The Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs have honored dogs with alternate identities a number of times, playing select games over the years as the Corgis, IronMutts, IronWeiners, and IronPugs. But for the first time, the team will pay tribute to dogs’ finicky, clawful cousins when they take the field as the Lehigh Valley Cats for a game this season. (And I say this as a person who likes cats.)
Minor League Baseball fans are familiar with Hillcats, Fisher Cats, River Cats, ValleyCats, and even Mudcats, but Lehigh Valley will be playing as regular old kitty cats, with a logo that features a bespectacled tabby house cat doing what cats do, lounging around and plotting where it will deposit its next hairball.
“I realized we were dog-centric for years and how irresponsible it’s been to not recognize the thousands of cat-lovers we have in the Lehigh Valley,” said IronPigs President and General Manager Kurt Landes in a statement. “It was a CATastrophe that needed fixed, and this was the purrrfect solution.”
The team invites cat owners to bring their leashed, harnessed, or crated cats to the “Caturday” game, where fans will sing “Take Meow’t to the Ballgame.” Jerseys worn by the IronPigs will be auctioned off and hats entered into a cap raffle to benefit the Lehigh Valley Humane Society. In addition the team will invite local cat rescue organizations who are dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming cats to the game.
The Cats will take the field April 27.
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