Usually, when a team holds a What Might Have Been promotional night, the runner-up brand that finally gets its day an outrageous alternative to the more conservative brand the team ended up going with. (For example, see the Northwest Arkansas Naturals alter-ego chicken-based uniforms.)
Sunday, August 11, the Hartford Yard Goats, a team that many consider to be the poster child for successful, wacky minor league brands, will consider what might have been with an alternate brand that seems decidedly tame. They’ll play a game as the Hartford River Hogs, one of five finalists in the team’s name-the-team contest in 2015.
We can only assume that if they had actually gone with the River Hogs nickname (which derives from the Hog River that flows through Hartford), their identity would include a cartoonish hog akin to the goat that has become such a fixture in the minor league baseball logo landscape. Based on what we’ve seen so far (the timid, watery script pictured above), we’ll give the River Hogs their day and be glad we have the Yard Goats the rest of the season.
The River Hogs’ game-worn jerseys will be auctioned off to benefit the Yard Goats Foundation.
UPDATE: Here’s this actual hog logo, the team’s new temporary Twitter profile as of August 11:
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