Dog days ahead: Quincy Baseball Club unveils Doggy Paddlers as new name for Prospect League team

QUINCY — A new era of summer baseball has a new brand and a new name.

The Quincy Doggy Paddlers.

Golden Rule Entertainment, the company that owns the Quincy Baseball Club and made the decision to bring Prospect League baseball back to the Gem City, announced the team name and unveiled its logos Friday afternoon.

The Doggy Paddlers is designed to tap into Quincy’s history along the Mississippi River, the hunting culture throughout the region and Quincy’s German heritage.

“It’s a perfect blend of spirit and fun, and we can’t wait for fans to join us for Opening Night and throughout the entire inaugural season,” said Brendan Saak, the Doggy Paddlers general manager.

After announcing the return of summer baseball to Quincy last November, the Quincy Baseball Club conducted an online “name the team” contest and received more than 1,000 entries.

According to Tim Hoker, president of the Quincy Doggy Paddlers, the entries were divided into different categories. More than 40 percent of the entries had something to do with the Mississippi River and something to do with an animal. A majority of those entries were linked to a dog.

So Golden Rule Entertainment’s creative team went to work sketching ideas for logos that coincided with some of the nickname suggestions. As the process evolved, they landed on the Doggy Paddlers logo.

“We love it,” Hoker said. “We think it’s going to bring families together. It could be a grandpa and a grandson coming to a game together. It relates to everybody.”

The Doggy Paddlers wanted to pay respect to Quincy’s Prospect League past as well, including diamonds to represent the Quincy Gems in the logo both on the dog’s collar and in the paw print, which is one of the alternate logos.

They also used one of the alternate logos to pay respect to the ties to Quincy University, which is partnering with the Doggy Paddlers on the use of QU Stadium as its home. The logo is similar to the San Diego Padres swing logo, connecting the Doggy Paddlers to QU’s Franciscan roots.

The Doggy Paddlers open the 2025 Prospect League season on May 27 at the Burlington Bees and play their first home game May 28 at QU Stadium against the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp.

Doggy Paddlers merchandise is available online at paddlersbaseball.com or at the team store located at 2636 Broadway in Quincy.