The Los Angeles Angels did win an award of sorts as their minor league affiliate celebrated a successful promotion.
Minor league baseball is partly about fun, and the Los Angeles Angels’ Triple-A affiliate showed out in that department as the Salt Lake City Bees won the 2026 MiLB Award for Best New Alternate Identity.
The Bees did it by “playing dirty,” according to a report from Benjamin Hill of MLB.com, who had some fun with an intrinsically fun story. The Bees suited up as the “Dirty Sodas” every Wednesday this season, as they paid tribute to a unique Utah tradition that involved “customizable carbonated beverages,” to go with Hill’s description.
Specifically, you make a dirty soda by adding cream and syrup, and it’s a tradition in Utah, which is also known as the Beehive State. There are other regional variations on this that are certainly similar and probably identical, but the Dirty Sodas copped the award during a presentation on the MLB Network on Monday night.
It’s always fun to mention the competition in a story like this, and Hill noted that there were six other nominees, including the Columbus Scrambled Dogs (24 percent of the vote) and Louisville Humidity (23 percent).
The impetus for a lot of this is the renowned Savannah Bananas, who spiced up baseball outside the MLB/MiLB umbrella with their uniquely independent approach that features all sorts of hijinks and shenanigans. MiLB was always leaning in this direction to some extent, but now the (fielding) gloves are off when it comes to how silly things can get.
For those who need a little history here, the Utah’s version of the Dirty Soda idea originated with the state’s Mormon community, as the concoction became an alternative beverage for a religion that prohibits alcohol as well as hot drinks.
According to Hill, the first dirty soda shop was founded in 2010, and it’s become a national brand, so the Bees’ version involved partnering up with a couple of companies.
The team’s home field features an on-site Swig location, with several versions of the sweet treat beverage helping to put money in the Angels’ coffers. Available versions of the beverage include The Founder (Diet Coke, coconut, coconut cream, lime), the the weekly games featured mascot Swiggy, with Swig drinks available for $3.
The Bees sort of needed the promotional help, as they went 67-81 this season as their performance mirrored that of the big club to some extent. They did help some with prospect development, although GM John Mozeliak said in his press conference on Monday that the Angels will be hiring a new farm director from outside the organization.
