Minor league baseball right now is just as much an all-you-can eat buffet as a sport. Between the inventive team names (Biscuits, Nuts, JumboShrimp, Baby Cakes) and special theme night rebrandings (Pierogies, Steamed Crabs, Pitmasters), fans starving for imaginative merch won’t go home hungry.

At the head of the line are two culinary OGs: the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and the Fresno Grizzlies. Or, as they are respectively called by their food monikers, the Bacon and the Tacos. Each team carves out one day a week at home to wear special themed uniforms, and the result has been a branding cornucopia: national media exposure, major merch sales, and a social media feud that escalated this year into a team-sanctioned showdown.

Where did this food craving come from? It started with creative thinking by executives in both front offices. Lindsey Knupp, the IronPigs’ vice president of marketing/entertainment, was intrigued by the idea of an off-the-wall logo that would resonate beyond the team’s fan base, such as the “Mustache” hat worn by the Lexington Legends. Iterating on the team’s porky properties (though the local history behind the IronPig name has nothing to do with swine), she came up with the idea for Bacon hats and jerseys for the 2014 season. But not everyone was enthused. “Our staff thought it was the stupidest idea they’d ever heard of,” remarks Knupp, who in 2015 won Minor League Baseball’s Woman Executive of the Year award. Though the team promoted the brand expansion aggressively (including a “Smell the Change” microsite), they only put in a conservative initial order of merchandise.

In Fresno, Director of Marketing Sam Hansen wanted to further explore central California’s rich taco truck heritage; the team had already done so successfully since 2011 when Hansen (who started that year as a graphic designer) helped engineer an annual Taco Truck Throwdown competition at the team’s ballpark. For the 2015 Throwdown, the team wore bold Taco uniforms, with the Taco logo mimicking the hand-painted aesthetic of taco truck signage. The look was such a hit that the Grizzlies doubled down the following year, wearing the Taco uniforms for every Taco Tuesday (naturally) while offering food specials and converted stadium signage to add crunch to the idea. Hansen describes it as the team’s “alter ego.” “It definitely targets a younger crowd,” he says. “Or at least that was the intention – I’ve noticed a lot of older people starting to wear Tacos jerseys and hats.”

For both teams, the move has been a runaway success, enticing local fans while also selling merchandise all over the country as well as to multiple continents. (Each promotion also garnered Golden Bobblehead awards, given out to the best minor league promos.) The IronPigs blew past their small initial order and in the years since have created dozens of Bacon items for fans to purchase, including hats, socks, bacon-scented tees and replicas of their “Bacon, USA” jerseys the team wears on Saturdays. The Grizzlies as well have ushered in creative updates of their Tacos logo, including a colorful “zarape” version last year and a stars and stripes version that will be worn on July 4^th this year (the holiday falls on a Tuesday).

Simple and graphic, it’s no wonder this hat from the Lehigh Valley IronPigs appeals to bacon fanatics everywhere. Check out the subtle “IRONPIGS” wordmark in the bacon’s marbling.

Sam Hansen, the director of marketing for the Fresno Grizzlies, avoids making hats too busy, and the simplicity of this Tacos hat is striking.

The teams released Fighting Bacon and Tacos versions of their food logos for this year’s social media Food Fight.

Each Saturday the IronPigs wear their Bacon USA jerseys. The lack of team branding (where does it say Lehigh Valley or IronPigs?) is remarkable.

The Tacos this year are wearing colorful “zarape”-inspired hats and jerseys.

The IronPigs reprise their cheesesteak look this year, becoming the “Whiz Kids” for one night to honor the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies team of the same name.

The Grizzlies’ theme nights include super cool one-off jerseys, like these mariachi-inspired duds to celebrate the 30^th anniversary of “The Three Amigos.”

Hansen and the Tacos added their own special logo and scent to the Bacon hats they wore after losing the Food Fight vote.

Though the Bacon moniker arrived first, the high-profile success of both teams has helped lead a food craze in the sport, with several other teams hosting their own one-night food celebrations. The IronPigs even followed up last year with a “Tribute to Philadelphia” night; the team was rechristened the Steaks and wore cheesesteak hats and jerseys with plenty of gooey cheese whiz. The team put out two different hats – one with and one without onions (“wit” and “witout” in the local Philly parlance) – and let fans vote on the hat the team should wear. “We thought for sure that without onions was the cleaner crisper logo, and that would win,” Knupp says. “We were 100% wrong. People voted with their gut and what they wanted on their cheesesteaks.” The team is reprising the cheesesteak promotion this year by changing the team’s name to Whiz Kids (a reference to the beloved 1950 Philadelphia Phillies team of the same nickname).

Just to make things extra spicy, the two teams have traded barbs through a mock-snarky social media war of food branding ownership. But this winter the franchises teamed up and made their feud official through a sanctioned “Food Fight.” On Baconsvstacos.com, the teams unveiled new Fighting Bacon and Tacos logos, and encouraged fans to settle the “beef” by voting for their favorite food. The IronPigs even banned the sale of tacos one Saturday to get out the vote. The stakes: loser had to wear the other teams’ cap for one game.

Over 19,000 unique visitors frequented the site, and in the end Bacon prevailed by a 53%-47% margin. The Grizzlies, who wore the Fighting Bacon hats on June 22, didn’t mind losing. “It did well for us branding-wise because it showed we were standing up for what people identify as a cultural icon here,” says Hansen, adding that it galvanized their local fans.

Even though there were no true losers in this feud, it didn’t stop Hansen and the Tacos from engaging in a little gamesmanship. On the day of the game, he took the Fighting Bacon hats to a local embroidery shop for what he called a “Fresno Remix,” adding an additional logo that featured a pig inside a taco with the words “Carnitas.” And for good measure, the team roasted a pig (with a baseball in its mouth) and put a couple hats on its head. “Our plan is to send the hats back to Lehigh carnitas-scented,” says Hansen.  

While this stunt may finally lay this feud to rest (not likely), it also underscores the branding prowess of the two franchises. The Grizzlies have put together exceptional theme nights, like Halfway to Halloween or the team’s 30^th anniversary celebration of the comedy “The Three Amigos” (with swanky mariachi jerseys to match). The IronPigs load up on giveaways throughout the year and offer unique perks for season ticket members through its new Bacon, USA membership package.

But even with all that they do, both franchises recognize an inescapable truth: one way to a fan’s heart is through his stomach. “Food really sells,” Knupp says, “and I don’t know why to be honest with you. People really gravitate towards it.”