Today, Sunday April 28th, is a day of celebration in the city of Philadelphia. What great moment from our country's vast history is the cause of such fanfare in the birthplace of the U.S.A? The birthday of the Phillie Phanatic of course, the greatest mascot in all of sports.
Now technically the Phanatic made his debut on April 25th, 1978 at that concrete dump known as Veterans Stadium. However his birthday is celebrated by the Phillies during the Sunday home game closest to that date. And it was a party complete with cake, presents (a Phillie Phanatic Rally Towel for the kids and new pair of Phanatic sneakers from Bryce Harper for the birthday boy), and dancing with the Phanatic's fellow Philadelphia mascots. Hell the Phillies even won the game 5-1 over the Marlins. Make no mistake about it, the Phanatic is certainly a good luck charm. The Phillies now sport a 30-11 win/loss record on his birthday party day.
The Phanatic is not the Phillies first mascot. When Veterans Stadium opened up in 1971 the team introduced Philadelphia Phil and Phillis as the squad's new mascots. Putting it as nicely as possible, they were boring as hell. Simply a guy and a gal dressed in colonial style clothes who stood around waving to the crowd. Animatronic versions of the duo would pop up behind the center field fence after a Phillies home run to mimic hitting a ball of off the Liberty Bell. They were never embraced by the fans, they were just there.
Bill Giles, who was the Phillies Director of Business Operations in the 1970's, wasn't impressed by Philadelphia Phil and Phillis or by mascots in general. He didn't think they worked in baseball, which is funny since he was the "brain" behind having Kiteman and his various incarnations deliver the game ball for opening day several years.
His mind was changed when the Chicken started making appearances at San Diego Padres home games in the mid-70s. The Chicken was actually a promotions guy for a San Diego radio station, but he was welcome to promote at Padres games and quickly came to be identified with the team.
The Phillies director of marketing, Denny Lehman, would at times travel with the team on the road and saw the Chicken's act in person. He implored Giles to create a new fun loving mascot to replace boring old Phil and Phillis, citing an increase in family atmosphere and a decrease in fights at San Diego since the Chicken debuted.
Giles was swayed and contacted the people who created Big Bird on Sesame Street in 1978 to create a mascot for the Phillies. His instructions were fairly simple: he wanted something fat, green, indefinable and loveable. Easy right? The first design was rejected by Giles who told the designers it needed to be fatter and have a bigger nose. The Sesame Street team went back to the drawing board and BOOM! The Phanatic we know and love was born.
The Phanatic creators made Giles this offer for the character: $2,900 and they keep the copyright or the Phils could pay $5,000 for the character and the copyright. Giles, who I remind you was the Phillies Director of Business Operations, chose the cheap route and purchased the character but not the copyright. Doh. After Giles purchased the Phillies himself in 1981, he finally purchased the copyright. He reported it to be $200,00 in his book, but has at other times said it was $250,000 or $500,000. The Phanatic's creators had reportedly earned over 2 million dollars in royalties during their ownership of the copyright.
Having a great costume is one thing, but it takes a person inside the costume to bring it to life. The Phillies had no idea who was going to play the character once they received the costume. As you can know see this entire endeavor was not well thought out ahead of time. Finally Giles said "let's get that Raymond kid to do it, he is wacky and cocky enough."
Dave Raymond was a college student who worked in the Phillies mailroom as an intern. His internship had already ended when the front office gave him a call to offer him a new job as the mascot of the Philadelphia Phillies. He had zero experience and was simply told to act silly. Well son of a bitch he nailed it. And a Philadelphia sports icon was born. Despite the image most people have of Philadelphia fans (i.e. bad) the people fell in love with the big green goofy bastard.
Since I was just a little kid when the Phanatic debuted, he quickly became one of my favorite Phillies along with Mike Schmidt, Pete Rose and Steve Carlton. My Dad took me to the Vet for the first time in 1981 when I was 7 and I was so excited to actually go to a Major League Baseball game in person. I was hoping to meet the Phanatic, but unfortunately he never came to our section. Still getting to see his antics on the field and up on the jumbotron was fun.
The old man regularly took my brother and I to a few Phillies games every season. In 1984 it finally happened, we entered the Vet and were walking down the concourse to our seats when the Phanatic himself appeared in the distance to mingle with the crowd. Awesome! I laughed, I cried, I shit my pants!
OK, I embellished a bit. I'm pretty sure I didn't mess myself. I did let out a rebel yell and charged towards the green guy along with my brother, leaving Dad in the dust. I was rewarded with a high five from the Phanatic and my year was made. That was the beauty of going to Phillies game. You weren't going to get an opportunity to meet any of the players, but there was always a chance you were going to run into the Phanatic. I've received several more high fives and even a hug once from the Phanatic over the years, if you go to games even occasionally you are bound to see him sooner or later. And trust me, the adults are just as excited as the kids to meet him.
The wacky cocky kid Dave Raymond retired as the man inside the costume after the 1993 World Series. His backup, Tom Burgoyne, took over the role and still dons the green today. Burgoyne has done a great job replacing Raymond because the Phanatic has not missed a beat.
Of course there are a few sourpusses who haven't appreciated the Phanatic in all his glory over the years. I remember the cameras showing a pissed off looking Jane Fonda in the crowd at the Vet during the 1993 NLCS playoffs when the Phanatic came out between innings in a leotard dancing to one of her workout videos playing on the jumbotron. It was hilarious. And the Phillies won that game to knock Ted Turner's (husband of Jane Fonda) Braves out of the playoffs. What a glorious night. Good for that commie bitch.
The Phanatics most famous feud was with Dodgers long time manager Tommy Lasorda. Lasorda hated the Phanatic and regularly hurled baseballs at the big green guy. Why? Who knows. Maybe it was the way the Phanatic crushed Dodgers helmets in front their dugout in between innings. Maybe it was the way the Phanatic would make fun of Lasorda for being fat by waddling behind him holding up his gut. Maybe it was the way the Phanatic would run over cans of Slim Fast with his 4-wheeler after Lasorda started endorsing the product. Like I said, who knows? Some people just don't have a sense of humor. Watch this video for proof.
The video above shows an incident in 1988 when Lasorda finally boiled over and attacked the Phanatic. He was pissed because the Phanatic was having fun with a fat guy dummy wearing a Tommy Lasorda jersey. What an asshole. Lighten up Tommy, have some of that shitty Slim Fast!
The funniest part about the whole thing is that was a real Tommy Lasorda Dodgers jersey the dummy was wearing. Where did the Phanatic get it? From the Dodgers of course, specifically 2nd baseman Steve Sax. The Dodgers players thought it was funny how mad Lasorda would get over the Phanatic and encouraged the green guy to keep pouring it on. He did.
The Phillies have a good team this year. Maybe they will make the playoffs, maybe they won't. But one thing is known for sure. When you go to a Phillies game, whether the Phils win or lose, you are going to laugh at the antics of the Phillie Phanatic. The greatest mascot in all of sports.
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