Earlier this summer, a scientist from southwest Virginia named Ben Strong started a petition to rename the minor league baseball team the Salem Red Sox. His pitch? The Salem Hellbenders—named after the slimy salamander found only in the Appalachians.
If successful, the campaign would have been a fun way to celebrate North America’s largest salamander and the fact that it calls the Blue Ridge region home. But it also would have been a way to raise awareness for a species in trouble. As our senior editor Will Harlan pointed out in our February issue, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently proposed hellbenders for listing under the Endangered Species Act, as their populations have declined due to dams, development, and deforestation.
In early August, the Salem Sox announced that, unfortunately, the Hellbenders will not be the team’s new name. But Strong didn’t completely strike out.
Many minor league teams are occasionally using alternate team names on special game nights to help boost interest and attendance, and in an update to his petition Strong reported that our favorite local salamander is in consideration to a pinch hitter.
So if you think that’s a good idea, you can sign on here.
Photo by Brian Gratwicke/Courtesy of Fickr Commons
