MiLB's Best New Alternate Identity for 2026 features cream, syrup and a splash of lime

The 2026 MiLB Award for Best New Alternate Identity goes to the Salt Lake Bees. They won it by playing dirty. 

The Bees -- Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels -- suited up as the Dirty Sodas every Wednesday home game this season. This alter ego pays tribute to customizable carbonated beverages that are supplemented with cream and syrup, a trend that began in the Beehive State before attaining nationwide popularity.

The Dirty Sodas identity was announced as the Best New Alternate Identity winner during Monday evening's MiLB Awards Show on MLB Network. It triumphed over six other nominees (chosen from dozens) in an online fan vote, finishing with 25 percent of the total and barely edging out the Columbus Scrambled Dogs (24 percent) and Louisville Humidity (23 percent).

"[Dirty Sodas] is the the perfect intersection of being authentically, genuinely Utah, bringing the power of sport, pop culture and commercialization together for this fantastic moment in time," said Ashley Havili, vice president of marketing and merchandise for Miller Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Bees. "Everyone rallied behind the Dirty Sodas and that is also why we've seen success, because everyone believed in it, loved it and embraced it." 

The dirty soda originated within Utah's Mormon community, serving as an alternative beverage option for practitioners of a religion that prohibits alcohol as well as hot drinks. Swig, the first dirty soda shop, was founded in 2010 and is now a nationwide chain owned by the Larry H. Miller Company. To build the Dirty Sodas brand, the Bees partnered with Mississippi-based Rare Design. 

"It's a really vibrant and rich color palette, which is like a dirty soda," said Havili. "At the base of it is the cola brown, and that's what you see in the brand, and that cream color.  You can't have a dirty soda without a splash of cream in it."

The Bees' home of Ballpark at America First Square features an onsite Swig location, offering dirty sodas such as The Founder (Diet Coke, coconut, coconut cream, lime). Wednesday Dirty Sodas games featured mascot Swiggy, and Swig drinks were available for $3. Havili said that the new alternate identity helped bring new fans, predominantly female, to the ballpark.

"It felt like you were walking into the Utah Dirty Sodas ballpark, not the Salt Lake Bees," said Havili. "The whole game presentation was Utah Dirty Sodas. We have a giant inflatable Swig cup in the outfield, and if there was a home run that hit the cup everyone got a free Swig that night."

The first player to hit the Swig cup was Denzer Guzmán, who went on to spend most of the season with the Angels. It was a memorable occasion.

"Back in May when he was with us, he hit the straw [of the cup]," said Bees communication manager Nate Thompson. "You couldn't really tell if he hit it. ... So we took a half-inning to review it. We put it up on the video board, 'After further review, the Swig cup has been hit,' and did a zoom-in close-up look at it. The crowd went crazy."

The Bees are hoping for more such moments next season, with the reach of the Dirty Sodas brand growing in tandem with the beverage they honor. 

"We will continue to build on the momentum that we've had in 2026 and bring more energy in 2027," said Havili. "It's just the perfect moment in time where Dirty Sodas have taken the nation by storm."

In other words, don't expect this year's Best New Alternate Identity to fizzle out anytime soon.