Fan response to the Ballers’ April Fools’ Day gag convinced the team to go all-in on an alt-identity that’s a nod to the city’s connection to cannabis culture.
This article originally appeared on the High Adam newsletter. Subscribe here.
A half-baked idea, repurposed as a last-minute April Fools’ Day joke, to temporarily turn the Oakland Ballers into the herb-green, pot-leaf-emblazoned Oakland Blazers has been such a big hit with fans that the baseball team has decided to officially adopt the alternate identity in the upcoming season.
“Maybe it’s the first April Fools’ Day joke that we now have to do in real life,” Ballers co-founder and CEO Paul Freedman told me in a phone interview on April 2, less than 30 hours after the following message was posted to the team’s official Instagram account shortly past noon on April 1:
“We’ve been thinking… Oakland deserves something a little more elevated. Introducing the Oakland Blazers. An alt identity inspired by The Town’s culture, creativity, and innovation.
Come pack the Green Bowl section at Raimondi Park.
April Fools.
Or should we really do this?”
Accompanying the post was a rendering (see above) of a bright green baseball uniform with purple and orange accent colors, the Ballers’ name replaced with Blazers and a seven-bladed pot-leaf patch at the left shoulder.
The Blazers Origin Story
According to Casey Pratt, the Oakland Ballers VP of Communications & Fan Entertainment, while the decision to pull a fast one on fans was a last-minute ask by Freedman, the seed for the herbal-leaning alt-identity was actually planted about eight months ago during a team podcast conversation involving Pratt, Ballers catcher Tyler Lozano and tattoo artist (and Ballers press box fixture) Ben Verhoek. I mention this not only because you can watch the precise moment it …
Read More
Author: Adam Tschorn / High Times
