Minor League Baseball teams are not tethered to their Major League affiliates for life. A team can move from one affiliate to another without changing anything else about the team, including it’s location or name. On the other hand, oftentimes a new MLB affiliate will want the Minor League club to make some modifications in order to better represent the relationship. For example, when the Scranton Wilkes Berra Red Barons went from being affiliated with the Phillies to the Yankees, the team became the Scranton Wilkes Berra Yankees.
The Phillies double A affiliate Reading Phillies have something else in mind. The team has no intention of changing affiliations, especially given the fact that the Reading Phillies have been affiliated with the big club from Philadelphia since 1967, the longest current affiliation in Minor League Baseball. The team will however change it’s name, with an announcement to be made Saturday. The move is being done in order to give the people of Reading a more personal team name as opposed to using the same name as the big league club.
While the name has not been released yet, Chris Creamer at www.sportslogos.net found a number of domain names that have been bought recently including FightinsBaseball.com, ReadingFightins.com, and ReadingFightinPhillies.com. This might prove that the name could be changing to the Fightin’ Readings or the Reading Fightin’s. With the name change, there will be a whole new crop of merchandise that will need to be supplied to the Reading fans.
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The NFL season is officially at the half way point. The Atlanta Falcons remain the lone unbeaten team, while rookies RGIII and Andrew Luck are putting on great shows in line to compete for the Rookie of the Year Award. The Eagles are looking to bounce back from their trouncing at the hands of the Falcons against another NFC South team this Monday night. PLA has a great selection of authentic NIKE NFL jerseys including the newest one, a home blue Andrew Luck jersey. Check our selection out on our website, call up the store to inquire, or keep track of our Facebook Page and Twitter feed for daily updates.
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Authentically Speaking Trivia Time: Why did the Reading Athletic Club begin to play Base Ball as a team in Reading in 1858? Answer to come tomorrow.
Thursday’s answer: Bolts, a nick name for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
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