Remember When The Florida Marlins Hired High Schoolers As Groundskeepers And It Failed Horribly?

Only my OG Marlins fans will remember this one. Back when the Miami Marlins were still known as the Florida Marlins, management may have made a mistake with staffing. The Marlins were a brand new team as part of the 1993 expansion and they played their home games at Joe Robbie Stadium. User @NelsonRodriguez-cq4xx tells the story.

"It was the inaugural season, we were hired to be on the groundskeeper get/tarp crew. It was fun. They basically went to our High School and hired us. I was in 11th grade." The perks for the high schoolers meant this job was too good to pass up. Field access, free food, hang with friends, be around Major League Baseball players. Sounds like a dream. Until it wasn't.

The grounds crew practiced the tarp maneuver often. It's South Florida, there's no way you're gonna get through a season without a rain delay. Unfortunately, they practiced when the weather was nice, not during an actual storm. You'll see in the video, their tarp rolling form was not good. And then the combination of the heavy rain and the suction they heavy tarp caused, you'll see. Watch it with the sound up, if possible. The announcers covering this did so beautifully. Tim McCarver was gold.

If for some reason MLB blocks the video, you can find it here.

To no avail. Even John Franco from the Mets jumped in. And when they finally got the tarp over, the rain had stopped. According to the poster, all of the high schoolers were fired after that night and replaced. But the memory of that night will live on forever.

Minor League Baseball is always looking for ways to put fans in the stands. From fun promotions during the game, to discount nights. For instance, the Sioux City Iowa Explorers do a 'Pack The Park Night' where everyone gets in free. The Dayton Ohio Dragons let scouts camp out on the field after some games. Our very own Fort Myers Mighty Mussels have a special promotion just about every single game. The big one is the July 3rd fireworks show after the game. This looks to be the biggest fireworks show ever held at Hammond Stadium with a 12 minute display.  But the Explorers and Dragons lack what Fort Myers has. A name on this list.

Having a truly unique Minor League Baseball team name makes them more memorable. Which can attract crowds. And sell more merchandise. It's why Florida's very own Fort Myers Miracle changed their name to the Mighty Mussels. They can name the team anything they want as long as we can do the Festival Of Beers and I can bring my pretzel necklace. But this isn't a ranking of promotions, it's about team names.

Since I'm a Fort Myers resident and totally biased, we need to keep this impartial. Casino.org surveyed 4,000 baseball fans across the nation to find out the ranking for the most outrageous Minor League Baseball team name and here’s what they decided.

Toledo's team name became nationally famous due the tv "MASH". The character "Klinger" in the show mentioned the Mud Hens quite often. The name dates back to 1896.

This Wisconsin team is the High-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. According to their website, a Sky Carp is  "A slang term for a goose that does not migrate in the winter, instead preferring to stay in its home city, " 

The have the cutest little mascot!

There's our Fort Myers team coming in at number 12. You didn't honestly think I'd do this list if we weren't on it?

This is a weird one. Their mascots are "Big Mo", an orange beast that loves biscuits, and "Monty", an anthropomorphized buttermilk biscuit. The 'Butter and Blue' beat the Trash Pandas last night. We'll get to them, later.

Getting into the top 10, this team is all about the experience. Casinos and seafood. And baseball.

Lol. Yard Goat.

Their logo appears to be a distressed bolt. And their mascot - a big purple dinosaur. It doesn't have to make sense to be fun.

In to the top part of the list is the Space Cowboys. The Triple A affiliate of the Astros is based in Sugar Land Texas. And now that old song is stuck in my head.

Certainly an odd animal to name your team after. I do love that they have a Hawaiian Shirt Night.

Yes, they are named after radioactive material. But they do have great merch. And the name does indeed come from the Simpsons "Springfield Isotopes."

A fun name, and the 'rubber' part ties into their hometown of Akron. I get it!

According to their website, Rumble Ponies are a "fierce horse that no carousel can contain." K. It must be weird for the players trying to explain to their families. A what? They actually let the fans choose the name. 'Stud Muffins" came in second. 

A sod poodle is essentially a prairie dog. But sod poodle sounds a lot more fun. And it looks good on the uniform.

This Madison, Alabama team name is the one everyone has heard about. It takes the number one spot. Who wouldn't want to play for the Trash Pandas?

Thanks to Casino.org for their help on this list.