Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 16, 1994 TAG: 9411180064
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
``The Avalanche, we could stick with anything, even if we change affiliations,'' said Sam Lazzaro, the club's vice president and general manager. ``So if this name sells well, then we could keep it. Unlike Buccaneers [the old name], which is pinpointed to a specific organization, we could keep it no matter who we go with.''
All that would be needed would be a change of color scheme from the Colorado Rockies' black, purple and silver.
Not that any of that is immediately foreseen. Salem signed a four-year player development deal with Colorado in September.
``Choosing the name is the third facet of our new organization,'' Avalanche owner Kelvin Bowles said Tuesday during a news conference at the site of the new Salem ballpark to announce the name and logo. ``The first part was a new facility. The second was a new affiliation. The third is the new name.''
Avalanche emerged from a name-the-team contest sponsored by the Roanoke Times & World-News and the ballclub. There were five submissions of Avalanche. The grand-prize winner will be selected in a drawing and announced later. Among the prizes are a pair of season tickets for box seats for the upcoming season, a baseball autographed by team members (when they arrive in the spring) and an opportunity to throw out the first pitch of a game, although not on opening night April 14.
There were 711 contest submissions. The ballclub also applied for several other names, but lawyers for the National Association of Professional Baseball Clubs rejected them on trademark grounds. Among those were Slug-ers and Silverado, Bowles said.
Merchandise including caps, T-shirts and golf shirts will be available through the Avalanche office in the next couple of weeks, Lazzaro said.
Bowles took time to model the team's two cap styles for the cameras Tuesday. The home version will be purple and the road one black.
Avalanche is the 10th name used by Roanoke Valley professional baseball teams since 1894. The others were Magicians, Tigers, Highlanders, Friends, Red Sox, Rebels, Pirates, Redbirds and Buccaneers.
The main goal with the new name was to find something that would tie in with the Colorado Rockies and with the area. With Avalanche, that was accomplished by conveying both Rockies and the mountains, Lazzaro said.
AVALANCHE DEBRIS: Two other Carolina League teams will be unveiling new names and logos this week. Lynchburg is holding a news conference today. The name will not be Buccaneers, as previously reported. Winston-Salem is making an announcement Friday. ... Trent Jewett, who played for Salem and managed the club during the 1994 season, was named Tuesday as the manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates Class AA Carolina team. His pitching coach will be Dave Rajsich, who was with Salem in 1993 and '94.
by CNB