Get out to the Birdcage this weekend for some top-tier baseball and all of the fun that is surely in store!

This weekend, the team plays host to the Kane County Cougars, which are the first three games of six straight at home for the Birds.

Friday Night will be a big one, as the team will change its name to the "Minnehaha Martians" in celebration of Area 51 Night.

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Stick around Saturday for Pokémon night, with several other great specials and events in store!

Here's more from the Canaries:

In a shocking move from out of nowhere (well, outer space), the Sioux Falls Canaries — who famously changed their team nickname to the "Fighting Pheasants" for three seasons from 2010-12 only to change it back — will once again ditch their team nickname that goes back over 100 years. 

General manager Duell Higbe confirms the Canaries will become the "Minnehaha Martians" effective for Friday night's 7:05 game against the Kane County Cougars, an event that will kick off the Canaries' — err, Martians' — six-game homestand. 

Friday is billed as "Area 51 Night," which will include a spectacular fireworks show after the game. The club's new colors will be emerald green, royal blue, and white. 

Players will sport new "Minnehaha Martians" jerseys that night, which select fans will get to take home after the game— an event made possible by an online jersey auction that fans can start bidding in right now.

Video clips, music, and famous lines and sounds from well-known movies and TV series about the paranormal will add to the alien sensation of the evening. 

"It's time for the Canaries to fly away and for the only professional baseball team in South Dakota to get alien," Higbe says. "Americans are so swept up by the fascination with the extraterrestrial, we thought, why not 'phone home' and make it our own in Sioux Falls?!"

So, they will. And then... the Sioux Falls Canaries will return on Saturday night. For good. 

After all, this will be the "3rd Annual Area 51 Night" at The Birdcage, and this "Minnehaha Martians" one-game name  change has become a fun and popular tradition.

The Birds will continue to celebrate outrageously fun creatures on Saturday with "Pokémon Night," honoring the Japanese media franchise that takes place in a shared universe in which humans co-exist with the eponymous creatures, a large variety of species which have special powers.

Games on "Sunday Family Funday" (4:05), "$10 Tuesday" (6:35), "Waggin' Wednesday" (dogs get in free, 6:35), and "Throwback Thursday," a special Fourth of July celebration with fireworks after the game (6:35).

Tickets for all Canaries games are most easily purchased online at tickets.sfcanaries.com. Fans can also visit or call the Canaries box office to purchase tickets at 605-336-6060 during weekday business hours. Walk-up tickets are available at the Canaries ticket windows at The Birdcage starting 95 minutes before each game. Gates open one hour before each game start.

For tickets and info, go to sfcanaries.com.

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Gallery Credit: Bert Remien

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