Hep cats unite.
When Harvey the hipster HarbourCat debuted as the newest mascot on the Victoria scene, he brought a hip flavour to the Hotel Rialto meet and greet.
Harvey wore a blazer, ironic bow tie, oversized pair of knockoff Ray Bans (we’re just guessing they’re knockoffs) and, we’ll assume there was an over sized six-pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon hidden around there somewhere too.
Harvey will patrol the stands of Royal Athletic Park’s baseball diamond this summer as the HarbourCats play their inaugural baseball season in the West Coast League.
It doesn't appear that Harvey will be riding a fixie bike to games. He's his own kind of cool, and can jump from one style to another.
“Harvey is a double-XL size in men’s clothes so this outfit is just one of many we can put on him,” said HabourCats general manager Holly Jones.
“The point was to make it easy to shop for him, so he can wear a baseball outfit or regular outfit.”
Hep cat or harbour rat, the mascot had been booked for 40 community events even before he even showed his furry face in Victoria.
There to greet him at his unveiling was three of the city’s 40 or so sports and corporate mascots, including the big cheese of them all, Marty the Marmot.
Thunder from the UVic Vikes was also there, and so was Striker, the kilted dog of the Highlanders FC soccer team. Striker and Harvey kicked off an immediate love hate relationship as soon-to-be roommates at RAP.
They shadowboxed. And then they hugged.
There’s more than enough room for a giant cat and a giant dog to share RAP, Jones said.
“Our outfield fence folds up, and it doesn’t take long, so it would be logistically possible to hold a Highlanders and HarbourCats game on the same day. But there aren’t any scheduled.”
The name Harvey was an overwhelming choice by the respondents to the mascot’s recent name-the-mascot-contest. To declare a winner the names of all the contestants who suggested Harvey were put into a hat.
Julie MacDonald was picked for the grand prize, a pair of season tickets.
“Harvey sounds like a name that a manager of a baseball team might have,” she said.
Aniko Varga and Maggie Hayes were runners up in the contest, and they each won a 10-game Flex Pack.
Harvey is available for booking through his email address, harvey@harbourcats.com.
HarbourCats baseball season starts June 5. Single game tickets are now on sale through the club’s website harbourcats.com.
sports@vicnews.com