My recollection was "Amarillo Gold Sox" as part of the NY Yankees farm system. Lot of well known players were on the Gold Sox teams.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/root-root-root-for-the-amarillo-sod-poodles/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=State%20of%20Texas%2011-14-18&utm_content=State%20of%20Texas%2011-14-18+CID_26b7c0ca18a5e7a44888c0d12a10f2c0&utm_source=Campaign%20Monitor&utm_term=the%20story%20here

Quote:

---

Residents submitted over 3,000 names, which over months of consideration were whittled down to five finalists: the Bronc Busters, the Boot Scooters, the Long Haulers, the Jerky, and the Sod Poodles.

---

Bleacher Report's Timothy Rapp on the announcement that Amarillo's new double-A baseball team would be dubbed the Sod Poodles. After seeking suggestions from the public earlier this year, the new name for the San Diego Padres affiliate was narrowed down to five choices: the Bronc Busters, the Boot Scooters, the Long Haulers, the Jerky, andof coursethe Sod Poodles. Wondering what the heck a Sod Poodle is?






https://deadspin.com/5816771/the-amarillo-sox-did-not-expect-their-new-mascot-to-have-a-huge-erection

Quote:

---

The Amarillo Sox Sock is dead. Long live the Amarillo Sox Sock.
The independent league team only started play this year, and one of the big secrets surrounding the team was to be their mascot. Finally, after much buildup, they got that. The team's GM puts the blame on the costume maker, saying the suit looked like a normal lovable flaccid sock in the photos he had seen.

Quote:

---

"It was not the way I wanted it," Lee said. "I'm very disappointed in the lady who did it, and I've told her so. She is going to fix it to the changes we want. I want to say on the record, if we offended anybody, I apologize."

---

Immediately after its debut Friday night, the Sock was designated for assignment. He's going back to the drawing board, with the team preparing to re-introduce its new mascot this coming weekend. Yes, the same designer is putting it together.
"It's in her hands today," Lee said without a trace of irony.

---

Quote:

---

After seeking suggestions from the public earlier this year, the new name for the San Diego Padres affiliate was narrowed down to five choices:

---

And didn't they then put those five choices to a vote on the web? I seem to remember a Lubbock sports station talking about it a lot and conspiring to get folks to vote for Sod Poodles, which allegedly is another term for prairie dog.

Yeah, absolutely no one ever called prairie dogs "sod poodles"

CanyonAg77 said:

---

Yeah, absolutely no one ever called prairie dogs "sod poodles"

---

Didn't say they created the term, just that they got it to be the name.

You're welcome.

(Actually, I never had heard that term until this all happened.)

I don't know who created the name, I was mainly commenting on the fairy tale that the name came from early settlers.

Every farm and rancher of whom I am aware that has a Prairie Dog problem uses every method at their disposal to exterminate the little pests. If they are not ruining crops they are making holes for stock to break a leg...

To transpose to baseball... Unless the intent is to consider the ball players "pests" I haven't a clue why this idiocy was selected...

I suspect it is the same logic that people buy prairie dogs in a pet store - and think they are cute - until they get bitten a few times... Wild animals are just that - wild!

I still like Gold Sox... When I was just a kid about 10 years old I sold soda pop hawking the stands and made pretty good money at it.

There is so much under the table behind closed doors crookedness going on in this whole situation, it is just icing on the cake that they slapped local baseball fans in the face with such a moronic team name.

The whole situation is a scam. If I had time and money to spare I would do a foi request and do the job the local media is refusing to do.



And the only use of "sod poodle" ever recorded was as a derogatory term for lesbians...


Needless to say, as a huge baseball fan, I will never attend a game or in any other way support this marketing gimmick.

I am still gobsmacked that the decision to demolish several city blocks of downtown to build a baseball stadium was approved and occurred...

I live on ground that has been in the family for 117 years. Nobody here has ever called a prairie dog a sod poodle.

Ok. They did this months ago and had a lot of complaints. Listen to a radio sport show making fun of it.

I thought they were coming up with a different name

Maybe we can get the local LBGTQ community to throw a fit and protest the name

SunrayAg said:

---

There is so much under the table behind closed doors crookedness going on in this whole situation, it is just icing on the cake that they slapped local baseball fans in the face with such a moronic team name.

The whole situation is a scam. If I had time and money to spare I would do a foi request and do the job the local media is refusing to do.



And the only use of "sod poodle" ever recorded was as a derogatory term for lesbians...


Needless to say, as a huge baseball fan, I will never attend a game or in any other way support this marketing gimmick.

---

Have you read everything in recorded human history? That's amazing! It's not a derogatory name for lesbians. Go back to Urban Dictionary where you saw that and take note of who made that entry and when.

I do agree though. Nobody's ever called it a Sod Poodle except one guy I found a couple days after the names were announced. I searched around and found one guy who said on his personal blog in like 2005 that he was excited to show his family from up north the sod Poodles around here. I've certainly never heard it, but the name was never going to be anything else. I hated Sod Poodles as much as anyone but it's grown on me. Hell, it's ridiculousness is all anyone's been talking about for so long now that it's hard to even remember the other 4 options. It was always going to be Sod Poodles.

Aggie1 said:

---

I suspect it is the same logic that people buy prairie dogs in a pet store - and think they are cute - until they get bitten a few times... Wild animals are just that - wild!

---

"If they told you wolverines prairie dogs make good house pets, would you believe them?"

(borrowing from Del Griffith in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles)

https://www.myhighplains.com/sports/local-sports/stone-ranch-media-llc-owns-the-name-amarillo-sod-poodles-/1602514340

Quote:

---

Earlier this week, Amarillo Professional Baseball announced Sod Poodles would be the team name, but there is one problem: The team does not own the trademark for the name "Amarillo Sod Poodles."
Stone Ranch Media, LLC owns the name. It is a company owned by panhandle residents Dusty and Nikki Green, and according to the U.S. Paton and Trademark Office, they filed for the trademark two days after Amarillo Professional Baseball announced its list of names finalists.
The team did trademark the name "Sod Poodles," but the full name of "Amarillo Sod Poodles" is owned by Stone Ranch Media.
In a Facebook post, Dusty Green said the team made three offers for his trademark back in September, but he turned them down, and now he is working on his own merchandise.
Sod Poodles General Manager Tony Ensor was not available for interview today, but he did send us a statement:
"We are aware of this individual and we are following the trademark processes and procedures. We are not at all concerned and will let the process play out. We could not be more excited and confident about our name, this brand, and our logo! Sod Poodles is our brand and identity. We created it, and our community brought it to life. There is no way we are going to allow an outside individual who has nothing to do with our team try to take advantage of our team and this community."
The team is selling branded merchandise online and said they are not concerned, and will just let the process play out.
Some of their merchandise does say "Amarillo Sod Poodles" on it. There are some items like hats with just a version of the logo, or that just say ''Sod Poodles."

---

If I had copyrighted the name, I would have done so to prevent its use.

Back on the pet prairie dog thing, I was living in Canyon in the early 80s when a company came through vacuuming them out of holes and selling the babies as pets.

Wife and I were wandering through the Mall, saw a high school age girl working at the pet shop. She had a baby prairie dog in the pocket of her overalls. We asked how much, and it was some ridiculous number, like $100 or more. We asked why so much. She looked offended and said "Because it's registered!"

I don't think she ever understood why we cracked up.


A few years later, I had some land leased where the owner allowed a company to flood a bunch out. They would fill the hole with water, grab the babies as they escaped, and let the adults go. They said they were selling them to the Japanese market, where they were the latest fad. I have some pictures of the (dry) stock tanks where they held them. Will have to try and find that.

This company worked the prairie dog harvest like you would a wheat harvest, moving south to north to catch the babies at the right stage of development...basically around weaning age.


We had a neighbor with a prairie dog problem two years ago, and they were beginning to come onto our place.

Thank God for Bubonic Plague. Wiped those little SOBs out all over our area. It was natural, but if I could buy some for the next infestation, I would.

That is a whole lot of awesomeness in a single post, c77!

Anyone been to a Sod Poodles game? We are visiting family in late May and will be taking in a ballgame. Just curious if anyone had been and could give any insight on the ballpark experience.

We haven't been yet. We are looking forward to it. Just haven't had time any weekend since they have started their season.

The name is terrible but we will try to go to a few games per year. I actually looked into season tickets but they were way too expensive for minor league baseball in my opinion.

From everything I've heard it's a very nice park. And as it's a farm club, you might see some future Big League players in action.

I'm with some of the folks above, I think the shenanigans in building of the park and the degrading nickname have pretty well warned me off of attending any games.

I couldn't disagree more with my buddy CanyonAg77. Minor league baseball has a tradition of crazy names, and the Sod Poodles fit right in. Love the name.

It's a great game experience, and this is the season to go, as the crowds are great which always makes for a more fun environment.

If you are a baseball fan, I'd definitely recommend it.

I'm trying to decide why I hate the name so much.

I think it's because historically, it's a complete fabrication. I think it makes us look stupid that we believe that it was a real name used by early settlers.

Better late than never, the Gold Sox mascot got some recognition from the folks at Cracked. Scroll down to #7 on the list (includes a brief video of the Sox in action)

https://www.cracked.com/article_26412_11-real-mascots-people-inexplicably-thought-were-good-idea.html

Quote:

---

When the new Texas Amarillo Sox mascot was unveiled in 2011, fans were mighty shocked when they saw his big stiff ... stocking. Yes, the designers had given it a huge bulge at a 90-degree angle, right at crotch level. And if you think that makes him look like he's in an all-bee production of Boogie Nights, that's just your own dirty mind.

---

The blurb goes on to say, most erroneously, that the Gold Sox mascot was replaced by the Texas Airhogs ... was that one of the early contenders? It would have been better than Sod Poodles ...

https://ballparkdigest.com/2019/10/05/sod-poodles-named-2019-texas-league-organization-of-the-year/

Quote:

---

"The Texas League is proud to have chosen the Amarillo Sod Poodles as our 2019 Organization of the Year," said Texas League President Tim Purpura. "The Sod Poodles excelled and exceeded so many expectations this year both on and off the field, especially with a championship in their inaugural season. Their staff created a second-to-none environment for their fans at HODGETOWN, and the support and attendance from the community in their first season proved that Amarillo was a perfect fit for Minor League Baseball."
The 2019 season was historic for the Sod Poodles' organization, the community and the City of Amarillo. Amarillo's first affiliated professional baseball season since 1982 was one of the most successful inaugural seasons, team names, logos, and community-oriented brands in Minor League Baseball.
Hodgetown drew 40 total sellouts, including 23 consecutive, while averaging over 6,200 fans per game. Including the playoffs, Amarillo welcomed nearly 450,000 fans through the gates in a market size of 200,000 people. The Sod Poodles' regular season attendance figure finished 21st in all of Minor League Baseball and second among Double-A affiliates.

---

We made it to one game this year. It was a hoot. My 2 sons LOVED it. They had fireworks the night we went.

We will definitely go back. One of my sons teammates from his baseball team got to throw out the first pitch for a game later in the season.

I was not a fan of the way they built the park or the name, but it's is something fun to do that doesn't involve a screen for the boys and it's not the players fault for the shenanigans that went into the creation.

BrazosBendHorn said:

---

Aggie1 said:

---

I suspect it is the same logic that people buy prairie dogs in a pet store - and think they are cute - until they get bitten a few times... Wild animals are just that - wild!

---

"If they told you wolverines prairie dogs make good house pets, would you believe them?"

(borrowing from Del Griffith in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles)

---

There is some kind of exotic pet trade for prairie dogs. I can't imagine having one as a pet, though. I tend to view them more as plague carriers.

CanyonAg77 said:

---

If I had copyrighted the name, I would have done so to prevent its use.

Back on the pet prairie dog thing, I was living in Canyon in the early 80s when a company came through vacuuming them out of holes and selling the babies as pets.

Wife and I were wandering through the Mall, saw a high school age girl working at the pet shop. She had a baby prairie dog in the pocket of her overalls. We asked how much, and it was some ridiculous number, like $100 or more. We asked why so much. She looked offended and said "Because it's registered!"

I don't think she ever understood why we cracked up.


A few years later, I had some land leased where the owner allowed a company to flood a bunch out. They would fill the hole with water, grab the babies as they escaped, and let the adults go. They said they were selling them to the Japanese market, where they were the latest fad. I have some pictures of the (dry) stock tanks where they held them. Will have to try and find that.

This company worked the prairie dog harvest like you would a wheat harvest, moving south to north to catch the babies at the right stage of development...basically around weaning age.


We had a neighbor with a prairie dog problem two years ago, and they were beginning to come onto our place.

Thank God for Bubonic Plague. Wiped those little SOBs out all over our area. It was natural, but if I could buy some for the next infestation, I would.

---

I've heard of ranchers keeping an eye out for prairie dog towns populated with rather sick prairie dogs and, when they find one, capturing prairie dogs and dropping them off in prairie dog towns in their pastures.

From what I've read, there are ranches in North or South Dakota that make good money bringing in people for prairie dog hunts. The hunters set up tables up to a mile from the prairie dogs, add bench rests, and have fun.



Those are apparently some fairly high dollar operations! The first time I ran across it was years ago in the classified ads in Gray's Sporting Journal.

eric76 said:

---

From what I've read, there are ranches in North or South Dakota that make good money bringing in people for prairie dog hunts. The hunters set up tables up to a mile from the prairie dogs, add bench rests, and have fun.



Those are apparently some fairly high dollar operations! The first time I ran across it was years ago in the classified ads in Gray's Sporting Journal.

---

"Tell me, do they still sing songs of the great tribble prairie dog hunt?"

BrazosBendHorn said:

---

eric76 said:

---

From what I've read, there are ranches in North or South Dakota that make good money bringing in people for prairie dog hunts. The hunters set up tables up to a mile from the prairie dogs, add bench rests, and have fun.



Those are apparently some fairly high dollar operations! The first time I ran across it was years ago in the classified ads in Gray's Sporting Journal.

---

"Tell me, do they still sing songs of the great tribble prairie dog hunt?"

---

Imagine the decor of their living room wall: