Posted at 1:31 a.m., Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Baseball: Pro team changes 'offensive' mascot name
Associated Press
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Two days after naming its mascot "PorkChop," the Philadelphia Phillies' new Triple-A affiliate abruptly dropped the moniker after receiving complaints from Hispanics that it was offensive.The Lehigh Valley IronPigs, whose mascot is a large, furry pig, had selected PorkChop from more than 7,300 fan submissions. The team, which begins play in 2008, announced yesterday that the mascot will be named "Ferrous" instead.
General Manager Kurt Landes said he heard from several Hispanics who said PorkChop was derogatory.
"We were really unaware of any negative connotations with the word 'pork chop,"' he said. "If it offended a few, it's a few too many."
Guillermo Lopez, vice president of the Latino Leadership Alliance, said he was called "pork chop" when he worked at Bethlehem Steel decades ago.
"If my parents were alive, they'd be having fits," said Lopez, among those who complained to the team. "It meant much more to them than it does to Puerto Ricans now in the Lehigh Valley."
The online Urban Dictionary, which accepts entries from readers, says Pork Chop is a racist term used to refer to people of Puerto Rican descent.
PorkChop had been submitted by 32 fans. The replacement name, Ferrous — from the Latin word "ferrum," or iron — received the most fan nominations, with 235.
The team moved to Allentown from Ottawa — where it was known as the Lynx — following the 2007 season. Construction is wrapping up on a new stadium in east Allentown.
In March 2006, Major League Soccer renamed its Houston franchise the Dynamo after critics said the first nickname it chose, Houston 1836, was anti-Mexican because it referred to the year Texas gained its independence by defeating Mexico.
