South Bend Changes Nickname To 'Cubs'

The minor league team formerly known as the "Silver Hawks" made it official today, changing their name to the South Bend Cubs.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Watch the video from today&#39;s press conference. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HomeoftheSouthBendCubs?src=hash">#HomeoftheSouthBendCubs</a> &#10;<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SouthBendCubs?src=hash">#SouthBendCubs</a>&#10;<a href="http://t.co/AtkTEjoSVS">http://t.co/AtkTEjoSVS</a></p>&mdash; South Bend Cubs (@SBCubs) <a href="https://twitter.com/SBCubs/status/515132303727927296">September 25, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

South Bend is in Cubs territory, and the owners of the franchise are going all in with their new affiliation. Most minor league teams these days shy away from naming themselves after their parent club. One reason is that in most cases, wacky and goofy names are more popular with kids and sell more merchandise to fans of all ages. Another reason is to avoid the problem that the Cubs former High-A affiliate in Daytona is in at the moment.

But in that case of a franchise like the Cubs, which has a rabid fan base and a local connection, it does make some sense to emphasize that connection as much as possible. South Bend wants to be sure everyone knows that the Cubs journey to the World Series starts in South Bend and to see these guys now. They're like the night club that is telling people to see the cool band now in an intimate setting before they become huge and they only play big stadiums at high prices. Then you can tell your friends you saw them before they got big and sold out.

So once again, the Cubs have two affiliates (not counting rookie ball) named the "Cubs."