Copa de la Diversion is Minor League Baseball’s initiative spreading the heritage of the game in Hispanic communities. The initiative began in 2017 with various minor league teams changing their names for a few games during the year into a Spanish word. For example:
Boise Hawks – Boise Papas Fritas (French Fries)
San Jose Giants – Churros de San Jose
Hickory Crawdads – Llamas de Hickory
Albuquerque Isotopes – Mariachis de Nuevo México
While some teams did direct translations of their name. The Dodgers Minor League affiliate, the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, took the Copa de la Diversion identity of the Temblores beginning during the 2018 season. However, today they just announced they will no longer be using their Temblores name, but rather the “Chaquetas”.
Now, we all learned in Spanish 1 high school students that Chaqueta means “Jacket” in English. This change was meant to be a play on Joe Kelly wearing a mariachi jacket while attending the White House as a member of the 2020 World Series winning Dodgers visit.
However, the internet quickly discovered there is a secondary/slang meaning for the word. The slang term has to do with an individuals…alone time. I’ll let you google it.
This is an all-time blunder on the Quakes part, but for those on the internet – it’s an all-time laughable moment.
The Quakes however can still save themselves, unless the branding and merch has already been designed. The hat has been released via their social media today (Pictured above), but when it comes to the name of the team and jersey, they can simply go with Chaquetas to Camperas, Cazadoras, or Chamarras, which are all also terms for Jackets.
The Quakes are going to get some publicity for it, good or bad… all press is good press.
Till Next Time,
Trevor
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