Voting has come down to the wire as the Saskatoon Baseball Club is set to announce its new name on Thursday.
Steve Hildebrand, the baseball club’s president, said there were four possible names for residents to vote on:
- Saskatoon Cobra Chickens
- Saskatoon Berries
- Saskatoon Bridge Pigeons
- Saskatoon River Pirates
He said he wouldn’t give too much away about what the results of voting looked like now, but said it was a tighter race than he thought it would be.
More than 2,000 people have voted on the new name, and Hildebrand said he’s loving the engagement he’s seeing.
“I really love the engagement, and so names like the Cobra Chickens that we just never thought about, but I think at the end of the day, whatever happens, I know our group will do a great job creating some great entertainment with it.”
He said there was a void created in Saskatoon when the city’s previous team, the Yellow Jackets, left.
“We knew there was need for that level of baseball in Saskatoon.”
Hildebrand said there will be about a dozen teams in the Western Canadian Baseball League, noting Saskatoon will be able to pit itself against Weyburn, Regina, Moose Jaw and Swift Current.
“We’re really looking forward to starting next spring.”
The team also announced the hiring of their head coach, Joe Carnahan, last week, noting he had over 20 years of involvement in the WCBL.