Gatemen say WooSox struck out with logo

Dec 3, 2019

Wareham Gatemen Senior Vice President Glen Hannington was grocery shopping in Florida when he thought he spotted a fellow Gatemen fan wearing one of the team’s iconic ballcaps with the ‘W’ logo. 

He approached her, and was shocked to find out that she was, in fact, from Worcester, and wearing the hat to support the newly formed Worcester Red Socks (or WooSox, for short).

One of the WooSox’s logos is so similar to the Gatemen’s that, if necessary, the Gatemen are willing to take the upstarts to court to protect the original W.

The WooSox are the newest incarnation of the Pawtucket Red Sox, or PawSox, which is the Triple-A affiliate team for the Red Sox. The team will play one more season in Pawtucket before moving to the currently-under-construction Polar Park in Worcester.

The Wareham Gatemen are a summer collegiate team and part of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Hannington said that the Gatemen’s logo, which is trademarked, serves the same function for the Gatemen as the Red Sox’s iconic ‘B’ does.

“That W is recognizable to people across the country,” Hannington said, noting that the team has used it for decades.

The rest of the Gatemen board felt similarly at their last meeting.

They were very upset because, as you know, we have such a committed organization and they’re very protective and very hurt,” Hannington said. 

He noted that the Gatemen is run exclusively by volunteers.

It’s our logo. We take great pride in it,” Hannington said. “It represents the community of Wareham.”

Although the W is trademarked, the Gatemen need to actively defend it or risk losing that legal protection. Hannington said that this type of logo dispute is not unprecedented: The Washington Nationals and Walgreens worked out an agreement about their respective ‘W’s out of court. 

The Gatemen hope to do the same.

Hannington said that officials from the two teams had talked, but couldn’t reveal how discussions were progressing.

“We wish for the WooSox to have a very successful endeavour with what they’re doing. We’re both in the same field,” Hannington said.

A spokesman for the WooSox did not immediately respond to a request for comment.