Regardless of the GM's age or experience, the assistants tend to be really young. There's a nearly endless supply of new applicants, often college graduates who aspire to staff the front offices of big league teams. Ownership and owners' involvement is quite variable. Some of the teams are parts of small holding companies, whose owners only show their faces to the fans on special events. About half the teams are locally owned, although that means something quite different in Beloit than West Michigan.
Team nicknames deserve a comment.
It is the current rage to give the local team a catchy moniker. Everyone noticed that the Carolina Mudcats were selling thousands of caps, and hoped to cash in on a good thing. This is fashion , and may turn. As recently as 1991, eleven of the league's fourteen teams bore the name of their big league affiliate and wore a version of the affiliate's uniform. Next page .