The El Paso Chihuahuas team is a minor league baseball team that plays out of El Pase, Texas.
The team was known as the Padres while playing in Tuscon, but was re-named as the team moves to El Paso.
“The Chihuahuas” won with the most votes, over the other choices: Aardvarks, Buckaroos, Desert Gators and Sun Dogs.
Chihuahuas “represent fun and are fiercely loyal” El Paso general manager Brad Taylor told the Minor League Baseball site.
“El Pasoans played a significant role in identifying our new team name -- they attended focus groups, suggested several hundred different names, and voted in record numbers for all the names,” said Alan Ledford, president of MountainStar Sports Group.
While fan voting was part of the final decision, there were other factors as well.
“I’m sure I’m going to be hearing all sorts of views, but we’re standing by this,” Taylor said. “We have friends in a lot of other places, like the Iron Pigs or the [Fort Wayne] Tin Caps, who stepped outside of their comfort zone to create a brand. That’s what we’re doing here.”
The team is the Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres.