Biloxi baseball team's name is closely guarded secret Nov. 24 announcement will be family affair By Mary Perez, Biloxi Sun-Herald Buck Rogers scrolls through text messages on his cell phone from people asking him to reveal the name of Biloxi's baseball team. "I don't know what it is," the team general manager replies, and said he doesn't want to know until next week as he prepares for the official announcement Nov. 24. He doesn't want for Biloxi what happened in El Paso, Texas, where someone learned the name ahead of the official announcement and leaked the news the team would be the Chihuahuas. Fans in South Mississippi deserve better, he said. "We're going to protect (the name) for them to make sure they get that experience." It will be a once-in-a-lifetime event for the city, he said, and will bring to Biloxi team owner Ken Young, Southern League President Lori Webb and Scott Martens with the Milwaukee Brewers, the team's parent club. Rogers will serve as master of ceremonies for the unveiling of the team name, logo and colors at the Saenger Theatre on Reynoir Street. School is out next week, and he said activities will keep the kids entertained between when the doors open at 4:30 p.m. and the start of the program at 5:30 p.m. Expect brief speeches, the Biloxi cheerleaders interacting with the crowd and a big buildup to the big reveal, he said. What's certain is the team name will be either the Biloxi Beacon, Black Jacks, Mullet, Schooners, Shrimpers or Shuckers -- the names that made the short list in a local contest. Another sure bet is not everyone will like the name. Yet immediately after the announcement, the coverings will come off the windows at the team's new retail shop in the Coast Transit Authority building across the street from the theater. Team shirts, caps and other licensed memorabilia with the new name and logo are expected to be the hottest gifts in town just days ahead of Black Friday shopping. "It will be great Christmas shopping," Rogers said. The winners of the name-the-team contest will be revealed at a later date and the search will be on to select a team mascot. "We'll get some input from the kids," he said. Progress on the stadium construction can be measured daily by people passing the site on U.S. 90, north of the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino. Most of the luxury suites are already sold for three to 10 years, and Rogers said the team is giving fans one last chance to buy season tickets before they begin to sell tickets for half season, fireworks games and other combinations. The offseason is usually a quiet time for a team, but Rogers said in Biloxi, "it's an all-new ball game."