Mascots are now used by all but three major-league clubs (Angels, Dodgers, and Yankees). Three team mascots have been inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame: the Phillie Phanatic, Mr. Met, and Slider (Cleveland Indians).
The New York Yankees have had several notable characters serve as their official mascot over the years including Yankee Doodle, who was introduced in 1927, Andy the Andyfinger, who appeared from 1995 to 1999, and Yogi Berra, who served from 1960 to 1973. Currently, the only character recognized by the team as its mascot is Yogi.
Yogi was born William Denny Jr. on January 4, 1933 in Montclair, New Jersey. He was adopted by Charles Denny and his wife Katie when he was two months old. The family moved to Little Falls, New Jersey when Yogi was four years old. There he met the woman who would become his wife. She named him after her favorite comedian at the time, Yogi Berra.
Yogi played baseball throughout high school and college but never made it out of A-ball because he got drafted into the Army during the Korean War. He spent two years serving our country before getting hired by the Yankees in 1955 as a batting practice pitcher. He eventually worked his way up to backup catcher then third base before being given the role of full-time player/manager in 1959.
Except for three major-league clubs, all now have “official” mascots (Dodgers, Yankees, and Angels). Six club mascots have been inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame: Sluggerrr (Kansas City Royals), the San Diego Chicken, the Phillie Phanatic, Mr. Met, the Oriole Bird, and Slider (Cleveland Indians).
There were once eight major league teams that had mascots. The Buffalo Buffeds, Boston Beaneaters, Chicago White Stockings, Cincinnati Red Stocking, Detroit Wolverines, Indianapolis Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Washington Senators had them from 1876 to 1954. The Milwaukee Braves did not have a mascot because they played their home games at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium until 1957. The stadium was known as “The Big Barn” during its first two years of existence.
The original owners of all but the Buffalo Buffeds and Ottawa A’s franchises decided not to provide their teams with mascots. In 1876, the Buffalo franchise was bought by William Waldorf Astor who also owned the New York Rangers ice hockey team. He hired Scott Joplin, composer of “The Ragtime Dance”, to create a new song called “Buffalo Bill”. The team was renamed the Bisons in 1969 after the original Bison brand was purchased by an American sports team owner named Jack Dolan.
In 1953, the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Orioles.
Mascots in the MLB are frequently employed to help sell the club and league to young children, like Sluggerrr (Kansas City Royals), the San Diego Chicken, the Phillie Phanatic, and Mr. Met (New York Mets).
In addition to these three teams, several other clubs used non-human entities as their mascots during their early years. The Boston Beaneaters had the Beaneater, a bear; the Brooklyn Dodgers had Eeyore, a donkey; and the Louisville Colonels had a tiger named Colonel.
These four animals remain in use today by respective MLB teams. Other former mascots include Pete Panatella’s Italian Stallion (1903-1904), who was sold to an animal trainer after one season; and Sparky, a fire engine red dog who served as the Washington Senators’ mascot from 1935 to 1971. He was later adopted by a fan and died in 1972 at the age of 13.
Today, each MLB franchise selects an image that will serve as their mascot. This mascot is usually an anthropomorphic character designed to be fun and engaging to young fans.
The Dodgers, like their other “Los Angeles” clubs, have never had an official mascot. However, since 1998 they have had the Dodger Dog as part of their promotional lineup. The dog is modeled after one used by the team in the 1940s.
Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley refused to allow the use of his team’s name or image on merchandise until the end of the 1950s, when he approved the sale of t-shirts with the team logo on them.
However, despite this lack of tradition, fans continue to embrace any opportunity to get more creative with their fandom. You might see someone wearing a Dodger jersey with another team’s logo on it, for example, or someone dressed up as Dodger Stadium security guard Joe Dressner at games.
In addition, because the Dodgers have no formal mascot, some fans choose to wear clothing or decorate their vehicles that display their love for the team.
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The Dodgers have a mascot, but it isn’t called that. During their most recent homestand, the Dodgers unleashed an asexual dressed Dodger figure into the wild to mingle with fans. Look at this abomination: most rational people would consider it a mascot. But don’t even think of calling it a mascot. That’s not what it is.
The term “mascot” comes from the French word for doll or puppet. In sports, a mascot is a promotional device used by some professional sports teams to represent themselves in athletic events. Mascots often appear at sporting events wearing clothing that corresponds to the team they are representing. For example, the Washington Redskins’ mascot is a live Indian who wears red and white feathers in his hair and paints his face before every game.
Some people may say that animals belong in zoos, not at sports games. While that may be true for some animals, others perform better when put under stress. If you ask me, having a mascot is a good way for a baseball team to show their spirit and be part of the fun at the same time.
Mascots in use today
Team
Mascot(s)
New York Knicks
None
Oklahoma City Thunder
Rumble the Bison
Orlando Magic
Stuff the Magic Dragon
Philadelphia 76ers
Franklin the Dog
MLB Mascot Rankings
Baltimore’s Poe (a raven), Buffalo’s Billy Buffalo, Cincinnati’s Who Dey (a tiger), Cleveland’s Chomps (a dog), Denver’s Miles (a horse), Houston’s Toro (a bull), Indianapolis’ Blue (a horse), Jacksonville’s Jaxson de Ville (a jaguar), Kansas City’s K.C. Wolf, and Miami’s T.D. (a dolphin) are among the animal mascots. Some are based on real animals (such as the buffalo) while others are fictional characters (like the jaguar).
Each team has one official mascot. They are usually a character that represents the team itself: for example, the Baltimore Ravens’ mascot is called “Poe” and he is a black bird of some sort. He first appeared at a preseason game in 1996 and since then he has become a regular sight at Ravens games.
There are several reasons why a team might have an animal as their mascot. Animals are often used to represent the whole state or province where they play football. For example, the Oklahoma City Thunder use a cow (Molly Bison) as their mascot because they are from Oklahoma. Sports teams sometimes choose unique names for themselves, so it makes sense that they would want to use an animal to represent them. For example, the New York Giants used to be known as the New York Football Giants because they played in New York City. This tradition continues with their current name - The New York Giants.
Some teams have used animals as their mascot since they began playing football.
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