It was one of the best promos in 2017, and it’s returning this Thursday, when the Asheville Tourists (Low A; Sally League) play as the Asheville Hippies.
This is the second season where the Asheville Hippies make a one-night “Peace Love Baseball” cameo. In 2017, the Hippies took on the Greenville professional baseball team on a Thirsty Thursday and the game went to extra innings before the Hippies fell short.
What started as a Twitter troll attack when the Greenville baseball team referred to the Tourists as the “Asheville Hippies” resulted in a friendly challenge offered by the Asheville Tourists and accepted by Greenville. It was determined that whichever team won the majority of the head-to-head contests in 2016; the other would succumb to wearing a specialty jersey for one game in 2017. If the Tourists won the 24-game series Greenville would become the “Rednecks” and if Greenville won the series the Tourists would become the “Hippies.”
The series ended in a 12-12 split. The Tourists considered this a loss and chose to execute their end of the bargain. Greenville respectfully declined.
Asheville decided to bring back the Hippies in 2018 in large part due to the success of the promotion both in the community and the amount of money it raised.
“Last season we raised over $2,200 for the Asheville Tourists Children’s Fund,” said Tourists president Brian DeWine. “We decided to poke a little fun at ourselves and we’re happy to do it again.”
The individual game worn jerseys are currently available for fans to bid on with proceeds benefiting Vs. Cancerwhich benefits patients locally in Western North Carolina. For more information on Vs. Cancer and Asheville pitcher Will Gaddis’ fundraising commitment to this organization click here. Bids on the game worn Hippie Jerseys may be placed at AshevilleHippies.com. The auction will run until Sunday, July 22 at noon.
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