West Virginia Power

69

My first thought when I saw this team's name was "West Virginia Power? Is that a baseball team or an electric company?" It turns out that I was more right than I realized: there was as recently as 1999 a utility called West Virginia Power. West Virginia Power (the utility) is no more, having been bought by Monongahela Power, a subsidiary of Allegheny Energy, which in turn was bought by FirstEnergy. Or something like that. It's hard to follow. All of the above might make you think that Charleston, where the West Virginia Power (baseball team) plays, is in FirstEnergy Power's territory, but as best as I can figure they're not. I think Charleston is served by Appalachian Power, and they play in Appalachian Power Park. But I found references to the stadium having once been called Allegheny Energy Park. Like I said, it's hard to follow.

I also don't know if the name of the West Virginia Power (baseball team) has anything to do with West Virginia Power (the utility). West Virginia Power (the utility) was absorbed in 1999 and the West Virginia Power (baseball team) didn't exist until 2005. Or at least not under that name; it debuted in 1987 as the Charleston Wheelers and was also known for a time as the Charleston Alley Cats. With names like Alley Cats and Wheelers it's not hard to see why they decided it was time for a new name, but why they went with Power is harder to determine. West Virginia Power (the utility) may have been a thing of the past by the time the team picked its new name, but it was still a thing of the recent past and there had to be plenty of people who remembered the utility's name. And I could be wrong, but I'm guessing that even in coal country there aren't many people who like their power company enough to be enthused by a sports team named after it. And that's assuming that the West Virginia Power (baseball team)'s fans were ever actually served by West Virginia Power (the utiility), and as noted in the last paragraph I'm not sure they were.

Of course, like every team who picks an abstract noun to name their team after, the West Virginia Power (baseball team) had a problem: how do you draw power? They went with a bunch of lightning bolts emanating from a baseball. It's all right, I guess, although the color scheme of light yellow on dark yellow leaves something to be desired. But at least I understand the logo. And as many things as have confused me in this review, maybe I should take that as my cue to quit while I'm ahead.

Final Score: 69 points.
Penalties: Region (egregious), 17 pts; Singular, 15 pts; Equipment, 13 pts; Letter, 24 pts.
Bonuses: None.