Meet the Fan-ily: Hannah the Ballers’ Princess

I think Oakland is such a magic place. I don't even mean magical. I mean, it's literally magic here.

In our ongoing series to better know the Ballers’ fan-ily, those people sitting in the seats next to you, we talk to Hannah Red Hill (Her Royal Highness / Hanita la Sirenita), resident B’s princess, former Scrappy handler, and once and future mermaid.

Hannah talks being conceived by the Giants/A’s World Series, Taylor Swift jukebox musicals, mermaid camps, bringing a sweatshirt, and the importance of baseball girls. She took time to chat during a Ballers game with the Great Falls Voyagers and the Hieroglyphics in-park concert.

How did you become a Ballers fan?

Well, I was an A’s fan…but originally, I was a Giants fan. Don't tell anyone. But the reason I came into existence is because my mom, she moved to San Francisco, which is where she met my dad. He’s of fifth and sixth-generation San Francisco Jews. They met, and then she got pregnant. Then the Giants and the A’s were in the World Series in 1989. The day they clinched, my dad was like, "This is the greatest day of my life. Will you marry me?”

So you started out Giants. What brought you to the A’s then?

I don't want to give any credit to an ex-boyfriend…but it’s an ex-boyfriend. He's an A’s fan.
 We went to games and I fell in love with the Coliseum. I loved the vibe, I loved the atmosphere, and I just loved everything about it. And I became really good friends with a lot of different people; I knew I could just show up and people were there and it was great. And then the A’s left and I was so frustrated and angry and then so pumped about the Ballers being here because the greatest thing about the A’s was the community that we filled, the sense of belonging that happened.

You famously dress as a princess for games—

Is it famous?

You’re dressed as a princess right now.

Of course I am. Famously, yes. This is famous. Okay, great. Well, I used to work as a Spanish teacher at Oakland Tech.  I didn't like it. I wasn't good at it. They also agreed. And so I was on unemployment. It might have been their idea.

So I went to Mexico. I lived in Mexico for six months, and I went to go write a Taylor Swift jukebox musical. 
Because what else are you going to do when you’re unemployed? I’d go swimming every day, and there was a guy out there, and he goes, "You're a mermaid! We've been watching you for 20 minutes. I just swam out here to tell you, ‘you're a mermaid!’” And he swam back inside.  So there was a new moon, and I had this epiphany that like, oh, I can be a mermaid. That's a job. I didn’t know how I would make that a job, but I'm gonna make that a job. At the same time, the Ballers were looking for vendors, celebrity vendors and character ideas. And I was like, oh my God, I can be a princess at the Ballers games! And I think I'm just going to lean into it. And so I did.

What do people say to you when they see you in princess garb?

A lot of it is, Is it your birthday? And I go, "No, I'm just the Ballers’ princess." Whenever I see someone out and about, and they're in Ballers gear, I'm always like, “I'm their princess! I just like made it myself. This is not official. But I’m doing it.”

But being the Ballers’ princess also means having little girls come to games being like, "Oh, my God! That's the princess!" And yes, boys are important. Also, baseball girls are very important, and I love the sport of baseball, and I love watching little girls be so excited about baseball. I'm just a tiny little part of that. If I'm the princess they're excited to come and see, then that means I'm doing my job.

It seems like you got into this idea of community right away. Why was that so quick and immediate here for you?

People here just want to be here for baseball. I think Oakland is such a magic place. I don't even mean magical. I mean, it's literally magic here. And I think there's a lot of people who can appreciate that magic and recognize that magic who come to these games. I think that if you—it sounds cheesy, but—bring positive spirits and positive energy to these games, you're going to get it back tenfold.

What are your favorite parts about coming to Raimondi?

Every time I walk in, I just start having an immediate smile. It's the working-class people who come and want to just sit back and watch a baseball game. And I am a person who wants to sit back and watch baseball games with people who I like and love. It really is a sense of community. I mean, when I just got back from Mexico, I didn't have a place to stay, and I stayed at [general admission usher] Bob’s house. It’s that kind of thing where you don't mean to make family, but you are unintentionally.

What advice would you give to somebody coming to the park for the first time?

Bring a sweatshirt—

--Which you did not do today—

Such a rookie move. Ok, what do you do? You walk around, you say hi to Scrappy…I was his first handler—

What was it like being Scrappy’s handler?

So fun. Oh my God, I loved it. It was very fun because I got to see everything. 
I got to talk to everybody and meet everyone all the time. So awesome. I loved it.

Any insider stories you can give us?

His head is heavy, and so when he gets bobbled, that's a little bit stressful. I was stressed about that human inside because I adore him. And so you just have to take a lot of breaks and make sure he's drinking enough water and totally mama bear it.

So when you’re here, you should see Scrappy; what other things should people do?

Come say hi to the Oakland 68s. Come say hi to me. I will give you a sticker. Bang a drum. Get pictures of the different murals—

--and everybody talks about this community, and it's easy when you have been here and know people, but what would you say to people who want that community, but it's their first game and they don't know how to do that?

Just come say hi! Honestly. We are so welcoming and open. Just come and say, “Hello, hi, I’m new.” We’ll go, “Hi! This is how you do this chant, this is what you do.” We’ll totally teach you how to do it all. We will love to have you. You can just come by yourself and meet a friend.

What’s a hope that you have for the rest of this season or for next season?

I want them to win. To win the freaking championship for sure. I want them to go to the Coliseum eventually. I think that would prove to everybody, all these nonbelievers and all these people who think that Oakland is, like, whatever racist propaganda that you've been fed and lied to about Oakland, I think that if we could get a sellout show at the Coliseum with the Ballers would be pretty freaking spectacular.

Last two questions for you. What is mermaid camp?

The best thing ever! I’m so excited! I’m going to get 15 minutes of an underwater photo shoot, 15 minutes of an above-water photo shoot. I am going to do a standup routine. 
I'm going to do arts and crafts. There's a giant pool. There's a clothing-optional area. It's also on a cannabis farm.

What would your walk-up song be?

Taylor Swift’s “Wonderland,” of course.

Oh, and if anyone wants me to throw them a mermaid-themed party, get in touch!