You're going to love the name of the St. Paul Saints' ballpig.
The Twins' top minor league affiliate announced Tuesday that the little porker that'll deliver baseballs to the home plate umpire during the 2023 season at CHS Field is named "Mud Grant."
The name is a nod to the legendary Vikings coach Bud Grant, who passed away earlier this year at the age of 95.
The little guy with the fabled monikor that'll trot from the backstop to the plate is white with black ears, big black spots, and a cute little pink nose.
The pig's name ranks right up there along with past Saints baseball swines called Little Red Porkette, Slumhog Millionaire, Kevin Bacon, and Alternative Fats.
The Saints began play as an independent minor league team in 1993, and that was when the first pig was brought in for the ball-carrying duties.
Why a pig?
The legend goes that the wife of then-Saints owner Mike Veek (as in wreck) found out that St. Paul was once called "Pig's Eye," and the idea turned into a tradition like no other.
The name "Mud Grant" was recently chosen from among one-thousand entries in the annual name-the-pig contest.
Minneapolis resident Bud Rosenfield (or, maybe it's now "Mud" Rosenfield), submitted the name and received various prizes and will throw out the first pitch at a Saints game.
Bud will also get his photo taken with Mud.
According to a press release from the Saints, Mud comes from Winnipeg (should it be WinniPIG?) and will stand up to any effort to replace him during the season.
This comes after the Saints last year needed a new pig at the halfway point of the season because the original had out-grown the costume.
The Saints last week started the second season of Triple-A baseball by taking two of three in Toledo from the Mud Hens (Is there a connection here?).
The Saints' home opener against the Iowa Cubs was pushed back from Tuesday to Wednesday because of bad weather.
This is the ninth season of Saints baseball at CHS Field, located in St. Paul's lowertown neighborhood.