Welland ballclub’s April Fools’ name change becomes a real thing for one game

Niagara | Welland | Baseball | Sports |

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Published April 3, 2023 at 2:43 pm

Have the Welland Jackfish become the Rose City Timber Tigers? No, that was an April Fools Day announcement. However, the fans had so much fun with it, the team will play a "Timber Tigers' promotion for one game in August.

The Welland Jackfish, an Intercounty Baseball League ballclub, pulled one over on the diehard fans that pad the seats in Welland Stadium every season.

On April 1, they announced they were rebranding and “starting with the 2023 season will now be known as the Rose City Timber Tigers.”

The “new logo” depicted a “menacing” chipmunk that would replace their iconic fish logo and added the new uniforms would change colours to red, forest green, and tan.

The joke continued in the announcement. “After four years we really felt that we needed a freshen up and let’s be honest, chipmunks are cute and this logo set is unreal,” said President and Director of Fun, Ryan Harrison.

The team continued that Timber Tiger was a nickname for a chipmunk (it’s not) and it represented “the massive amount of tree critters in the region.”

“They seriously are everywhere” continued Harrison in the joke news release. “Not as bad as squirrels or seagulls, but they are in my backyard so they must be everywhere else as well.”

Well, the response to the joke was just crazy and positive enough that the Jackfish announced today (April 3) in their promotional schedule that they would play their “Thirsty Thursday” home game on August 10 against the Barrie Baycats as, yes, the Rose City Timber Tigers.

The 7:25 pm start is listed as “Rose City Timber Tigers Night.”

“Time to #getmunked! The Jackfish unveil our alter ego the Timber Tigers for the first time ever! FINatics can enjoy the Timber Tigers while sipping on $4 Pond Water (Lagers) from the minute gates open to the end of the third inning.”

On their Twitter account, the team even had a “Pick Your Favourite Timber Tigers Ball Cap” contest, shown below with choice ‘B’ being the overwhelming favourite with almost half the votes.

But on April 1, they kept that joke going, adding, “The Rose City Timber Tigers are a member of Canada’s top baseball league, the Intercounty Baseball League. The 100-year old summer league is one of the oldest baseball leagues in the world, with the league established in 1919, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind.”

“For more information, visit www.rctimbertigers.com or follow the Timber Tigers on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @rctimbertigers.” Of course, the joke website doesn’t work and the Timber Tigers are not on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

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