‘It grows on you’: A look at the Columbus Clingstones discourse

COLUMBUS, Ga. ( WRBL ) — The new Columbus Double-A baseball club wanted to create a buzz when it announced the team’s name Friday night, and create one they did.

The announcement at the Uptown concert series was met with a lot of blank looks, people scrambling to google the name and even some disappointment. Hundreds of online commenters, however, were a bit more than disappointed — they thought the name was “the pits.”

The outrage went viral over the weekend, with people creating their own alternative team names almost every hour.

Several online petitions began circulating asking team owner, Diamond Baseball Holdings, to rename the team.

“I wanted to be the iron clads. I prompted AI. I pop that up. I posted it. And then that thing went,” said local media personality Rob Carter.

Carter was responsible for a creating a flood of AI generated names and logos that popped up on social media. He said it was two days of suggestions and having fun generating logos.

“Like somebody was joking around and said, the River Rats. So I was like, alright. And then I generated the River Rats,” Carter said. “And then somebody said, ‘Do a roundabout.’ So then I generate it, a roundabout, which looks really cool, by the way.”

While social media outrage grew, people were down at the team store on Broadway making purchases. Everything from hats and jerseys to dog collars.

Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson calls all the talk surrounding the baseball team an investment that paid off.

“You invest in marketing so that you can create a buzz. They created a buzz,” Henderson said.

Henderson placed a huge political bet on the Atlanta Braves Double-A team and a $50 million-dollar tax-payer funded upgrade of Golden Park, now Synovus Park.

Henderson says it will just take a little time for the name to stick.

“You know, listen, when I first heard it, I did. I was like everybody else. I was like, I’m not sure what that is,” Henderson said. “I never, never heard of a clingstone. I did not know it was a peach. But over a period of a day or two, it grows on you.”

This is all about marketing, and sometimes it doesn’t matter what folks are saying – it just matters that they are talking about you.

Marketing Director for Uptown Columbus Inc. Tracy Green shares in this sentiment.

“Of course, you prefer there to be good publicity, but at the end of the day, yes, any marketing publicity you can get is always good to have,” Green said.

Green added she does hope the community gets on board, and all the traction they are receiving brings more eyes to the Clingstones.

“So I’m happy to see it out there. I think that a lot of people are learning that we’re going to have a baseball team,” Green said. “So hopefully, if anything, we’re creating more brand awareness that a Columbus baseball team is coming and people can get on board and support the Clingstones.”

Almost 35 years ago, Columbus was one of the first minor league baseball teams with a quirky new name – the Mudcats. That Double-A team and name went to Zebulon, N.C., and is still in operation.

So, this outrage is nothing new. People in Jacksonville hated the Jumbo Shrimp when it was announced. Montgomery folks thought the Biscuits was a bad joke.

At the end of the day, those names worked out well.

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