And the Hickory Crawdads Pinching Their Way Through the South Atlantic League
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ATY0106p010-017 11/22/05 10:39 AM Page 11 ••• logo/mascot profile Hickory Hickory Crawdads HEY LITTLE BUDDY: Conrad shares hugs and a photo moment with little friends at L.P. Fans Stadium. ONRAD AND THE HICKORY CRAWDADS PINCHING THEIR WAY THROUGH THE SOUTH ATLANTIC LEAGUE IN THE MIDST OF THE BLUE parent teams: Cardinals (1977-82), inaugural season through 1998, the RIDGE MOUNTAIN FOOTHILLS Expos (1983-84), Tigers (1986), and Crawdads served as the Chicago IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA Rangers (1987-92). Relocation only White Sox low Single-A farm team in is the small city of Hickory—popu- occurred with a change in ownership. the South Atlantic League. Since 1999, lation almost 40,000. With tempera- “Don Beaver just wanted to bring the club has been affiliated with the tures declining to a mere several a minor league baseball team to his Pittsburgh Pirates. degrees above freezing for most of the hometown,” says Crawdads Assistant While fans resolved on dubbing winter, humans and wildlife alike General Manager Brad Dail. “It is their team “the Crawdads,” they could begin to brace for the cold. Yet, there something he dreamed of, and he have chosen from a variety of other is only one group of creatures whose wanted to give the fans of Hickory the names for the same species: crayfish, disappearance during the winter opportunity to see some Minor mudbugs, carmels, yabbies, spoon- months is particularly noticeable: League Baseball and a valuable family dogs or crawfish. No matter the crawdads. Not only do the tiny entertainment option.” the term used, the crustaceans burrow up to three Upon moving to Hickory, the animal remains in the meters below the riverbeds for franchise finally established an inde- words of Brad Dail, warmth, but all the baseball players pendent identity from its major “A small crustacean return home for the off-season, too. league affiliate. Turning to the new that looks like a smaller While the true Cambaridae has fan base for assistance, management version of a lobster. It’s thrived in North Carolina rivers and ran a “Name the Team” contest for found in [freshwater] ponds for millenniums, the Hickory Hickory’s newest attraction. Before rivers and streams. Crawdads only recently migrated ultimately losing out to the Crawdads, Most people down north from nearby Gastonia in 1993. other nicknames in final contention in Louisiana call During their tenure in Gastonia, the were Woodchucks, Valleycats, Hound them crawfish and team was named after each of their Dogs, and Rivercats. From their use them as food, AT THE YARD | January 2006 11 ATY0106p010-017 11/22/05 10:39 AM Page 12 ••• logo/mascot profile F F O ALT 2 ALT S T ROAD A H THE MANY BP CAPS OF THE HOME HICKORY ALT 3 CRAWDADS but most people up here [in North Carolina] just call them crawdads.” Embroidered onto almost all of Hickory’s merchandise is their pri- Never missing a single pitch bows in her curly red hair and a mary logo depicting a red crawdad since Hickory’s inaugural home game, black Crawdads T-shirt, Candy with leering black eyes, pinching a team mascot, Conrad the Crawdad, immediately won over those fans baseball in its claw, crawling behind a has been a fan favorite at L.P. Frans with a sweet tooth by handing out large white or black H (depending on Stadium for well over a decade. (none other than) candy while the color of the cap’s crown). Only Standing approximately six feet tall roaming the bleachers. With Candy’s the club’s third alternate hat on his hind legs, Conrad leaves addition to the Crawdad family, fans differs from the norm, his fellow crawdads bearing the image (who average a mere of a crawdad claw several inches in clutching a baseball. length) dumbfounded Crawdad apparel as to how he can continues to be a survive living out of perennial top- freshwater. Despite seller, only a few having the capacity years removed to crush a water- from being the melon, Conrad only outright most uses his gigantic popular logo in pinchers to hug SWEETHEARTS?: Looks like Candy (left) and Conrad are sweet on each other. the minor leagues. and high-claw fellow While most Crawdad fans. He always sports a have begun to speculate about the Hickory fans order pinstriped Crawdads jersey, short possibility of a romance with her their favorite team’s enough to avoid interfering with his male partner. hat in size 7-3/8, the tail, which he commonly utilizes to “The relationship is in the devel- Crawdads most dedi- whack opposing fans, players, and oping stages,” says Dail of the pair. cated fanatic requires a occasionally the umpires. “This season we just introduced customized cap. Not In his twelve seasons of single- Candy, and we are going to see where only does his unusually handedly rallying the fans, Conrad the relationship goes in the future. large head make the was a part of two South Atlantic But they are not an item or anything size incalculable; two League championship teams in 2002 like that.” large holes needed to be and 2004. Following Hickory’s latest Conrad, Candy and the Crawdads cut in the black crown to championship, management went will all be coming out of hibernation enable antennae mobility! back to the local rivers and caught in April. For now, they can only dream After all, Conrad is a themselves another mascot: Candy of winning a third SAL championship gigantic crawdad! the Crawdad! Wearing two white pennant in five years. [] Eric Karlan 12 AT THE YARD | Dedicated to the Minor Leagues.