In the spirit of the upcoming U.S. presidential election, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats are letting fans vote to decide which hat they will wear on Opening Day in 2016. The online ballot at www.WeTheFans2016.com pits a blue hat with a Democrat donkey against a red hat with a Republican elephant.
The winning hat will be paired with a bi-partisan jersey that features both the elephant and the donkey. The identities were created 12 years ago by Studio Simon, and have been repurposed by Brandiose for this campaign.
The politically themed identity is a throwback to the Fisher Cats’ original name, the New Hampshire Primaries—which never actually saw the light of day on a baseball field. The Primaries identity (at right) was announced in November 2003 as the name of the new team as an homage to the state’s traditional role as the first to hold primaries (not to be confused with caucuses) in each presidential election. The name was widely derided and the team changed course just days later, opting instead to become the Fisher Cats.
When we featured the Fisher Cats on this website in September, the team’s president and general manager Rick Brenner said this about the fact that the Fisher Cats still embrace the Primaries identity in spite of the initial fan backlash:
It’s an undeniable part of the team’s history, and it’s an undeniable part of the state of New Hampshire, so it just made sense to continue to use it and have it be part of some of the things we do here from time to time. I think it’s always important to hold on to your history and celebrate it and bring it out and keep it alive and celebrate the roots of your franchise.
The Fisher Cats’ 2016 season opens April 14, more than two months after the actual New Hampshire primary.
