In an effort to highlight important facets of their home state, the Hudson Valley Renegades sowed seed that has since produced results. The High-An affiliate of the New York Yankees revealed their “Big Apples” secondary identities at a lavish celebration on Friday morning.

The majority of apple orchards are located in the Hudson Valley region, and New York State is the country’s second-largest producer of apples. The Renegades’ previous local food-themed identity, the Cider Donuts, is a perfect fit for Big Apples. Naturally, Big Apple also pays homage to New York City, which is about 100 miles south of the Hudson Valley and is known as the Big Apple. The relationship between the two places was further cemented in 2021 when the Renegades joined the Yankees.

Choose your own Big Apples gear.

Joe Vasile, the PR director and announcer for the Renegades, stated, “This gives us an opportunity to branch out, where Cider Donuts was very Hudson Valley focused.” “This is more of a general celebration of New York’s current situation. Big Apples felt like the ideal solution for our search for something that would connect all these disparate regions of the state.

The Hudson Valley Renegades call Heritage Financial Park their home.

Three times in 2025—on July 26, August 15, and September 4—the Renegades will play as the Big Apples, donning jerseys and logos created by San Diego-based Brandiose. Empire, the moniker of the Big Apple in the main logo, alludes to both the nickname for New York and a type of apple that originated in the state. Empire wears a gigantic foam finger on his right hand and holds the torch of the Statue of Liberty with his left. The blue and gold color pattern used for the logo is based on the colors found on the New York state flag.

We were really intentional about when we wanted the first [Big Apples] game to be,” Vasile stated. The New York ratifying convention was held at the Dutchess County courthouse in Poughkeepsie on July 26, which is also the date when New York signed the Constitution and became a state in 1788. That takes place about 25 miles north of the ballpark.

Representatives from apple farms in the area attended the Big Apples event on Friday morning, which took place at Heritage Financial Park, the Renegade’s home.

The apples from New Paltz, a town not too far from us, will be used in their distinctive Big Apple cider,” Vasile stated. “There’s another local connection to that.

Big Apples gear is currently on sale, at the ballpark and online. The Big Apples’ products are currently scent-free, while the Renegades were famous for their scented Cider Donuts items.

We discussed it, but we were unable to agree on what we wanted the scent to be,” Vasile stated. “Apple-scented would probably be too close to what we had with Cider Donuts and then it’s, well, what kind of smell would make it smell like New York?”