Victoria baseball history is littered with Tyees, Athletics, Mussels, Blues, Capitals and Seals.
Now, welcome the HarbourCats, which will be the name of the city's entry in the West Coast League beginning in 2013.
The club said, during Friday's unveiling, that more than 600 submissions were received in a name-the-team contest, with many of the entries hearkening to names of city baseball teams from bygone eras.
"We had the throwback advocates with the Seals, Capitals and Mussels names all suggested, but we wanted something new . . . something us," said team owner John McLean.
"We wanted something a little edgy."
The team colours will be blue with gray trim. A stylized blue 'V' will appear on the cap.
"You only get one chance to do the branding and we wanted to get it right," said McLean, a Vancouver businessman.
The name and colour scheme attracted an instant fan in the mayor of Victoria.
"What a great name because it's the harbour that defines this capital city," said Dean Fortin.
"I can hardly wait for the first season to start [at Royal Athletic Park]."
The WCL features elite U.S. collegiate NCAA players in summer baseball.
There were 54 WCL players selected in the 2012 Major League draft and 45 taken the year before in the 2011 draft.
Each team plays 54 games June through August, with 27 home dates. The WCL will have 10 teams for 2013 with five in Washington state, three in Oregon and the Harbour-Cats and Kelowna Falcons in B.C.
Average per-game attendance last year in the WCL was 1,113.
McLean said he expects tickets for the HarbourCats go on sale in mid-November and that they would be "family affordable."
The last Victoria baseball team to play at Royal Athletic, the independent pro Victoria Seals, averaged 2,388 fans in 2009 and 2,597 in 2010.
"As an estimate, based on what past Victoria teams have drawn, we would like to see 1,500 to 2,000 people on average," said McLean, who has inked a three-year agreement with the City of Victoria to play at RAP.
"Bend, Oregon, was the best-drawing team in the league last year at about 1,800 and we're a lot bigger than Bend."
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