The Osprey fly away but the PaddleHeads are here to stay
A brand new PaddleHeads hat displays the brand new PaddleHeads logo.
February 5, 2020
It happened on November 4th. Our beloved Missoula Osprey are no more and instead we are now the Missoula PaddleHeads. Yes, you read that right, the Missoula PaddleHeads. PaddleHeads is another name for moose which will be the mascot for the new branded team this upcoming summer. The team Executive Vice President, Matt Ellis, announced that the Osprey’s new name would be the PaddleHeads and their team color would be hunter green.
Although people are worried about these changes, players tell fans not to worry. Third baseman for the Missoula PaddleHeads, Carson Maxwell, grew up in Texas and he loves the originality this name brings to Missoula, “I understand the love for the Osprey because of the nest in right center field, but the name PaddleHeads is much more fitting for Montana. I see osprey all the way down here in Texas all the time! When I was headed to Montana all I wanted to see was a moose.” And a former outfielder for the Osprey, Alek Thomas, told fans, “Don’t worry about the name change there’s worse names at least it’s not the Cubs.” Carson and Alek bring up good points, but with the Ospreys overwhelming history it will be a difficult change.
The Osprey have been in Missoula for more than 20 years and for their entire existence they have been an affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Osprey have had a lot of success in the past 20 years winning 4 Pioneer League Championships. The Osprey had a great run, but now the Paddleheads will carry on their legacy, or will they? Because there are some talks about the team not existing anymore.
The MLB has talked about cutting down the number of teams in the minor leagues. And as you probably guessed the PaddleHeads are one of the teams being considered. The PaddleHeads are our only major or minor league team in Missoula, so in order to watch baseball citizens in Missoula would have to travel miles upon miles to watch a game. But that’s a problem for another day. Right now, people are still uneasy about the name change.
And who wouldn’t be a little hesitant about a new name for this team? For some people, they grew up watching the Osprey and wearing white and blue. I think people have to accept the fact that while Osprey was a great name, it may be time to just accept the change and give your support to the team and their upcoming season.
