Root for the Home Team: Minor League Baseball's Most Off-The-Wall Team Names and the Stories Behind Them

Delve deep into to the grass roots of baseballs—the Minor League—and you’ll find Cannibals, Shoemakers, and Zephrys! From the Coal Sox Nation to the Texarkana Casketmakers, Root for the Home Team brings you the most oddly original team names and the stories behind them.

Root for the Home Team includes profiles of more than 150 teams and lists of hundreds more—plus fun facts, action shots, and team logos. Impress your baseball buddies with your depth of knowledge!

Did you know?

The Altoona Curve were dubbed without ever throwing a breaking ball, thanks to local railroad history.

The Wichita Izzies had a fan so fanatical they named the team after him.

The Mudville Nine were named after the fictitious team in the poem “Casey at the Bat.”

Root for the Home Team is a unique book any baseball fan will love.

"Root for the Home Team: Minor League Baseball's Most Off-the-Wall Team Names and the Stories Behind Them is a gem of a book that will make you love baseball more than you already do."

--Dirk Hayhurst Major League pitcher and New York Times bestselling author

Minor League baseball is known for its long bus rides; young stars in the rough waiting for their chance to play in the big leagues; and wacky team names. From the Brockton Shoemakers, Freeport Pretzels, and Modesto Nuts to the Vancouver Horse Doctors, Fort Wayne TinCaps, and Holyoke Paperweights, these minor league teams sure know how to pick ‘em. This book features 100 of the wackiest team names in Minor League baseball history and describes how each team ended up choosing their unique name. Each entry also includes: name and logo of team, league they play in, city, years of operation, and similar names.

Delve deep into to the grass roots of baseballs—the Minor League—and you’ll find Cannibals, Shoemakers, and Zephyrs! From the Coal Sox Nation to the Texarkana Casketmakers, Root for the Home Team brings you the most oddly original team names and the stories behind them.

Root for the Home Team includes profiles of more than 150 teams and lists of hundreds more—plus fun facts, action shots, and team logos. Impress your baseball buddies with your depth of knowledge!

Did you know?

The Altoona Curve were dubbed without ever throwing a breaking ball, thanks to local railroad history.

The Wichita Izzies had a fan so fanatical they named the team after him.

The Mudville Nine were named after the fictitious team in the poem “Casey at the Bat.”

Root for the Home Team is a unique book any baseball fan will love.

Tim Hagerty is a radio broadcaster with the Triple-A Tucson Padres in Tucson, Arizona. He has also broadcasted games for the Idaho Falls Chukars, Mobile BayBears and Portland Beavers. Hagerty grew up in Canton, Massachusetts, a short distance from Fenway Park in Boston. Hagerty’s sports broadcasting work has received regional and national Edward R. Murrow Awards. He has been honored by the Society of Professional Journalists, Vermont Associated Press, Idaho State Broadcasters Association and Alabama Associated Press. This is his first book. Hagerty will tour various locations during the 2012 Minor League season promoting this title. Other media coverage of this book includes NPR, local news in team hometowns, and a New York Times feature by Joe LaPointe upon publication.