Q Dogs and Poppy’s Ballbusters? The Story Behind Summer League Team Names

New Yorkers are accustomed to rooting for the Yankees or the Mets, but in the Rye area, it's more likely that you're a fan of the Ballbusters, Mobius No More or the Q Dogs.

With names as clever as those, it's no wonder why Rye Patch had to write a story about them.

Rye's Summer League, which includes both women and men's baseball and softball teams, feature names that were chosen either in a more democratic fashion, as an inside joke or as a quirky way to pay homage to a sponsor.

Some teams such as Poppy's Ballbusters, sponsored by Poppy's Café on Purchase Street, have been around for 25 years and are well known in the Rye community.

The name Ballbusters comes from the ladies on the team constantly "busting the balls" of their former coach Robert "Poppy" Chapderlane.

"We always busted his chops," said current Head Coach and player Gerri Piovesan. "When he told the runners to stop running they just kept running." 

If you find that name a bit crass, it's all in good fun. The Ballbusters take pride in their unorthodox moniker.

"We live up to our name," Piovesan said. "It's a good thing. I don't think anyone has a good name like us."

Poppy's contenders, the Hot Shotz, are another longstanding team in the Rye Women's Softball League. The team was formed in 1974, the second year of the Women's League.

The name came from the team's players wanting to be dominant on the field, according to Jennifer Battaglino, the Hot Shotz's current coach.

"It made them sound threatening to the other teams - until they got to know them," she said.

The first Hot Shotz team lost every game their first year. Thirty-six years later, this season's team has won only three games, but it's progress compared to their first no-win season.

"The Hot Shotz have come along way," Battaglino said.

Another team with an interesting background is M-n-M or Mobius No More.

After playing in the Rye Recreation League under the name Mobius for twelve years, the team name was changed after ASG Software Solutions  acquired Mobius Management Systems  in 2007.

ASG now serves as the team's sponsor, but since Mobius no longer exists, the team decided to pay homage to its original sponsor, hence the name Mobius No More (M-n-M).

M-n-M (Mobius No More) Coach Tom DiRusso notes that the name is a great motivator for his fellow teammates.

"Prior to every game and after every game we bring everyone together in a circle and try to motivate everyone to play their best, one play at a time, one at bat at a time," he said. "The team name is great for getting the players fired up to play."

Rye Recreation Softball also has younger teams with more old school and distinguished names, such as the GMEN, who began playing as a team two years ago.

The current team is a combination of two former teams, Rosen and Co. and Capital Solutions. Obviously, neither of those names sufficed, so the team decided to name itself after its coach and co-sponsor, Steven Grossman, who says the name is intended to give opponents a sense of fear on the playing field.

"[It means] look out were coming to get yah, you just don't know when," Grossman says.

In Rye Brook, the Q Dogs of Q Authentic Restaurant and Bar in Port Chester were formerly the Muckdogs for five years before new ownership took over two years ago.

The team's camadarie and togetherness is centered around the Port Chester eatery.

"We all love the restaurant," said Q Dogs player Irv Schulman.

The Q Dogs team has also taken the liberty of nicknaming some of its players. Larry Feuerman is affectionately and appropriately called "The Captain," while Adam Goldstein is "Goldy."

The Crash, another Rye Brook team, was named by E and S Auto Body owner Billy Stingone. He came up with the name three years ago after talking with the team's head coach and player Kevin Plomaritis. Stingone has no doubt built his business on vehicles that were involved in terrible wreckages, so the team's name—like so many others in the Summer League—is just a natural extension of him and his life's work.