BOSTON -- Officials at at the Franklin Park Zoo said they have named a new female baby giraffe "Sox" in honor of this year's World Series winning team.

They said the calf was born shortly after Game 1 of the World Series, but the zoo's superstitious staff didn't want to name her right away for fear they would jinx the team's chances in the series.

“Our beloved New England institutions -- Franklin Park Zoo and the Red Sox -- both have a reason to celebrate. As the unlikely second offspring of the most genetically rare male and female Masai giraffes in North America, the birth of Sox was exciting for us all,” said zoo President and CEO John Linehan. “We’re proud of Jana, for a delivery as perfect as Josh Beckett’s!”

The staff originally considered the names “Red,” “Fenway,” “Champion” and one of the most popular baby boy names of the year, “Boston,” were all proposed as possible monikers.

Ultimately, the zoo settled on “Sox” because, with her long, lanky legs, the name seemed like the perfect fit for a baby giraffe born during such a memorable baseball season, the said in statement.

“She just looked like a ‘Sox,’” said one Zoo staffer.

Sox was born on Oct. 25 inside the giraffe barn at Franklin Park Zoo weighing in at an impressive 154 pounds and standing 6 feet 2 inches.

Her parents, Beau and Jana, are among the two most genetically valuable Masai giraffes in captivity in North America, zoo officials said. They were brought together in 2004 to breed. Their first calf, a female named Autumn born in 2006, was recently moved to Greenville Zoo in South Carolina.

Given Beau’s condition this birth is even more remarkable. Beau was diagnosed with the incurable giraffe wasting syndrome (GWS) in October 2003. The condition is marked by weight loss, an energy deficient state and chronic hypoglycemia. Thanks to the extraordinary and innovative care he has received from the veterinary and animal care staff at FPZ, Beau is by far the longest living giraffe in the world having been diagnosed with GWS.

The fact that Beau was kept alive and able to father a calf in 2006 was an unlikely comeback, just like the Red Sox underdog win over the Yankees in 2004, the zoo said.

The birth of a second calf fathered by Beau, who will continue to battle GWS for the rest of his life, is an accomplishment on par with the Red Sox’s second World Series win in four years, zoo veterinarians said.

Beau and Jana were bred as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Giraffe Population Management Plan.

Zoo officials said it may be a while before the public gets to see Sox because giraffes are more temperature sensitive than other savannah animals. They said the zoo staff takes extra precautions with Beau given his condition, and the giraffes are kept indoors when temperatures drop below 65 degrees. Therefore, the public will most likely be able to first view Beau, Jana and their baby, Sox, in the spring of 2008 -- sometime around Opening Day for the new World Champions.