Last year, the Carolina League baseball team in Salem was known as the Salem Red Sox.
Now, after a rebrand, they go by the Salem RidgeYaks, complete with new uniforms and a new mascot.
However, they will still take the field at Carillion Clinic Field this Thursday for the fans who come out to watch them.
There has been a baseball team in Salem for years now, and they have gone by many names and have been under multiple MLB teams.
Carey Harveycutter, the director of tourism for the City of Salem, has seen the RidgeYaks go through many names in his time.
He’s seen future big leaguers like Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr pass on by. He has also seen why the club is so popular with Salem.
“It’s exceedingly important to the quality of life in Salem,” Harveycutter said. “To the people who want to have a wonderful family-filled evening out, with not a huge amount of cost, where the kids can run and play while you watch baseball and enjoy an evening with your friends and family members.”
Meanwhile, the city has grown right alongside it.
“You know, there are 125 to 175 people working at the ballpark,” Harveycutter said. “You’ve got all the baseball players that live in Salem for the time of the season. They’re spending money here.”
So while a new name may take some getting used to, Harveycutter thinks everything will settle down once the team starts playing baseball.