The High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and collegiate-summer level Fond du Lac Dock Spiders will share an alternate identity for one game each this summer. Both teams will play as the Lake Winnebago Shantymen, a tribute to the popular pastime of sturgeon spearfishing that occurs in the Wisconsin winter.
The unique arrangement highlights the fact that the teams bookend the lake itself. The Timber Rattlers play in Appleton, at the northern tip of the lake, while the Dock Spiders, play in Fond du Lac, which literally translates from French to “bottom of the lake.”
If the nickname Shantymen looks familiar to baseball fans in Wisconsin, it’s because it was one of five finalists in the Dock Spiders’ name the team contest in 2016, coordinated by the team in conjunction with Brandiose. The logo features the sort of shack you would see used for ice fishing on Lake Winnebago and a sturgeon carrying a spear in its mouth. The word Shantymen is set in an icy all caps.
The Shantymen will take the field in Fond du Lac July 28 and in Appleton July 29.
