some small way, they are getting one from a surprising place.

When the Mobile BayBears move to Madison, Alabama in 2020, the team will be renamed in honor of Madison's own nickname of the Rocket City.

According to WHNT News 19, team owner BallCorps Inc. announced that the BayBears would become the Rocket City Trash Pandas, the overwhelming victor after three months of gathering input from the public.

According to Nerdist, "Trash Pandas" won with 44.75% of the final vote, beating out an incredible field that included "ThunderSharks" (19.25%), "Moon Possums" (12.6%), "Space Chimps" (12%), and "Comet Jockeys" (11.4%).

Matthew Higley, the fan who suggested the name, did not reference Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 -- in which Peter Quill calls Rocket a "trash panda," evoking a hilarious reaction -- it could be read between the lines of his submission.

"Our community is known for engineering, and no creature in our galaxy is as smart, creative, determined and ingenious a problem solver – dedicated to the challenge at hand – as our local raccoons," reads Higley's submission.

Capitalizing on the positive attention the name is getting, the ownership plans on selling Trash Pandas merchandise soon.

"We just finalized the logos today and sent them back to the artists. We've probably gone 6 or 7 rounds with the logos," BallCorps Managing Partner, Ralph Nelson, told WHNT. "Now, we know what they are going to look like."

Referring to raccoons as "trash pandas" predates Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2, but the phrase entered the public lexicon in a big way after that exchange became one of the most popular jokes in the movie.

The team will continue on as the BayBears until they leave town, although the social media account has already rebranded.

The team is the AA affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels.

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