Anderson Joes baseball

[GSP Tiger]

Link: Anderson Baseball Team: Call Them 'Joes'

(WYFF 4 - NBC; Greenville, SC)

In honor of Greenville's baseball legend "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, meet the Anderson Joes. The team is among six in the new and independent South Coast League.

[waccamatt]

Where in the world do they come up with these lousy minor league names?

[goodbye]

That is actually a very good name, although I would rather it be saved for a Greenville team. They have a great logo as well. It should be interesting to see how successful this league will be in the longterm.

[gs3]

Where in the world do they come up with these lousy minor league names?

[Topher1]

Cool, I like it... and their logo is MUCH better than the one the Aiken Foxhounds came up with.. Of the six teams in the league, the only one I really find cringe-worthy is the "Macon Music." <gag>

[krazeeboi]

Talk about athletic names........The "Joes" honor a baseball legend. The "Gamecocks" honor a fighting chicken. Which of those two seems lousy?

[gs3]

Actually, USC's mascot comes from Thomas Sumter, Revolutionary War hero. His nickname was "gamecock." So both nicknames honor legendary figures, just in different ways.

[goodbye]

He was still called a gamecock.

[krazeeboi]

A "fighting" gamecock--due to his military prowess and that kind of stuff. I'd rather them be the Fighting Gamecocks than the Swamp Foxes (Francis Marion), LOL.

[whitehourseview]

A "fighting" gamecock--due to his military prowess and that kind of stuff. I'd rather them be the Fighting Gamecocks than the Swamp Foxes (Francis Marion), LOL.

[Spartan]

Carolina was the Swamp Foxes, among other nick names for a while. And FWIW, Thomas Sumter was a poor military commander, hard for history to justify a lot of his actions.

[GvilleSC]

Nevertheless, he did earn the nickname "the fighting gamecock" during the Revolution from his efforts against the Brits.

As for the Joe's, I am glad that someone got to use that nickname as I agree that Gville's team should have used it. Good for Anderson

[Spartan]

I like that Anderson is using the name. In a way, it sort of shows the link that exists between Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson and kind of can help improve it, strengthen it.

[GSP Tiger]

Cool, I like it... and their logo is MUCH better than the one the Aiken Foxhounds came up with.. Of the six teams in the league, the only one I really find cringe-worthy is the "Macon Music." <gag>

[Topher1]

I agree it makes sense... Macon has had some legendary musicians, as well as the GA Music hall of fame... It's just the use of the word "Macon" as a homophone of "makin" that makes me gag

[Spartan]

I agree it makes sense... Macon has had some legendary musicians, as well as the GA Music hall of fame... It's just the use of the word "Macon" as a homophone of "makin" that makes me gag

[GSP Tiger]

I miss hearing about their hockey team... the Macon Whoopie

[interestedexpat]

I too like the name and logo. Maybe G'ville should have used this name, but I believe the nickname "shoeless" comes from a game in Anderson where Joe played shoeless. I forget the reason. I believe he was playing for a G'ville team at the time. Anyone know the details?

[GSP Tiger]

Sixteen days remain until the home and season opener veruse the Aiken Foxhounds.

[BryCola]

I have to agree that "Joes" is a silly name. Maybe there's some history there, but fans of other teams will be thinking "Geez they're lacking in creativity in Anderson".

And if you want to insult the Gamecocks name...could you POSSIBLY be more generic than "Tigers"??? Hmmm...maybe there IS a lack of creativity in the upstate.

[interestedexpat]

^ Just to clarify - I think an awful lot of us think the "Joes" idea was really good and the logo is awesome.

Anyway - news today is that ticket sales are going really well. They are on pace to sell out the first two games for a stadium that seats about 2,000 in a new league that's unaffiliated that's really good news.

I think they are doing this right - although I thought (and still think) that using Memorial Stadium was a mistake. They league is already talking about building their own ballpark. Seems a little premature, but hey, if they've got the money.

[GSP Tiger]

The ultimate goal is to have a downtown stadium. I do not know what prime vacant sites can make that happen. Could one work near the civic center?

[interestedexpat]

I think a civic center site is a good idea, but it's not downtown. In fact, my initial thoughts when they announced was they should locate at the Anderson Sports and Entertainment site (next to the Civic center) by simply upgrading one of the existing fields. All sorts of games are already played there and it's a major traffic area (unlike downtown). Also I think it would help ticket sales tremendously to have them playing in the same location that many of the little league games are being played. What kid wouldn't think it was cool to play on the same field as the pros.

My other suggestion would be a similar effort downtown. Upgrade one of the Rec Center fields. They also have lots of games there, it is right downtown and the Rec center recently underwent a wonderful renovation!

There is plenty of land both downtown and near the civic center.

[GSP Tiger]

Which recreational fields downtown would you suggest?

Perhaps a few city blocks can be reconfigured to work as a stadium and a small district of boutiques, eateries, offices and residences.

[interestedexpat]

The Joes had their first game tonight. The newspaper article says they actually had a crowd bigger than capacity at Memorial Stadium. That's 2500+. Don't tell the fire marshall!

The article also said that over 1000 kids have signed up for some sort of kids promotional. That's pretty awesome and should guarantee continued success.

The real test in Anderson though is will good attendance continue. Anderson is notorious for coming out in droves to see something get started and then getting bored and moving on. Let's hope that's not the case with the Joes!