Most Interesting Major League Baseball Mascots

By Christy Flom on May 23, 2015

People love mascots. They love to stop and take pictures with them before, during or after games. They love to obnoxiously create their own costumes to wear to games, which consists of painting faces, body parts, wearing capes, or even buying full out body suits or costumes.

As to why people love and adore the mascots of their favorite teams, the answer is obvious. It’s like why Americans love their flag and the bald eagle. They are symbols of our nation and the people’s dedication to it. In sports, the mascots represent the pride, history, and competition of the individual teams.

In baseball, there are hundreds of mascots from college and professional teams. Colleges seemingly founded their mascots at the same time of the origin of the school. In professional sports, especially baseball, mascots joined the identity of teams after they were already established and playing. While there are some older mascots, the majority of MLB mascots originated from the ’90s on, with some mascots even being reinstated in the past couple of years.

Looking at the MLB mascots, there are several that stand out from the rest. First is Wally the Green Monster from the Boston Red Sox.

Apparently there is some story about Wally being a person who lived behind a wall in the stadium and then he appeared during a game as the mascot. An interesting story indeed, as Wally has now become a fan favorite and an integral part of the Red Sox.

(Image via flickr.com)

Next, there is Dinger the purple triceratops of the Colorado Rockies. Aside from resembling Barney more than an actual triceratops, the story behind Dinger is one of the more interesting stories of the MLB mascots. In the ’90s, while building the new Coors Field in Colorado, a dinosaur bone was found during the site’s excavation.

According to the Denver Post, the bone was played off as an egg and then this egg was lifted into the air at Mile High Stadium where it finally cracked unveiling Dinger. While there are still critics of the purple dinosaur, Dinger was taken to fondly by children attending the game.

Image by Paul L. Dineen (Image via flickr.com)

In the heart of Detroit lies another mascot that stands out in the MLB. As the mascot to the Detroit Tigers, this mascot actually is true to the team’s name and image. It is a tiger. I know, it’s a big shock so I will give everyone a minute to digest that information.

Anyways, the mascot’s name is Paws, and he can be seen dancing around the field or hanging out with fans during games.

Paws at a Tigers game. (Image by Christy Flom)

Besides from Paws, the New York Mets have the most original mascot: Mr. Met. He is one of the oldest, if not the oldest mascot in the game. Mr. Met is a mascot with a baseball for a head. There is an avid love affair surrounding Mr. Met as he is often graced by the presence of Mrs. Met.

Mrs. Met is another baseball head mascot, but she has a flowing brown ponytail and a darker baseball hat. From messing with fans to being caught on the kissing cam during games, these two mascots bring laughter into the stands that enthrall the dedicated fans of the Mets players.

Check out this video of the two on the Kiss cam:

There are several other great mascots in the MLB like the Philly Phanatic of the Philadelphia Phillies (say that five times fast) and Stomper the elephant of the Oakland Athletics. Mascots help fans interact with teams without directly interfering with the athletes and are an easy way for people to identify the different teams. Obviously not every team has a dancing elephant or triceratops, which is what makes each and every mascot unique and important.

Some mascots may die over time, or be reincarnated as another animal or object, but the majority of sports teams keep them around if not only to annoy the managers or fans in the front row on national TV.

Next time you’re at a sporting event watch out for the mascot(s). They can be great cheerleaders and mischievous troublemakers!

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