When the Clinton LumberKings announced earlier this month that they planned to rename themselves the Shadflies for Friday night games this season, fans immediately recognized the April Fools‘ joke. Mayflies, also known as shadflies, are short-lived flying insects that live near waterways – like the Mississippi River, which flows right by the LumberKings‘ ballpark.
The joke eventually caught on with the team as fans responded positively to the alternative branding. Less than two weeks after the April Fools‘ prank, the LumberKings announced that they would indeed take the field this season as the Shadflies. (Notably, if the LumberKings were still a part of the league, it would have taken well over a year for the approval process to go through to make this possible.)
„The feedback truly blew us away,“ said Nate Vander Bleek, LumberKings General Manager, on the team’s website. „When you get such a positive response, you have to give the people what they want.“
The team has not yet announced when the theme night will take place, but the Prospect League season begins on May 28.