In a series of what can only be multiple failures to focus group the names of anything, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, new AAA affiliate for the Philadelphia Phillies, announced last week that the team’s mascot would be named PorkChop. They then announced a new name Monday, after being informed by several members of Allentown’s large Latino community that PorkChop is a slang term for various Hispanic ethnicities. The new mascot name, Ferrous, was selected from “fan” nominations, and refers to the Latin (but not Latino) word “ferrum”, for Iron, in continued celebration of the city’s delightful iron industry.

The IronPigs, who will have their inaugural season in 2008, replace the Ottawa Lynx. Hopefully Ferrous will be less clumsy than his Canadian predecessor.