/Pondering the New Orleans Baby Cakes

Pondering the New Orleans Baby Cakes

When the news was first posted on Twitter, it seemed like a joke: The New Orleans Class AAA baseball team has changed its name to Baby Cakes. This is not a joke, even though it may make you laugh: The New Orleans Baby Cakes. The new website for New Orleans Baby Cakes, cakesbaseball.com, announces that Baby Cakes was chosen from seven finalists in an online contest called “Name the Team.” Lou Schwechheimer, President of Baby Cakes, said, “Our goal was give New Orleans baseball fans a team and identity they could call their own.” “New Orleans is rich in traditions, and this new tradition would be something local-and iconic and celebrate what makes New Orleans so great: family and joy.” Baby Cakes A New Orleans tradition? Tell us. King cakes are a New Orleans tradition. Beignets are an old New Orleans tradition. New Orleans is known for its hurricanes. Hangovers are a New Orleans custom. Muffulettas, or Muffs as it is commonly known. They are a New Orleans tradition. Jazz is a New Orleans tradition. Utah, the most jazzy place on the planet and New Orleans, took that one. If you ask me, Utah Jazz should be the ones to win a nickname contest. Baby Cakes Betty Crocker has a recipe to make Baby Cakes. It was something I Googled. It looks suspiciously similar to cupcakes. New Orleans is not mentioned. However, I like the idea of a unique name. Delta State, Delta State? I prefer Fighting Okra over Statesmen. You say Okra don’t fight? You are crazy. Statesmen don’t play ball, either. Don’t even get me started about Lady Statesmen. You’d think they had an identity crisis if they weren’t so talented. Mississippi has many unique nicknames for sports. We have our fair share of Lions, Tigers, and Bears. But we also have some serious doozies. My favourite of all-time is the St. Stanislaus Rock-a-Chaws. They are located in beautiful Bay St. Louis, just across Beach Road from Gulf of Mexico. For decades, the Rock-a-Chaws compete in many sports. But, still, you ask, Rock-a-Chaw? The Choctaw word for devil grass is what gave rise to the name Rock-a-Chaw. The prickly burr rock-a-chaw grows in the sandy soil of the Gulf Coast. You will recognize it if you step on one barefoot – you won’t holler “Rocka-Chaw!” This nickname dates back to 1916. Named after Brother Macarius Pierce who was a school principal with a great sense of humor and a natural way with words. He also wrote a poem to his Rock-a-Chaws, “What are they?” It is my duty to tell them: They have the meanness of devils in hell. They are the most persistent, persistent pest that tests a man’s patience. They wait patiently with fiendish glee for the innocent hand, foot or knee. They are a loving bunch who defy all laws. “The rancorous, cantankerous Rocka-Chaws!” That’s a nickname. Then there are the East Union Urchins. Previously known as the East Union Epic Urchins (the E.U. E.U.s. (The Urchinettes are the girls teams. You can look up urchin in our dictionary. First, you will find: “A playful and mischievous youngster; an scamp.” You can read more about the East Union Urchins here or ask their parents. The East Union Urchins are apparently a play on sea-urchins. A seahorse is the school’s mascot, and that is where science teachers should have intervened. The sea urchin, which is a real, living sea urchin, is a tiny, globular, prickly animal that looks nothing like a seahorse. Why should we care? It makes at least as much sense than the New Orleans Baby Cakes, not to mention the Utah Jazz. Rick Cleveland is Mississippi Today’s sports columnist. Check out his columns as well as his Sports Daily blog. Reach Rick at rcleveland@mississippitoday.org.