Regulators, come up.
The official name of Long Beach's new minor league baseball team was announced Tuesday along with the name of its “alter ego”: the Long Beach Regulators. Both nicknames were revealed during the State of the City of Long Beach address.
Officially known as Long Beach Coast, the new Pioneer League team will play starting this season at historic Blair Field, home of Long Beach State's baseball team, the Dirtbags.
“Alter egos are nothing new,” reads a text-only slideshow posted to the team's Instagram on Tuesday. “Each week, Long Beach Coast will act as our alter ego. The Regulators.”
The name, of course, is a nod to team co-owner Warren G's smooth 1994 chart-topping “Regulate,” which also featured the late Long Beach native Nate Dogg, and celebrates Long Beach's G-funk hip-hop roots.
“Being able to say that I'm part of Long Beach, like a crew that's part of the city where I was born and raised, is amazing to me,” the rapper told TMZ in September. “We're going to get to work and try to win some championships.”
A team spokesperson told the Long Beach Post that the Regulators name “will appear through select in-stadium experiences, special activations, creative storytelling and limited merchandise drops.”
Long Beach has been home to three independent minor league teams over the past 30 years. The Barracuda, later renamed Riptide, in 1995-96, the Breakers in 2001-02 and the Armada in 2005-09.
The 11-team Pioneer League also includes the Oakland Ballers, Modesto Roadster and Yuba-Sutter High Wheelers, as well as teams based in Idaho, Montana and Utah.
