The Cleveland Indians’ High-A affiliate, the Lynchburg Hillcats, are set to reveal a new logo Thursday evening at a launch party at the Fifth and Federal bourbon bar in conjunction with a ribbon-cutting ceremony by the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance.
During its second season as an Indians affiliate, the Lynchburg organization ran a “Name the Team Contest” in June to come up with alternative nicknames for the ball club. The final vote came down to six different names, including the Derechos, Doves, Lamb Chops, Love Apples, River Runners, and the Hillcats.
With more than 3,000 votes cast, fans elected to keep the Hillcats moniker over the other five candidates, with votes for the name exceeding the vote total of all other options combined.
While the team name will remain unchanged, the franchise has elected to make changes to its branding and logo while remaining the Lynchburg Hillcats. In a press release at the end of July, team president Chris Jones indicated that there “may be some opportunities to freshen up the logo and some branding after 21 years”.
The 2017 season will be the 23rd year that the minor league club in Lynchburg has operated under the Hillcats name. It will be its 52nd season in the Carolina League, which is expecting some restructuring during this offseason.
The Lynchburg organization became the Hillcats in 1995 when the team switched from an affiliate of the Boston Red Sox to that of the Pittsburgh Pirates. It had previously operated with the name of its parent club as its nickname while working as an affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers, New York Mets, and the Red Sox.
“We are very excited to let people see our new brand and logo,” said Jones earlier this week in a release. “The launch party at Fifth and Federal will serve as a great setting to do that.”
The new Fifth and Federal, opening near downtown Lynchburg, will host the rebranding event. The establishment offers a variety of Southern-style cuisine.
“Revealing our logo fits well with the Fifth and Federal ribbon-cutting. What the owners of Fifth and Federal have done shares many similarities with the vision behind our new logo,” said Jones. “We want to recognize the heritage and tradition of the Hillcats name while giving it a fresh look.”
The event is closed to the public. The unveiling can be seen as it happens on Facebook Live.
