Baseball Mascot Gets New Name After ‘PorkChop’ Is Deemed Offensive
December 4th, 2007 . by TexasFredALLENTOWN, 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 Monday 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.”
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.
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Baseball Mascot Gets New Name After ‘PorkChop’ Is Deemed Offensive
I guess naming the thing ‘Beaner’ is totally out of the equation??
For crying out loud, I don’t know who is the most ridiculous here, some asshat Hispanic that was called ‘pork chop’ when he was actually working in the mills several decades ago or the Philadelphia Phillies’ and the Lehigh Valley IronPigs for succumbing to pressure from him and his easily offend ilk…
If pork chop is offensive to these asshats, they need to go back to wherever the hell they came from and then they won’t be offended, damn, a nice plate of 1 1/2″ thick butterfly pork chops smothered in some great mushroom gravy sounds like a good lunch to me…
Pork Chop is offensive to these idiots?? They should never have let me know that, I’ll be calling em ALL pork chop now, why should beaner be so over used??
And I sincerely hope that any freethinking American will boycott this team and their games, simply because of their predisposition to bow to the pressure of the the offended over nothing crowd, screw em, let em sink into the PC mud they have stirred up…
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I am Mexican and have been called many derogatory terms, yet I see that the mascot is a pig so it desearves a name like Pork Chop. Pork Chop is a food to me. If people use it as a derogatory term for hispanic people then that is wrong, but I still don’t see why the Vice President Guillermo López of the Latino Leadership Alliance is opposing this. The prevention of racist offensive comments begins with a good education at home, not with censorship of words that exist in the English language. Vice President Guillermo López was perhaps ridiculed for being overweight and his picture on the Latino Leadership Alliance website proves it. http://www.llalv.org/board2.html Now, if you are an adult working in a factory like Mr. Lopez and you can not take action to prevent ridicule by talking to upper management or presenting yourself as someone who demands respect then you are a weak person. Every minority endures some type of hardship but this censorship is ridiculous. Words crudely invented to depict a race in a derogatory form such as beaner should not be used for naming anything. However, pork chop which is a food, and fitting to what the mascot is should be used. What is next are we going to change the mascot just because it reminds us of pork chops, which Mr. Lopez finds derogatory? What a looser.
It would make a little more sense if the mascot was named ‘greasy’ pork chop, or ‘Grissel’, then there could be a correlation with Hispanics…
Look out, the San Diego chicken might be in trouble too, the black community will want his ass on a platter now, with a biscuit.
Long over due.
Damn post made me hungry
They could have named their mascot “Backstroke.”
As a Mexican friend of my told me, we must become sesitive to the cultural differences that words carry with other people. As an example I was informed that the term Greaser was never to be used when describing people who’s origins are right south of our border. He expalined that henceforth the proper term ‘Lubricano’ will be used.
Pork Chop is derogatory? I’ve never heard of anyone being referred to as pork chop, unless it had something to do with those awful sideburns. Where do these people come up with this crap?
I grew up in New York where their are quite a few Puerto Ricans and have never herd them referred to as pork chop…other names but not that.
Mr. Lopez claims to have worked at Bethlehem Steel. I was under the impression only men worked in those steel mills. Mr. Lopez needs to grow up some more.
I never heard it used before, not as an insult to ANYONE, of any race or nationality…
I think it’s totally ridiculous…
Pork chop, pork chop,
Greasy greasy…
We’ll beat your team,
Easy easy…
Other than ordering lunch or supper, that’s the only other use I ever heard for PorkChop, I think the SOB must be a Drama Queen, likely cries about poll questions too…
Ranando: I like the name “Damp Ankles” for the mascot.
BZ