Skip to main content

Reading Abandons Heritage, New Team Name Coming

By
 
Reading, also known as Baseballtown, will no longer call its team the Phillies

As you read here first last week, the Phillies' Double-A club in Reading, PA will undergo a full rebranding, which will include a full name change, the team confirmed on Sunday.

The Reading franchise will announce the new nickname, logos and uniforms at an event to be held at FirstEnergy Stadium on Saturday, November 17th at 12:30 PM.

The upcoming change will end the team's run of 46 years as the Phillies. While Reading will continue its long-standing affiliation with the big league team from Philadelphia, the rebranding will occur in an effort for Baseballtown to develop its own identity. 

News of the team dumping the Phillies name, in favor of the unknown, was met with displeasure from the public, as fans expressed their shock online.

Personally, this was a massive surprise and I was rather disappointed when I learned of the switch last week.  Targeting a new, individual identity at the expense of the one that generations have grown to love certainly presents a difficult situation.  Representatives from Reading's front office must have expected some consumer backlash, but the team seems confident that the public will appreciate and connect with the new nickname.

Early impressions by some who feel the club is abandoning the most appealing qualities of the sport and some of its teams, those qualities being tradition and history, aren't very far off.  Not only have many people in the area always cheered for the Philadelphia Phillies, but they've grown up rooting on the R-Phils as well.  This team has been a part of Phillies heritage for nearly five decades.

I will assert that if Reading allowed its fans to vote on a team name, the way other clubs have done at times, that would unquestionably deliver an overwhelming opinion to stick by the Phillies name.

Discussions on mediums like Twitter and Facebook have delivered ideas for the new nickname, with humorous options like the Rainbows joining more serious concepts with railroad themes.  Join the conversation by offering your thoughts and suggestions in our comments section.

________________________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lidge Shaky, T-Mac Honored in Trenton

By
TRENTON, NJ- Brad Lidge made his second rehab appearance for the Double A Reading Phillies on Thursday night and it didn't go as well as the veteran reliever or the team had hoped. Lidge struggled with his command and turned in a rather poor outing for the club that entered the night in a playoff race, 1 game behind division rival Trenton for the Wild Card spot in the Eastern Division. On the disabled list since spring training with a strained right rotator cuff, Lidge experienced an elbow strain when he was working back from that issue in late May. In his outing against the Yankees affiliate in Trenton, Lidge displayed difficulty with his control as he threw three wild pitches, hit two batters, walked another and gave up a single, all while letting up two earned runs on 28 pitches in 2/3 of an inning. After the disappointing performance, Lidge was composed and focused on some positive aspects, having reached 89 and 90 MPH on scouts' radar guns, according to some reports. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jason Knapp Q&A

By
PhoulBallz .com was fortunate enough to meet with Phillies prospect Jason Knapp just one day after he caught the attention of the baseball world with his 7 shut out innings, 14 strike out performance against the Indians' Lake County team. - I asked Jason, the Lakewood BlueClaw , for some thoughts about his big game... I had pretty good command of three pitches (fastball, curve, change up). I was on the same page with my catcher, D'Arnaud , and I ended up, ya know, I felt pretty good. - In a great performance like that, how much credit goes to Travis D'Arnaud , the catcher? More than you might expect, definitely. I didn't shake him off once. He told me what to throw and I do what I'm told. And if it works out, a lot of the credit goes to the catcher. - Does the lack of run support (Lakewood has scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts), in your few starts, increase your stress level, or enhance your focus? No, I just try to go out and do my job every outing. Ya know, we...
5 comments
Read more

Eric B Needs to be Cut (and My Name is Rakim)

By
While the Phillies are on a hot streak this month, one player on the team is not. Eric Bruntlett is 1-for-12 in July. Since the start of May, Bruntlett's apex in batting average has been .167 on June 14th. Bruntlett's ineptitude can be tolerated no longer. Get rid of this guy NOW! Eric B. is the 2009 Endy Chavez. Remember Endy...the guy who in 2005 managed just 2 hits in his final 42 games played as a Phillie? That is about the sort of output the Phillies are getting from Bruntlett, and it's time to fix this void. Julio Lugo was designated for assignment last week by the Red Sox and is expected to become a free agent. The Metropolitans are rumored to be interested. Why wouldn't the Phillies be interested in a guy who could surely outhit Bruntlett? Lugo was hitting .284 through 37 games played this season with Boston. Suspended Lehigh Valley IronPig Pablo Ozuna is eligible to return next Wednesday. Ozuna is batting .294 through 51 games at triple A. Miguel Cairo is also...
6 comments
Read more