The New Hampshire Fisher Cats, who play in the state’s most populous city of Manchester, will honor two aspects of New Hampshire’s heritage with one alternate identity in 2025. The New Hampshire Space Potatoes brand, created by Brandiose, pays tribute to both the state’s official vegetable and a harrowing tale of alien abduction.
The white potato has been New Hampshire’s official vegetable (and yes, it is a vegetable) since 2013. According to New Hampshire’s official almanac on NH.gov, “in 1719, an Irish immigrant brought a sack of seed potatoes to the area, making New Hampshire the first state to cultivate the white potato.”
It’s appropriate that white potatoes are part of the nightshade family, because here’s where this brand gets shady. In September 1961, Barney and Betty Hill claimed they were abducted by extraterrestrials in rural New Hampshire. The story of the so-called “Hill Abduction” was told in a best-selling 1966 book, The Interrupted Journey, and was adapted for television in 1975 for the NBC film “The UFO Incident.”
The Fisher Cats, Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays in the Eastern League, will play as the Space Potatoes April 19, July 18, August 30.
