The Somerset Patriots, Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees in the Eastern League, unveiled a mouthful of an alternate identity this week. The Patriots will play four games next season as the Somerset Semiquincentennials to pay tribute their hometown’s role in the American Revolution.
The word semiquincentennial, which means “half of 500th anniversary” when you break it down into its component parts, has become shorthand for commemorations around the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, which will take place throughout the country in 2026. (Most people are just calling it America 250, but that’s not nearly as much fun for a minor league baseball alternate identity.)
The identity, created by Fooser Sports Design, is replete with patriotic themes, including a red, white, and blue color palette, stars and stripes, and of course a bald eagle. But the symbolism doesn’t end there:
The cap logo features a bald eagle in a top hat, a wink and a nod to both Uncle Sam and the New York Yankees, and includes three stars because New Jersey is the third state.
The jersey sets all 19 letters of the word Semiquincentennials in an arch set against a white field with red and blue pinstripes. The sleeves use replications of signatures from the Declaration of Independence in gold on blue for texture.
Again with the stars, one alternate mark features the eagle holding a bat and ball surrounded by 19 stars. Not to be confused with the American flag’s 13 stripes for the 13 original colonies or 50 stars for 50 states, these 19 stars represent the number of letters in the word Semiquincentennials.
Finally, another alternate mark highlights a quill like the one that signers of the Declaration of Independence would have used, along with the last names of the five signers from the state of New Jersey: Abraham Clark, John Hart, Francis Hopkinson, Richard Stockton, and John Witherspoon.
The Semiquincentennials will take the field in April 2026 when the Double-A Eastern League season begins.
