Minor League Team Intends To, Uh, Sock It To Competition

They used to be the Indians. Then they became the Royals. Now, they'll be called the Sock Puppets. So you could say the minor league baseball team in Burlington, N.C. is already winning.

The franchise announced the name change after the league in which in participates, the Appalachian League, changed its mission. The Appalachian League used to be a rookie league. Now, it will be a league to help college freshmen and sophomores, who use strictly wooden bats, fine-tune their game.

“It is a community that works well together and has transitioned from industry to industry over the past one hundred years," Sock Puppets owner Ryan Keur explained in a statement. "Something that stuck out was that Burlington was the 'Hosiery Capital of the South' and when we started discussing a name — everyone continued to say they wanted something 'to own,' something 'unique' that no one in the United States could say they had.... and with that, a 'Sock Puppet' textile themed identity was born."

The organization said it received more than 1,200 nickname suggestions from fans. The Sock Puppets begin their season June 5. Click here for a full schedule.