Round 1: Goobers and Hoo-Hoos Regions
UPDATE: POLLS HAVE CLOSED
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No. 1 Montgomery Biscuits vs. No. 17 Beloit Sky Carp

About the Biscuits: Few things evoke the South quite like biscuits. The team has leaned so far into its name that biscuits are shot into the crowd during games. Links: Logo, jersey and mascot Big Mo.

About the Sky Carp: Sky carp is Midwestern slang for a goose that doesn't fly south for the winter. Supposedly on the bubble to be cut prior to the 2020 reorganization of the minors, the team's new owners rebranded and selected the name in part as an homage to the Beloit natives who opted to stick in town rather than flock to larger (and warmer) locales. Links: Logo, jersey and mascot Poopsie.
Clear selection
No. 8 Nashville Sounds vs. No. 9 Tennessee Smokies

About the Sounds: In the late 1950s, "That Nashville sound" became the way of describing the distinctive country music that began emanating from the city. The baseball team was named after that. Links: Logo, jersey and mascot Booster the Rooster.

About the Smokies: Named for the Smoky Mountains, although the team will become the Knoxville Smokies when they move to a new stadium in a few years. They had a bear on their logo long before their association with the Cubs, although their mascot is, for some reason, a dog. Links: Logo, jersey and mascot Homer Hound.
Clear selection
No. 4 Hickory Crawdads vs. No. 13 Tacoma Rainiers

About the Crawdads: Chosen from over 700 submissions in a naming contest, beating out finalists Woodchucks, River Rats, Valley Cats and Hound Dogs. Named for the crustaceans native to the area. Links: Logo, jersey and mascots Candy and Conrad.

About the Rainiers: Yes, named for Mt. Rainier, the tallest peak in Washington State. But also named for a now-defunct Seattle team that played in the Pacific Coast League before MLB hit the market. The current iteration of the Rainiers previously had been known as the Tigers and the Tugs. Links: Logo, jersey and mascot Rhubarb the Reindeer. 
Clear selection
No. 5 Daytona Tortugas vs. No. 12 Louisville Bats

About the Tortugas: Named for the sea turtles that nest on Daytona's beaches. Links: Logo, jersey and mascot Shelldon.

About the Bats: Formerly the RiverBats, the name was shortened to Bats in 2002. The mascot is the winged mammal, but the name is also an obvious homage to the home of Louisville Slugger. Links: Logo, jersey and mascot Buddy Bat. 
Clear selection
No. 2 Binghamton Rumble Ponies vs. No. 15 Corpus Christi Hooks

About the Rumble Ponies: Binghamton is home to six vintage carousels, and thus bills itself as the "Carousel Capital of the World." Those ponies don't rumble as much as they glide up and down in a circle, but you get the picture. Links: Logo, jersey and mascot Rowdy.

About the Hooks: A nod to the fishing industry on the Gulf Coast of Texas, and also a reference to a wicked curveball. Links: Logo (and alternate), jersey and mascots Sammy Seagull and Rusty Hook.
Clear selection
No. 7 Durham Bulls vs. No. 10 Jupiter Hammerheads

About the Bulls: A team calling itself the Durham Bulls played there more than a century ago, named at the time for the Bull Durham Tobacco Company. They've been the Bulls since 1980, and given their prominent place in the classic baseball film "Bull Durham," it's doubtful they'll ever change again. Links: Logo, jersey and mascot Wool E. Bull.

About the Hammerheads: Jupiter is on the ocean and a hammerhead is a shark, of course. The name was selected as a result of a vote among the area's schoolchildren. Links: Logo, jersey and mascot Hamilton R. Head. 
Clear selection
No. 3 Richmond Flying Squirrels vs. No. 14 Delmarva Shorebirds

About the Flying Squirrels: Either chosen through a name contest or by team brass, depending on the account one reads, the name is a reference to a species that can be found in Virginia. Links: Logo, jersey and mascots Nutasha and Nutzy.

About the Shorebirds: A shorebird is any type of bird that lives on the shores of the Delmarva Pensinsula, which sits between Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The etymology of Delmarva might be more interesting. It's a portmanteau of the three states -- Delaware, Maryland and Virginia -- whose borders meet on the peninsula. Links: Logo, jersey and mascot Sherman the Shorebird. 
Clear selection
No. 6 Chattanooga Lookouts vs. No. 11 Cedar Rapids Kernels

About the Lookouts: Named for nearby Lookout Mountain. Chattanooga means Lookout Mountain in the Creek lanaguage, so feel free to call them the Lookout Mountain Lookouts. Links: Logo, jersey and mascot Looie the Lookout.

About the Kernels: Did you know there's lots of corn in Iowa? Links: Logo, jersey and mascot Mr. Shucks. 
Clear selection
No. 1 Albuquerque Isotopes vs. No. 17 Great Lakes Loons

About the Isotopes: In a 2001 episode of The Simpsons, Homer learned that his beloved Springfield Isotopes were planning to move to Albuquerque. When the Calgary Cannons did just that two years later, reality mirrored fiction and Isotopes was a runaway winner in a name contest for the team. It's fitting, since New Mexico has been the site of so much nuclear testing. Links: Logo, jersey and mascot Orbit the Alien.

About the Loons: Loons are common in Michigan. Links: Logo, jersey and mascot Lou E. Loon.
Clear selection
No. 8 Carolina Mudcats vs. No. 9 Altoona Curve

About the Mudcats: Mudcat is another name for a flathead catfish. As you might expect, they have those in North Carolina, although the name was first applied when the team was in Georgia. Links: Logo, jersey and mascot Muddy the Mudcat.

About the Curve: Named for the nearby Horseshoe Curve, a 180-degree hairpin turn of train track that is in the national register of historic places. A curve also, conveniently, is a type of pitch. The name was a write-in submission in a contest and beat out Lake Monsters, Fish and Ridge Runners. The team's "C" logo incorporates train tracks and also is an homage to the rollercoaster that sits just beyond the right field fence at the Curve's ballpark. Links: Logo (and alternate), jersey and mascot Loco the "Golden Locotami" and Al Tuna. 
Clear selection
No. 4 El Paso Chihuahuas vs. No. 13 Lakeland Flying Tigers

About the Chihuahuas: Supposedly the victor of a naming contest, the name draws inspiration both from the tiny dog but from the nearby Mexican state of Chihuahua. Links: Logo, jersey and mascot Chico.

About the Flying Tigers: Affiliated with the Detroit club since 1963, the team was simply called the Lakeland Tigers for decades. The change in 2007 to the Flying Tigers carries historical weight, however. Before the U.S. entered World War II, Lakeland was the home to an airbase that trained fighter pilots who volunteered to fight in China to beat back the Japanese invasion. They were dubbed the Flying Tigers and even earned their own logo, drawn by a Disney artist. Thus, the new name honors both the team's parent club and its hometown. Links: Logo (and alternate), jersey and mascot Southpaw.  
Clear selection
No. 5 Quad Cities River Bandits vs. No. 12 Frisco RoughRiders

About the River Bandits: Playing in Davenport, Iowa -- one of the four municipalities that make up the Quad Cities -- the River Bandits are supposedly named in reference to the men who killed the town's founder, George Davenport, in 1845. (Yes, that's grim.) The team spent a decade as the "Quad City River Bandits" before changing to the stilted "Swing of the Quad Cities" for four years. Another round at rebranding, aided by a fan conest, brought the River Bandits mascot back. Links: Logo, jersey and mascot Rascal the River Bandit.

About the RoughRiders: Named for the Rough Riders, the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry led by Teddy Roosevelt that charged up San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American War. Many of its members came from Texas, although there's no particular connection to the Dallas suburb of Frisco. Links: Logo, jersey and mascots Bull Moose, Deuce, Daisy and Ted E. Bear. 
Clear selection
No. 2 Akron RubberDucks vs. No. 18 Erie SeaWolves

About the RubberDucks: Akron is called "The Rubber Capital of the World" thanks to its association with several tire companies like Bridgestone and Goodyear. Ducks populate the nearby Ohio and Erie Canal. Links: Logo (and alternate), jersey and mascot Webster.

About the SeaWolves: As one might assume, the team and its hometown are located right on Lake Erie. The SeaWolves name was originally a nod to the Pittsburgh Pirates, with whom the club was previously affiliated. The team had a chance to switch it up after joining the Tigers system in 2001, but felt the name had become too ingrained to change. Even the logo heavily references Pittsburgh's. Links: Logo, jersey and mascot C. Wolf.
Clear selection
No. 7 Columbia Fireflies vs. No. 10 Portland Sea Dogs

About the Fireflies: Most people in South Carolina actually call them lightning bugs, but the Columbia franchise went with Fireflies anyway. And they have a specific one in mind -- Photinus frontalis, a species that conducts yearly, synchronized mating displays in nearby Congaree National Park. Parts of the team's uniforms glow in the dark. Links: Logo, jersey and mascot Mason (as in the jars one uses to catch fireflies).

About the Sea Dogs: A sea dog is another name for a seal. The team's logo was created by Guy Gilchrest, who draws the Nancy comic strip, and was inspired by the logos of the Chicago Bulls and San Jose Sharks. Links: Logo, jersey and mascot Slugger. 
Clear selection
No. 3 Lansing Lugnuts vs. No. 14 Asheville Tourists

About the Lugnuts: Named for the city's connection to the automobile industry. Oldsmobile was founded in Lansing. Links: Logo, jersey and mascot Big Lug the Dinosaur.

About the Tourists: Except for two years in the 1970s, the team has been called the Tourists since 1915. Not necessarily because Asheville was a hot travel destination (as it is now) but because local sportswriters sarcastically noted that none of the players were locals. Previously called the Moonshiners, the team features a moon in its logo as an homage. Links: Logo, jersey and mascots Mr. Moon and Ted E. Tourist. 
Clear selection
No. 6 Pensacola Blue Wahoos vs. No. 11 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

About the Blue Wahoos: A wahoo is a type of fish, although the team goes by Blue Wahoos to avoid conflict with the University of Virginia, whose teams also use the Wahoo nickname. The name was selected in a contest run by the Pensacola News Journal. Links: Logo, jersey and mascot Kazoo (He's an aquatic creature, but not a wahoo).

About the RailRiders: Scranton was the site of the first electric trolley system, way back in 1886, which is where RailRiders comes from. As for the porcupine on the logo, Porcupines was the second-biggest vote-getter in a name-the-team contest, so the club decided to incorporate one as well. Links: Logo, jersey and mascot CHAMP. 
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