BY CHRISTINA BOUCOURT
Even with a packed stadium full of obnoxious fans and excessive noise, no game is complete without a rambunctious mascot on the sidelines. These colorful characters influence the game more than you’d think, maybe not with capricious yelling as the coaches do, but with uplifting chants and dances to engage the crowd, creating memories that will last families a lifetime. However of the many mascots in sports, some stand above the rest.
1. San Diego Chicken
This famously eccentric bird not only spent many years as the San Diego Padre’s mascot, he also made an impact on the entire mascot realm. Starting as a character in a commercial for a radio station, he then started to bridge out to San Diego related events. When he started appealing to larger crowds, he started making appearances at Padre’s games. There was a bumpy road with lawsuits, since the original creator went head to head with the owners of Barney the Dinosaur, but despite the legal trouble, the chicken came out triumph and inspired a multitude of other mascots.
2. Phillies Phanatic
Coming all the way from the Galapagos Islands, this fury green critter is the most fanatic of fans for the Philadelphia Phillies. Even when the team isn’t up to par, Phillie stands tall, leaving his stamp as one of the most popular mascots in all of sports. Making his first appearance in 1978, the Phanatic booted out the original two mascots, Philidalpia Phill and Phillis, in an attempt to attract more spectators to the veteran stadium. The Phanatic has been voted best mascot in baseball for numerous years. Not only does he taunt the other teams mascot, he also entertains fans by harassing umpires and coaches. With an award winning attitude, he keeps fans’ spirits up even when the score is down.
3. Sourdough Sam
Home to the legendary 49’ers, San Francisco isn’t just famous for the 1849 gold rush. The city is also known country wide for its legendary sourdough bread, of which Sam got his name. Sam was originally a burly lumberjack type character, but during the 2006 season they shaved his beard and revolutionized his ten-gallon hat, making him a blue eyed clean- shaven Sam. Walking around the entire stadium every game and really getting involved with fans, Sam gets the crowd excited on a more sentimental level.
4. Racing Sausages
Not only do the Milwaukee Brewers have five mascots instead of one, but at every single game held at Miller stadium, those five have a legendary race around the bases. The team started with three (Brett Wurst the bratwurst, Stosh the Polish sausage, and Guido the Italian sausage) In the mid 1990’s, Frankie Furgter the hot dog and Cinco the chorizo joined them. From the start, they have all ran from the dugout to home plate in between the 6th and 7th innings and been the ultimate fan favorite. In fact, the race was so popular that it was adopted in several other stadiums including the famous race of the presidents in Washington and even the sea creature race here in Miami.
