Fort Wayne Tin Caps
Other highly considered names:
Generals, Kekiongas, River + Animal combo, Crabapples, Octane and Voltmen.
The Crabapples, Octane and Voltmen names also had domain names purchased by the Wizards organization along with tincaps.com and fortwaynetincaps.com
The winning “Tin Caps” name was submitted by a local individual.
From http://www.fortwaynetincaps.com:
Fort Wayne, IN – When Parkview Field opens next season, Fort Wayne and the surrounding communities in Northeast Indiana, Northwest Ohio and Southern Michigan will be cheering on the Fort Wayne TinCaps. Hardball Capital CEO Jason Freier, and team general manager Mike Nutter, unveiled the team’s new identity and logo at a press conference at the Grand Wayne Center this morning.
The “TinCaps” moniker is a reference to the beloved pioneer Johnny Appleseed, who was known for wearing his tin cooking pot upon his head. The primary logo will be an apple wearing Johnny’s trademark “Tin Cap.” Two alternate logos will incorporate the City’s initials, “FW” with each a “Tin Cap” and an apple stem and leaf. The team’s primary color scheme will consist of organic colors — green, red and brown. This color scheme is consistent with both the Johnny Appleseed theme and the project goal of creating Parkview Field as a true park and gathering place within the center of downtown Fort Wayne.
“In Minor League Baseball you have the opportunity to create a brand that with a true regional flavor,” stated General Manager, Mike Nutter. “Johnny Appleseed, while known nationally, is a regional pioneer and folk hero. His story, and the history of this area, gives us an identity that is distinctively Fort Wayne. Johnny was a pioneer of the Midwest frontier in a time with seemingly endless opportunity. We feel a part of a new frontier in Fort Wayne’s growing downtown with the continued development of the Harrison Square project.”
Although the name and identity were arrived at (and were working their way through Minor League Baseball’s processes) prior to the time that the agreement was reached with Parkview Health to be the naming rights partner at Parkview Field, the confluence of the apple theme’s classic symbol of health and well-being, and the partnership with Parkview is viewed by both the team and Parkview as fortuitous.
The creation of a new identity for the team began with a community-wide “Re-Name the Team” contest that drew over 2,500 suggestions over the course of the two week entry period. Further input was collected from the community regarding some of the more prevalent categories identified as a result of the contest entries. At the close of the process all of the suggestions and input were considered by local and national marketing experts along with the team’s staff and ownership. The team sought a new identity that had its roots in the Fort Wayne community, would appeal to a wide audience and was unique in the crowded national sports landscape.
The TinCaps will begin play at Parkview Field on Thursday, April 16th at 7:00pm when they take on the Dayton Dragons on Opening Day of the new ballpark.
For more information on TinCaps season tickets, group outings or corporate partnerships for the 2009 season at Parkview Field contact the team at (260) 482-6400.
Let’s go Fort Wayne Potheads!! This is the worst name in sports. Ugh….
a/k/a “Mad Apples”
Man, what was wrong with “Wizards?” It had alliteration going for it, it didn’t rely on the obscure idea that Johnny Appleseed died here, and it didn’t remind me of conspiracy theorists in tinfoil hats. Plus it had a brilliantl mascot, a wizard gazing into a crystal baseball (never got why they changed him into a dragon.)
Not to say I couldn’t see Tin Caps catching on, after, like, a lot of years – but are they gonna just change this one too before the brand sets in?
I thinks it’s a fine name, but let’s not refer to Parkview Field as “The Orchard.”
How about Fort Wayne Applesauce???? Or the Fort Wayne Apple Dumplings??? STUPID!!!!!!!
That is absolutely the dumbest nickname I’ve ever heard. Tin Caps + public $ going to a private company + non-profit organization giving $ to local government = Fort Wayne, IN. You’d might as well call them the Fort Wayne Dumbheads.
I got to admit, I like the originality of the name Tin Caps, but not the name itself. I think it sounds pretty lame too…and how about those intimidating logos!!?? Why does it HAVE to be something that relates to Ft. Wayne? That really limits choices. One of these times I wish FW would just choose a name that sounds cool and is different, and not necessarily related to the city/region at all. I wouldn’t quite rank this up there with “Mad Ants” stupidity yet.
My name choice was Ft. Wayne Wildcats — paying tribute to Wildcat baseball. I really thought that name would get more consideration, since it is baseball related. But I guess “Wildcats” is too generic. Also I agree RMike, please DO NOT call the new field the orchard. I think Parkview would probably have a little problem with that too.
The logo is going to lead people to call the team the Fort Wayne Potheads.
So…none of my college age friends had ANY CLUE what TinCaps was in reference to.
This is pathetic.
But we are starting the official fan club. The PotHeads.
We’ll be at game one, with a banner, and pots on our heads.
Anyone care to join?
Andrew, how about a “student section type” name too! Like how Michigan State has the Izzone, PU has the Paint Crew, Michigan has the Maize Rage. Ours could be “the Trap”.
So i was really excited to tell my friends about the new stadium and the fort wayne wizards while im down in Bloomington for school but now im embarrassed, the tin caps? really? such an intimidating mascot too… come on, no one is going to want to buy a hat with an apple on it, ill be wearing my wizards stuff
Pathetic Mess!!
I thought this was suppose to be revitalization. Fresh, New, Exciting. The people of Fort Wayne can be embarrassed instead of proud. Thanks to the idiots who made the decisions. I agree, lets not call the park the orchard. I think the Wildcats would have been perfect! (and an awesome way to draw the community to the games.) Wildcat is baseball here in Fort Wayne, it is history too. We already have a celebration of Johnny Appleseed once a year. We’ll be called the potheads. (Really good, for the youth of this community!) or as others have stated on other sites. (TinCaps = TinCups used by panhandlers) I honestly believe the majority of citizens would agree with me that it was a poor choice. And trying to sell it, as a great tie in with the hospital because an apple is healthy. More like “An Apple a day keeps the fans away” Some people were out of their mind when they developed this pathetic idea!
Yo, dude! I’m an outfielder for the Potheads. I may be slow, but the muncies from our vendors are great!
No Longer a Fan…I just don’t get it either. What goes through some people’s minds when they choose these ridiculous sounding names. Did these guys not think that “Tin Caps” would be made fun of? That an apple logo is pretty dumb looking? That by looking at the logo “Potheads” could immediately interpreted as another nickname? There is wayyy too much focus nowadays on “originality” and “local flavor” etc. Why not just choose a cool, maybe somewhat intimidating name that could would flow well with the words “Fort Wayne”. I already gave my Wildcats example. Why not something like Ft. Wayne Warhawks, or Ft. Wayne Warbirds (Warbird beer). Those names sound cool, and lend themselves to the possibility of very cool logos. I’m sure the team received hundreds of cool sounding names like these and just tossed them in the trash bin because they didn’t meet their “specific requirements”. Naming a team should not be this big complex thing that people are turning it into.
We have the Mad Ants, which was chosen by some (braindead?) citizens of Fort Wayne, now we have the Tin Caps, chosen by the owners and team brass. I’m starting to think maybe FW really is the dumbest city in America.
Haha, Crazy Little Bugs and Pot Heads. beautiful.
This really could be a disaster.
There is a large majority of people in Fort Wayne that disagreed with the stadium in the first place.
Then Parkview, a “non-profit” jumped on board, causing more people to be skeptical of the whole situation.
Now with this name…I can see the team losing a lot of fans.
Wait, how many fans did they have in the first place?
Nutter and his boys need to get this fixed QUICK.
How about…the Fort Wayne Downtowners? Terrible, but sounds better than TinCaps!
Add one more to the roll call that this was a Really poor choice. I agree that when I saw the “specific requirements” I was already nervous, but even Generals or Kekiongas or Voltmen would have been much better. Even the colors look blah. An embarrassment – to say the least.
I would like to have been in the meeting where there was a consensus on “Tin Caps” was found to be so much more favorable than the “Generals.” Students at my school, once alerted to the news, immediately said, “We’re potheads?”
On the WANE.com website.. the question of the day was “Do you like the Tin Caps name?” Last time I looked it was an overwhelming 92% “no”. That’s a telling stat right there. Nutter, Freier, and other Wizards front office staff NEED to have an emergency meeting and decide if this is REALLY the name they want this team to have. We’ve only known it for 5 hours, and ALREADY look at the amount of negativity/embarrassment people are feeling. I can imagine it now, going to the first Tin Caps game, thousands of fans cheering sarcastically “Lets go Potheads!! Yeahhh!!” Players for the team and opposing teams making fun of the name. Little kids asking their parents why people are calling the team the “potheads”. This name is a disaster waiting to happen.
Below is a list of minor league names. As you can see, Tin Caps fits in perfectly. Anyone who thinks Tin Caps is a bad name knows NOTHING about minor league baseball. Please, GET OUT OF MY TOWN!
Albuquerque Isotopes
Amarillo Dillas
Augusta GreenJackets
Batavia Muckdogs
Idaho Falls Chukars
Kansas City T-Bones
Kannapolis Intimidators
Lansing Lugnuts
Montgomery Biscuits
Savannah Sand Gnats
Ok, you see… that’s the snobby downtown attitude that pisses me off and will make it difficult for downtown to succeed in my book. Get out of my town? The people you are telling to get out of town are the people that are needed.
I think the name would be ok except that further insight should have been made into easy make-fun-of names. You can make fun of any name but this one is just too easy… but, the best thing for them to do is just push forward and ignore the connection and quite frankly everyone has a right to make fun of it since its a public team… I like the Lansing Lugnuts name and the Mad Ants name, and agree with the point that crazy names are part of minor league baseball… the classic has to be the Toledo Mud Hens.
Hey Better Than You,
Just because other teams have ridiculous names, does not mean that it is good for Fort Wayne.
WaneTV’s survey indicates 82% do not like the name TinCaps
Also, you see the comments. Do you really want parents having to explain to their children what is meant by “Pothead”
Face it! This was a bad decision. The people who were given the task of re-naming the team or creating a brand were idiots. Those crazy fools only added fuel to the existing fire with regard to the stadium and the team name.
It is an embarassment. And to those of you who continue to bring up the Mens Health magazine naming Fort Wayne the dumbest city. Well, you need to read the re-butal that was written by a gal that worked at the Chamber of Commerce at the time. She set them straight. Fort Wayne has long been home to inovative people and products. Fort Wayn is not dumb. (Just certain idiots, who would decide that this name was a good choice.) No one in their right mind, left mind or insane mind would choose this name. (They must be the real potheads)
Nick West just put up a new article about the name change on news-sentinel.com
“So why didn’t the team keep the nickname Wizards?
“We wanted something that reflected a change,” Nutter said before showing a graphic that said of the 2,574 name entries, only 1.8 percent were for keeping the Wizards name.”
Hey Nutter, you do realize that you were ASKING for NEW names.
Obviously people wouldn’t submit “Wizards” as the NEW name.
Since the team name is a crappy play on a ft wayne tradition, I propose we call the new stadium “The John.” Nothing like going to The John on a Friday night to see the Pot Heads.
Rusty – NOT AFTER THIS JOHN! The Parkview John just wouldn’t be right!
Kanapolis Intimidators are owned by the Earnhardt Family, That’s why they got that name, after Dale Sr.
As for the whole Tin Caps naming, Give it a month and let it sink in, then if we still hate the idea, Re-open the Name-the-team contest and do it all ove again. THIS TIME LET THE FANS VOTE.. I Sure as heck didn’t get to vote and I’m season ticket holder for the wizards.
I don’t mind the new name – at least its original.
So keeping the name Tin Caps (or the hip-hop spelling – Tin Capz) in mind, will fans be able to bring with them a couple of old cooking pots/pans and beat them together when the home team scores a run ???
Likewise, if cooking pots and pans will be allowed into the new stadium, can these same pots/pans be used on or against the fans of the opposing team ???
Russ – My condolences on your owning the season tickets – be sure to take a blanket for the early games of the year – you will be cold and lonely by yourselves – I’m really sorry for you and yours!
1st the Mad Ants and now this!!!! We are a laughing stock in the real world of sports!
Now this stadium will fail and still raise our property taxes. Yee Haw! Thanks to all the ignorant officials who passed this name. At least the Ft Wayne Potheads would have sold merch…good luck selling over priced tee-shirts with mad apples on them. Grrrrrrr……
It’s quite obvious that there was not much thought that went into the new name for the Fort Wayne Wizards. Looking at the Tin Caps logo, many may decide to call them the Fort Wayne Pot Heads, since the apple does have a pot on his head. Pull your heads out Fort Wayne, and stop smoking pot!
I won’t even start on the whole, unnecessary, fiasco of a taxpayer burdenof a joke that they call Harrison Square! Who in the world wants to drive all the way downtown for a ball game? Because of very poor city planning over the years, there is no easy and fast way to get downtown! Besides, with the new name, Fort Wayne
PotTin Heads, it would have made far more sense to leave the ball field near Johnny Appleseed Park. Again, I say, pull your heads out, Fort Wayne!Then, Parkview Health Systems, claiming they are a ‘Not For Profit’ company, and claiming they can not afford to give more raises to their hard-working employees, coughs up several million dollars, just to have their name on the new stadium! The city planners, engineers, commissioners, and the board and president of Parkview Health Systems can kiss my @$$, as well as the @$$e$ of all 6000 +/- Parkview Health System’s employees!
Go to http://geocities.com/fw_potheads@rocketmail.com and download your very own Fort Wayne Pot Heads logo. Feel free to have it made into a Bumper Sticker to show your disdain for the moronic officials of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
FORT WAYNE, INDIANA – - – WHAT A JOKE!!!
FW Pothead –
Damn, you’re really into this whole Pot Head concept. That took some time coming up with the whole geocities site.
I say, take it to the next level and have some merchandise featuring this alternative name made up and ready to go on opening day. You might be able to make a few bucks selling Pot Head bumper stickers, shirts, caps and bobble head dolls outside of the new stadium.
FW Pothead, if you have photoshop, work on those eyes on the apple. Try to change them from “mad eyes” to “high as a kite” eyes.
Should have named them the Fort Wayne Firehawks like I suggested and then we wouldn’t have all of these people calling them the pot heads.
At away games they will be known as the “Road Apples.”
War Hawks or Fire Hawks would have been cool. After all, the city goes on about those dumb falcons downtown.
I never liked the name Wizards but it grew on me. But I like the Tin Caps name.
Good Job Nutter and Crew
Also, It would not mattered what name you presented, most people like to tear down and not build up.
All the whiners and complainers should form their own team. Their logo can be a frowning jack-o-lantern wrapped in bandages, and they can call themselves the Fort Wayne Soreheads.
To revitalize Fort Wayne we need a cultural exchange. Load a caravan of buses with people who think a perpetual state of indignation vindicates their existence, and swap with some town that has some positive, constructive people to spare.
I hate to possibly invoke Godwin’s Law but forcefully removing a part of the population is Hitleresque. You have to work with what you got in Fort Wayne. I think people’s complaining about the name is more in line with unhappiness at the pushing of projects that don’t seem to be working… don’t look like they’re working etc… It’s too bad that some official can’t come out and say… or at least say they’ll try… to stop pushing more projects with the idea of bringing on/back people that you are ready to shove on to the bus. “Whiners and complainers” may be “positive, constructive people” if they are led the right way… or if you allow them to lead you the right way. It works both ways.
It’s too bad enthusiasm to revitalize Fort Wayne to this point has not followed a more fortunate path. The “Us” and “Them” attitude is not the best to take, but I’ll take the “Them” attitude if I, or I see friends, feel shoved.
I apologize.
Instead of “… people who think a perpetual state of indignation vindicates their existence” I should have said, “… people who take umbrage at even the most obvious tongue-in-cheek remark.”
Some days I laugh more than once. I’ll soon turn 70 years old, and I don’t think it has hurt me yet. I recommend it.
This might be amusing. In Indianapolis yesterday we were waiting to cross the street at Monument Circle and two officers told us to cross with them, and pedestrians are supposed to stop there anyway. I said we were were from Fort Wayne and weren’t used to that in our downtown. Then they said they love downtown Fort Wayne. But then they went on to mention the zoo and the Coliseum, lol. It was surprising to hear that people from Indy, who Peter King said may have the most walkable downtown in the country, said they liked Fort Wayne’s downtown, as it currently stands, and what their perception of it was…
Mike, Technically the zoo and Coliseum and Not Downtown…… Down town is a mess now, and it will only get worse!!
The Pads are having a tuff enough time as it is. I can just imagine being a player trying to hit on some tasty errrr hefty Ft Waynian and being laughed out of the bar.
For those of you idiots that don’t understand that the name “Tincaps” is a great name for our minor league team. Lansing had the same response when they unveiled “Lugnuts” Last year the “lugnuts” had the highest amount of merchandise sales in all of minor league baseball. The logo is awesome and so are the new jerseys and hats! Suite sales are way up over memorial stadium. Which by the way was the worst minor league park in baseball. A all around dump!
After reading most of the comments above.. you guys must have just shown up for the $1 beer nights!
For you haters.. stay home.. the real fans don’t want you there anyways!
Let’s build some support for these efforts to help our city and then, maybe, someone will invest in downtown with things like a waterpark. The problem is Fort Wayne will have it’s fair share of people complaining that the water park uses too much water!
This is so shocking, the most So not creative , embarrassing, Midwest name I have ever heard. This tops it all really.
Fort Wayne is trying way to hard to be a “real city” it will NEVER happen. The people here dont care. They are fat, stupid and bored and might I say not creative.
Tin Caps,wow
Maybe it wasn’t the best name they could have come up with…..a lot of people in Fort Wayne are fat, I wont disagree with you “sad to live in indiana”, but the stupid and bored people who don’t care… Now that is a demographic I think you can personally relate to isn’t it. I wonder, what your suggestion for the team’s new name was? If anything is holding Fort Wayne back from becoming a “real city” it’s everyone with your mindset.
Responding to “sad to live” – If living in Indiana makes you sad, move! Life is too short to be wasted being sad and bored. There are no restrictions against leaving unless you’re under indictment or on probation.
I’ve known dozens of people who left because of the stupid, lazy, inconsiderate people in boring Fort Wayne. Unfortunately, most of them came back after several years of wandering from city to city, from state to state, from coast to coast. Everywhere they went, there were stupid, lazy, inconsiderate people in boring towns. Eventually they decided that they might as well be miserable where they could be miserable with/to their families.
It never occurred to them that maybe the problem wasn’t with other people or the cities and towns where they lived. Here’s a quote I like; I can’t remember to whom it’s attributed. “Wherever you go, there you are.”
“Wherever you go, there you are” – Willy Wonka
I’ll up the ante and raise you with a:
You may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
You may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
You may ask yourself, “Well, how did I get here ?”
Just what Fort Wayne needs, another unsuccessful money sink. Lets build a new stadium to where we can only use 6-8 months out of the year, for a franchise that struggled in their old stadium as well. Why not put it downtown, where there is NO market for attracting business, not to mention the horrible maze of one-way roads and constant construction. Our city council and whoever was for this project is an idiot.
OK, LETS NOT FORGET ABOUT SOME GUYS ON THE TEAM THAT ARE INDIVIDUALS WANTING TO WIN AND NEEDING OUR SUPPORT. FORGET ABOUT THE NAME AND EVERYTHING ELSE AND FOCUS ON THE MOST IMPORTANT ITEM AND THATS THE TEAM THEMSELVES. JUST BECAUSE NO ONE LIKES THE NAME DOESNT MEAN WE CANT GO TO THE GAME AND SUPPORT THE PLAYERS. WHY HURT PLAYERS BECAUSE OF A NAME AND LOCATION? THERE IS NOT ONE NAME THAT WILL PLEASE EVERYONE. SEEMS THESE GUYS HAVE A WINNING ATTITUDE ALREADY SO LETS DONT BRING THEM DOWN BECAUSE OF A NAME! GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE GUYS WHO PLAY FOR THE TINCAPS!
I have been sitting here trying to read through a lot of the replies that have been posted onto this sight and am very pleased to add mine.
It is now July. The Tin Caps and Parkview Stadium have exceeded the half way point of the inaugural season. Several things are now FACT and totally devoid of any further guesswork or speculation:
First… the “TIN CAPS” name and logo were voted the top new addition to the semi pro league system.
Second…the Fort Wayne Tin Caps are leading their division after the midway point of the season.
Third… Parkview Field was voted one of the top semi pro ball parks in the nation.
Forth… Parkview Field and the Tin Caps have the top attendance rate in semi pro leagues by a very generous margin.
It seems that all of the negative preseason questions in the forms of guesswork and speculation about Parkview Field and the Tin Caps have now been answered and can once and for all be laid to rest.
As for the impact on downtown Fort Wayne, glowing business reports are coming in from all over the downtown area addressing monumental increases in business and profit. Many of the downtown vendors find themselves in the position of having to increase not only their hours of operation but, also their previous employment numbers to make up for the substantial increase in business.
The Fort Wayne Police Department needs also to be commended on the amasing way that it is handling the increased “to and from” traffic on game days, which was another big preseason question.
If you still find that you have negative feelings or comments about these subjects; the need for the stadium itself, the Tin Caps or even the effect it would or would not have on the downtown area, I can only assume that you have not taken the time or effort to pay $5 and just try the experience that this amasing place offers. You will find yourself enjoying it along with the thousands of people in attendance on any given day. Come and share the wonderful sights, sounds, tastes and smells that this awesome athletic venue has to offer all who come through Parkview Fields gates. You will NOT be dissappointed.
How many ways do you want to describe stupid -
bad restaurants
a bartender for a mayor
talk show hosts that couldn’t inspire an 8th grade drop-out
terrible roads – (except I69 – which is under utilized)
no East/West thorough fare
an ugly downtown
highlight for local residents is to sit in their garage and listen to police scanners
a gang problem out of control
a city school administrator wanting to spend useless money to promote herself to a larger school district
and yes to be redundant – terrible restaurants – Casa – Granite City – Hunan – Etc — ALL below standard
Pluses include Hyde Bros Books and Allen Co Library
what city boasts about a kid’s zoo or a world famous fire escape
how about most all intersections with barely any street signs
entrances to one-way streets unidentified
of course if you don’t have money or inclination to go to a REAL professional sports game – you can see minor league baseball- hockey – basketball –whoopee – let me catch my breadth
let’s look at city politics and spending – enlarge and renovate Memorial Coliseum and then build Grand Wayne Center to compete against it with neither having 50% scheduled events
how about building a sports arena – having lots of parking – Interstate access and then tearing it down the year it is paid for??? how do you spell dumb?
Park System hiking trails – not properly marked – and NO loops
Sorry for the negatives – I just had a TERRIBLE meal at a Casa restaurant and the whole FW experience is grating on me
I forgot I am in FW and it is time to set my clock back 40 years — of course is that daylight time or not?!?!?