JAMESTOWN, N.Y. — The Bisons, Yankees and Mets are all loved in New York, but now, the state has a new baseball team: the Jamestown Tarp Skunks.
After having a summer off from organized baseball in 2019, Jamestown is back with a new name for their team for the 2020 season.
The Jamestown Tarp Skunks will play in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League starting in May. The name is definitely an interesting one, sure to spark conversation.
But they're keeping with the new custom of having bizarre names for lower-level baseball teams. After all, there's the Montgomery Biscuits, the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp and even the Akron Rubber Ducks.
But while the name may sound silly, there's a real meaning behind it.
"Tarp" represents Howard Ehmke, a former Chautauqua County resident who pitched in the Majors and later started the company that invented the infield tarp.
"Skunks" represents, well...skunks. The nuisance animal is a common sight around Diethrick Park, the team's stadium. They've even been known to live inside the tarp and in the bullpen.
'We are proud to announce this new name, which is a baseball name, is universally applicable to all fans throughout the county & beyond – wherever there are ballparks with tarps, and skunks who live in them!" Tarp Skunks general manager Frank Fanning said in a statement.
Jamestown's team was formerly known as the Jamestown Jammers, who played in the same league. New players from the best college baseball programs in the country will come together each summer to represent the Tarp Skunks.