March Madness: Version Copa de la Diversión, part 5

This is it, the final of our four brackets for the first annual Bleed Cubbie Blue Copa de la Diversión bracket. If you haven’t voted in our earlier brackets you still have time! Voting is open all weekend.

This bracket is mostly animals and food, but honestly they are fantastic and I had a lot of fun getting to know these brands and their stories.

1 v. 16 Perro Santos de Charleston v. Los Petroleros de Tulsa

MiLB Perros Santos

The Charleston River Dogs already celebrate as the “Holy City” on Sundays, so this is an extension of that brand that ties together their team themes. I love this logo, the Dias de los Muertos decoration is incredible and the halo is a lovely touch.

MiLB Petroleros de Tulsa

Tulsa’s Drillers have become Los Petroleros de Tulsa, this is a nice rebrand but pretty close to a direct translation, it feels like it needs a stronger tie to the Latinx community.

8 v. 9 Bradenton Barbanegras (Bradenton Marauders) v. Clinton Elotes (Clinton LumberKings)

MiLB Bradenton Barbanegras

The Barbanegra (black beard) logo is great, I actually like it more than the Marauders logo. The skeleton pirate with a black beard really hits the mark for a Copa rebrand. It’s just different enough from a direct translation for a solid middle of the bracket seed.

MiLB Clinton Elotes

I love Elotes and Iowa has a lot of corn, so this rebrand not only works for me it makes me smile. I also love that you can sort of see the LumberKing in the way corncob is holding his bat.

5 v. 12 Brooklyn Jefes (Brooklyn Cyclones) v. Daytona Tortugas

MiLB Brooklyn Jefes

Jefes translates to Bosses and frankly this name might be better than Brookyn’s normal brand. New York City is a land of bosses and the stark lines in the logo evoke the city and power.

MiLB Daytona Tortugas

The Tortuguas didn’t change much for this festival, but they would argue their main brand is already a celebration of Latinx culture. Honestly, I just couldn’t cut the Tortugas given our own Tortuga Cub.

4 v. 13 Chicharrónes de Columbia (Columbia Fireflies) v. Las Ardillas Voladoras de Richmond (Richmond Flying Squirrels)

MiLB Chicharrónes de Columbia

Los Chicharrónes de Columbia is my favorite food rebrand of the tournament. It has basically nothing to do with fireflies, but I’m cool with it. Not only is it a nod to one of the greatest foods ever, pork rinds, the logo is a quartered pig. This is not a logo for vegetarian or vegan baseball fans, but it’s still awesome.

MiLB Las Ardillas Voladoras

Las Ardillas Voladoras de Richmond is a direct translation of their regular mascot the Flying Squirrels, but I don’t care. It’s adorable. They also updated their regular colors and gave their flying squirrel a luchador mask, which I love.

6 v. 11 Osos Polares de Pawtucket (Pawtucket PawSox) v. Abejas de Salt Lake City (Salt Lake City Bees)

MiLB Osos Polares de Pawtucket

The Osos Polares (polar bears) also played in the Copa last year but the logo has gotten a siginificant upgrade in 2019 with Dias de los Muertos markings on the mask and an upgraded logo that is reminiscent of a soccer kit.

MiLB Abejas de Salt Lake

The Abejas de Salt Lake City are a direct translation of the teams normal names, (Abejas is Spanish for Bees) but the logo has gotten a substantial upgrade for 2019. The hive is more stylized and the coloring of the logo is beautiful.

3 v. 14 Vejigantes de Scranton Wilkes-Barre (Scranton Wilkes-Barre Railriders) v. El Paso Margaritas (El Paso Chihuahuas)

MiLB Vejigantes de Scranton Wilkes-Barre

The Scranton Wilkes-Barre Copa brand is bold in more ways than one, and I love it:

The Vejigante is a brightly-colored, folkloric masked character that is a blend of African, Spanish and Caribbean influences and a key figure in several annual celebrations. Festivals are often accompanied by drum-heavy music of bomba y plena and parades of Vejigante characters happily walking among the crowds, chanting, singing and dancing. The Vejigantes represent either the devil in the battle between good and evil or the Moors that Saint James fought during the Catholic Reconquista of Spain.

During Carnival people dress as Vejigantes and roam the streets in groups and engage in a variety of activites from mischief to entertainment. The vejigante costume looks like a jester’s suit with a cape and bat wings under the arms, topped by a vividly-painted and fiece-looking mask usually including horns, fangs and beaks that are often polka dotted. Traditional colors of the Vejigante include green, yellow, red and black.

The RailRiders have adopted this identity as a tribute to the growing diversity in Northeast Pennsylvania. No matter where they hail from or what cultural traditions they follow, these fans will have a universal symbol to stand behind and a new team to follow: The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Vejigantes.

MiLB El Paso Margaritas

I’m not going to lie I expected more out of El Paso. Don’t get me wrong, I love Margaritas and want to celebrate them as much as possible, but it feels like the quintessential American border town should have been more creative with their Copa brand.

7 v. 10 Los Chivos de Hartford (Hartford Yard Goats) v. Corpus Christi Raspas (Corpus Christi Hooks)

MiLB Los Chivos de Hartford

Chivos is Spanish for goat, but this is more of an upgrade than just a mere translation. The stylized goat skull as the “V” in Chivos is outstanding and the decorative elements are subtle. I feel like this should be a brand of Tequila.

MiLB Corpus Christi Raspas

Raspas are Mexican sno-cones and if you’ve ever been in the Southwest in the summer you’ve wanted one, or two, or ten. They are delicious and this feels like the perfect nod to the Latinx culture in Corpus Christi.

2 v. 15 Gatos Feroces de New Hampshire (New Hampshire Fisher Cats) v. San Jose Churros (San Jose Giants)

MiLB Gatos Feroces de New Hampshire

Gatos Feroces is one of the stronger rebrands of the Copa. This “fierce cat” draws on Olmec, Mayan and Aztec symbolism and the result is a mascot that looks like it’s straight out of Temple Run.

MiLB San Jose Churros

Don’t get me wrong, I love churros. Churros are delicious. What isn’t to love about cinnamon sugar Mexican donut sticks? Absolutely nothing. I just wanted something more creative from San Jose. I do love that they view this as a shout out to one of their iconic vendors, Hipplito.

And that’s it, the field for the first annual Bleed Cubbie Blue Copa de la Diversión bracket is set. You can vote until Monday night and then we’ll limit this down to the top 32 early next week.