Best and worst minor league baseball team names

Arizona Diamondbacks Triple-A affiliate. Nevada. Aces. Get it? "The Biggest Little City in the World" is Reno's motto. This is just too perfect. 

Baltimore Orioles Single-A affiliate. This team is literally named after keys. You know, car and house keys. Safe deposit keys. Way to be creative, guys and gals.

Boston Red Sox Single-A affiliate. This is where historical significance comes into play. Lowell, Massachusetts was America's largest textile distributor back in the 1820s. Spinners were among the industry's most employed. You do the math here. 

Cleveland Indians Double-A affiliate. Seriously, the nickname is literally a rubber duck. You know, the kind you used to play with in the bathtub as a child? Really good job here, Akron. 

Chicago White Sox Single-A affiliate. If we're being honest here, this sounds more like a roller derby team name. It's pretty darn perfect for any sport at any level. 

Cincinnati Reds Double-A roster. It's a fish. It's blue. Isn't that grand? 

Detroit Tigers Single-A affiliate. Want to scare your opponent? Make them dream up a scenario of a flying tiger attacking a potential base-stealing threat. Besides, any ground animal given the ability to fly is pretty darn awesome. 

Houston Astros Double-A affiliate. We get it. Captain Hook. Totally awesome. It's still a freaking hook as the emblem on the team's uniforms. Really? 

Kansas City Royals Triple-A affiliate. This one scribe thinks storm chasers are the coolest of people. OK, maybe they're just not the brightest bulbs in the box. Either way, it's a pretty sick name for a minor league team in Nebraska. 

Los Angeles Dodgers Single-A affiliate. On the other end of the spectrum, naming a team after an earthquake right on top of the San Andreas Fault? Yeah, that doesn't seem like a recipe for disaster. Just waiting for The Rock to throw out the first pitch, aye? 

Milwaukee Brewers Single-A affiliate. A manatee is known as a sea cow. It's absolutely huge. Manatees are as much as 13-feet long and can weigh up to 1,300 pounds. Nope, nothing small about this team name. 

Los Angeles Angels Double-A affiliate. Really cool stuff here. Naming your team after someone traveling and then going with a goofy horse that seems like it's coming out of a low-budget 1980's horror film. Really? 

New York Yankees Triple-A affiliate. The weird animal representing this team's mascot notwithstanding, for a Pennsylvania team to be named after one of the greatest pre-modern marvels of American industrialism, well, that's just too fitting. Good work with creativity and originality. 

Minnesota Twins Double-A affiliate. Two big eyeballs looking for something. We aren't sure what, but that dang thing is definitely focused on it. We get Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga. Nice little historical relevance there. Still can't get over the concept of the eyeballs, though. 

Oakland Athletics Single-A affiliate. Anyone else thinking about the movie "Lake Placid" here? It's legitimately the first thing that came to mind. While we aren't sure if there are lake monsters in Vermont, it sure the heck beats naming your team something like "the cheddar." 

Tampa Bay Rays Double-A affiliate. It's a talking biscuit with eyeballs, feet and hands. Its tongue is a stick of butter. Go figure. 

San Diego Padres Double-A affiliate. Again, totally a fan of historical team names. San Antonio's Spanish Colonial history started in 1718 with the development of missions and the idea of religious liberty, even in the face of uncertain times for the region. Why not pay homage to this rich history? The team has also been around since 1888 with the same name. Pretty cool. 

Colorado Rockies Single-A affiliate. Do tourists actually go to Asheville? Even if they do, why name a team after those who are just going to dirty up your city and corrupt your youth? Come on, North Carolina. 

Tampa Bay Rays Triple-A affiliate. Simply because it's the most recognizable minor league name out there. From the movie "Bull Durham" to the move "The Rookie" about minor league pitcher Jim Morris, there's definitely a reason we all know about this team, fictional or not. 

Kansas City Royals rookie league affiliate. It's a game bird of the pheasant family. It's also known as a chukar partridge. Yes, really intimidating. 

San Francisco Giants Double-A affiliate. Yes. Finally, another flying animal. Seriously, have you ever seen a flying squirrel live and in person? It's like a bat that really doesn't care. It's not blind. It hangs out during the day. And in reality this animal can lead to nightmares. Good name, Giants. 

Chicago Cubs rookie ball affiliates. Thing 1 and Thing 2? In reality, that would probably be a more original name. Really, the Cubs just stopped trying here. 

St. Louis Cardinals Single-A affiliate. Spikes. You know, like baseball spikes? A name original to baseball. You don't see that too often in the minors. Simple, but well done. 

Philadelphia Phillies Single-A affiliate. From Merriam-Webster. "One that cuts stock lumber into lengths, cuts out imperfections, or squares the ends." Heck, at least RailRiders sounded cool. This is just what the heck territory here.

Washington Nationals Single-A affiliate. Abner Doubleday has been credited with inventing baseball. While that might not be true, he did have a certain interest in the game at its infancy. Besides, he's a decorated former Union Army soldier. He was second in command at Fort Sumter during the Civil War and also served at Charleston Harbor. It's history, guys and gals. 

Oakland Athletics Dominican Summer League affiliate. See something wrong with this? Anything at all? We will leave you to your imagination. Just keep in mind this is an Oakland Athletics affiliate. As you were. 

Los Angeles Dodgers Single-A affiliate. Just the name itself, "loon." Gotta love it. While not necessarily an intimidating creature, loons are akin to ducks and can fly. Yes, please. 

Seattle Mariners Single-A affiliate. We aren't sure what's going on here. The mascot is a frog, presumably an aquatic frog. OK, whatever. But it's also wearing socks, presumably aquatic socks? Cool story. 

Miami Marlins Single-A affiliate. I just like the name. Not much else going on here. Well, a muckdog. The question here is whether this is a real creature. It isn't. Some conclude that it's a friendly dog that likes to watch baseball. What makes this so tremendous? Well, it's one evil-looking bugger akin to those mean-spirited hounds in "All Dogs Go to Heaven." 

Colorado Rockies Single-A affiliate. They're nuts, and from the look of it a family of nuts. They have a pistachio mascot that's supposedly a female. Pistachio and California. Cool, get it?