This story has been updated to fix an error.
RICHMOND, IN — The Richmond Flying Mummies are ready to take flight next summer at McBride Stadium.
The name, logo and home uniforms of the Northwoods League’s newest baseball team were unveiled Tuesday night, Oct. 7, at the Wayne County Historical Museum, where about 50 people attended to hear the official announcement.
Trevor Amerson, the team’s general manager, said the Flying Mummies and the Groove were the overwhelming favorites, with the Flying Mummies ultimately coming out on top.
“I honestly love it,” Amerson said of the uniform and logo. “The guy who we went through and did our branding did a fantastic job, adding in the aeronautical with the mummy and making a really cool logo. I’m going to be the poster boy wearing all my Flying Mummies merch around town. We’re going to be able to do a lot of fun things.”
The name is based on the city’s home for the state’s only two mummies, one at the historical museum and one at Earlham’s Joseph Moore Museum, as well as the city’s connection to the Wright Brothers.
Amerson said Karen Scalf, director of operations for Richmond Community Schools, told him of the brothers’ connection to Richmond. Both lived in the city for a brief period in the 1870s and 1880s.
Richmond schools owns the stadium where the Flying Mummies will play.
“We are thrilled that one of the pillars of the Northwoods League is to enrich the quality of life heading into our community,” Scalf said. “I truly feel that with all of the owners, the leadership Trevor has already brought in this very short amount of time, where they have worked very hard to make this happen. We are really grateful that they chose McBride Stadium.”
Richmond Mayor Ron Oler spoke about Richmond’s “deep and abiding history of support for America’s favorite pastime.”
Oler said the introduction of the team is “a big win for the city” and that he is happy with the name, although he’d be happy with any name that would have won the team naming contest.
“I may have introduced him to the idea that all Egyptian mummies in Indiana are here in Richmond, and that’s important,” he said. “Just the fact that we’re getting a great team coming back with a lot of potential, and a celebrity owner, which that’s pretty cool, too.”
Oler added that he plans to buy the season-ticket pass, being a big fan of baseball himself, playing the sport for several years.
“I grew up going to the Big Red Machine, Johnny Bench days,” he said. “I brought my glove from when I played little league and all the way through up to high school.”
Amerson said he was pleased with the turnout, adding that the next steps will now include adding a couple of group areas to the stadium, sprucing it up in time for the season and putting together plans for fans.
“We’re actually putting out right now an all-you-can-eat ticket plan just as a season ticket holder kind of thing,” he said. “There’s a lot of work that obviously needs to be done before we can actually get things going at McBride for the 72 games, but I’m confident that we’ve got time and we’ll be able to get things ready for everything.”
Josh Erdosy, who attended the name reveal, won the first jersey giveaway in a random drawing held immediately after the announcement.
“I never win anything, but I do really like the uniform,” he said. “I’m excited to see what their away uniforms are going to look like.”
Erdosy said he submitted a name into the contest, the Richmond Creekrailers, because of the city’s proximity to Clear Creek and the city’s history with trains in the Depot District, but was still excited with the new name.
“I remember going to my first baseball game for the Richmond Roosters when I was about 8 years old, so I’ve always been very supportive of any Richmond sport, especially baseball, all the way from the Roosters to River Rats to the Jazz, and now the Flying Mummies.”
In a press release on Oct. 8, Amerson congratulated Jacob Sparks for being the first to submit the Mummies name to the contest, as well as Bobbie Williams for submitting that the name should have a flying or aviation theme. They both won two season tickets for life as well as an authentic jersey, game hat and the honor of throwing out the first pitch on Opening Day. He also credited John Worthen of Worthen Design for creating the branding.
Others who submitted names that were finalists will also receive a five-game ticket package for next summer, including the home opener, which includes “all you can handle” food and beverage, an inaugural season hat, guaranteed season premium giveaways and more benefits. The winners of those are:
Additionaly, 75 people who voted in the contest won either a team T-shirt or hat in a random drawing were also announced on the team’s website.
Evan Weaver is a news and sports reporter at The Palladium-Item. Contact him on X (@evan_weaver7) or email at eweaver@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Richmond Palladium-Item: ‘Flying Mummies’ to be new Richmond baseball team name
Reporting by Evan Weaver, Richmond Palladium-Item / Richmond Palladium-Item
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