Chatham A’s Change Name To Chatham Anglers

by Eric Adler           

CHATHAM — The Chatham A’s are now the Chatham Anglers.

The Chatham Athletic Association, the governing board of the Chatham Athletics (commonly referred to as the Chatham A’s), unanimously voted to change the team’s long-standing name at its annual meeting Tuesday night.

The decision comes after Chatham, one of 10 teams in the Cape Cod Baseball League and one of six sharing a nickname with a Major League Baseball franchise, decided not to sign an annual contract that would allow them to keep the A’s as their name but require them to purchase all uniforms and souvenir merchandise from MLB-licensed vendors.

It has not yet been established what the other five CCBL franchises using MLB nicknames – the Bourne Braves, Hyannis Mets, Orleans Cardinals, Y-D Red Sox and Harwich Mariners – are planning to do, but Bourne and Orleans are strongly considering a name change as well, according to Cape Cod Baseball League Commissioner Paul Galop. All teams must make their intentions known to the Cape League by Oct. 25.

The six CCBL clubs sharing nicknames with major league teams signed an abbreviated contract with MLB Properties this past summer (covering the 2008 season), but have until Nov. 1 to opt of the contract, which covers the 2009 season.

Major League Baseball threatened to withhold its annual $100,000 grant last year until a temporary contract with the six targeted CCBL teams was signed. The Cape League is not in jeopardy of losing that funding next year, Galop said, now that they’ve cooperated with MLB, either by signing the licensing agreement or changing their name altogether.

The decision not to play ball with MLB was an easy one for the A’s, who buy the bulk of their merchandise from local, non-MLB licensed suppliers, Austin’s in West Yarmouth and Advance Embroidery in Hyannis.

“If we signed the MLB contract, we’d have to stop doing business with the local companies and manufactures who have been so good to us, and we’d rather not have them lose our business,” CAA board member and A’s merchandise supervisor Diane Troy said. “We search high and low to get the best price so that we can give the best price to our customers.”

In choosing to buy its merchandise through local merchants, Chatham can sell more items, such as teddy bears, specialty necklaces and other knickknacks not made by MLB vendors, Troy said.

Local merchants, she added, have also provided speedy service and provided next day delivery in the event that an item sells out or when a special T-shirt is needed for the playoffs.

By contrast, if Chatham agreed to MLB’s licensing agreement, every piece of merchandise would have to be approved by MLB Properties, according to CAA President Peter Troy.

“We found that incredibly onerous, because every idea for a shirt, for example, would have to be sent to Park Avenue for approval,” Troy said. “We’d have to wait up to five weeks for approval. For some franchises that sell only three or four T shirts, that might not be so tough, but our crew puts out 20 different kinds of shirts.”

When the A’s signed an abbreviated contract with MLB this summer, the team was given permission to sell items with the “A’s” insignia because of their pre-existing inventory and previously purchased merchandise (which the team bought in the spring).

But Chatham was forced to pull all its “A’s” merchandise from its website after Aug. 15, the designated start of the 2009 season. That resulted in approximately $1,000 of lost revenue, Diane Troy said, noting many vacationers and tourists prefer to buy online rather than stuffing their suitcases.

“We’ve still been able to sell generic items, but most people want one that says “Chatham A’s” on them,” she said. “That’s our bread and butter.”

It no longer will be, however. In changing their name to “Anglers,” Chatham will not be allowed to use the logo of an “A,” an apostrophe and an “S” in any size, color or font, as that, too, is trademarked by Major League Baseball and its Oakland A’s franchise.

If they so chose, Chatham could fight MLB on these trademark issues, and perhaps even win a legal battle, but CAA committee members agreed they don’t have the finances to fight Major League Baseball.

“We’d rather fix our field than fight them in court,” Chatham General Manager Charlie Thoms said.

In deciding to change its name, an issue that was brought before the CAA last month, the team considered a myriad of possibilities: Aces, Admirals, Breakers, Catch, Cohogs, Hayes, Light keepers, Squires and Seals, but ultimately decided Anglers was the best possible choice.  

“It sticks in my craw that we’ve been the A’s for about 40 years and now have to abandon it, but all things being equal, we want a name that begins with the letter A, something that ties into the community, and something that works on a T shirt,” Peter Troy said the meeting.

Art work for the new logo has not been finalized, but Chatham is considering using a fishhook through or adjacent to the “A” or a fish jumping through the letter itself.

All things considered, the name change to Anglers won’t affect the quality of college ball players Chatham (with Jeff Bagwell, Jason Bay, Mike Lowell and Evan Longoria as its most celebrated alumns) attracts each year.

“College coaches still know Chatham, with or without the A’s attached to it,” Chatham Field Manager Schiffner told The Chronicle in June. “The town’s name is most important, that’s what they recognize. They know it’s one of the best places to play – it’s Chatham.” 

10/16/08