We have the name of the new team slated to play in Madison, Alabama in 2020 and beyond: the Rocket City Trash Pandas, a reference to Huntsville’s NASA history and a slangy reference to raccoons.

Madison, AL, is a Huntsville suburb, and the team is expected to draw from throughout the region, so the space-travel reference is apt. And who doesn’t love a reference to raccoons as Trash Pandas? Just as good, we think, as River Bandits. The end result of this pairing, Rocket City Trash Pandas, came at the conclusion of three rounds of voting, featuring 28,560 nominations and votes recorded in three rounds since the ballpark groundbreaking on June 9.

Trash Pandas dominated both rounds of voting. In the round of ten, Trash Pandas received 41.37 percent of the votes. The second-place name (ThunderSharks) received 13.81 percent. In the round of five, Trash Pandas received 44.75 percent, to second-place ThunderShark’s 19.25 percent. Moon Possums was third (12.57 percent), Space Chimps fourth (12.05percent) and Comet Jockeys was fifth (11.38 percent).

The regional identifier was also chosen by the community. More than 250 fans suggested Rocket City during the nominating round. The identifier was put to a vote during the round of ten, and out of 13,559 votes, 67.4 percent chose Rocket City, over North Alabama (18.09 percent) and Madison (14.51 percent).

Next up: a logo and branding, developed by team owner BallCorps and Brandiose, to be unveiled on Saturday, October 27 at a free community celebration, starting at 6 p.m. at Dublin Park in Madison.

The Mobile BayBears (Class AA; Southern League) are relocating to Madison for the 2020 season.

RELATED STORIES: Five Finalists Unveiled for North Alabama Team Name; 10 Finalists for New Madison Team Name Unveiled; Roger Wexelberg Named President of Madison Southern League Team; Madison Launches Name the Team Contest; MiLB Approves Mobile BayBears Move to Madison; Madison Ballpark to be Adjacent to Margaritaville Hotel; Madison Ballpark Groundbreaking Set for June 9; Southern League Approves BayBears’ Move to Madison; Madison Ballpark Plans Making Progress; Madison Approves Infrastructure Deal, Advancing Ballpark Plan; New Madison Ballpark Renderings Released; Madison Approves Measures for New Ballpark; Madison Negotiating New Ballpark Development Agreement; Madison Ballpark Agreement Signed; Madison Closer to Signing Ballpark Lease; New Madison Ballpark Approved; 2020 Opening Planned