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Introduction

He is a large, furry, green flightless bird with an extendable tongue. He performs various routines to entertain fans during baseball games at Citizens Bank Park and makes public relation and goodwill appearances for the Phillies. The Phanatic is widely acknowledged as one of the best ballpark mascots, and one of the most recognizable mascots in North American sports.

Creation

During the winter after the 1976 season, Dennis Lehman, who along with the Philadelphia Phillies Promotions Director, Frank Sullivan, thought the team needed a mascot similar to the Padres' San Diego Chicken. The Phanatic was created by Harrison/Erickson of New York City (now known as Acme Mascots), which had ties with Jim Henson's Muppets. Instead of a number on the back of his jersey, he wears a star. The character was named for the fanatical fans of the team.

According to Bill Giles, the Phanatic was created to attract more families to the Phillies' home, Veterans Stadium.

The Phanatic replaced "Philadelphia Phil" and "Philadelphia Phillis", a pair of siblings dressed in 18th-century garb to invoke the city's revolutionary spirit from 1776. The pair were in the team logo from 1976 through 1978, and were part of the team's "Home Run Spectacular" at The Vet from 1971 through 1979. They reappeared with their replacement as the Phillies celebrated their final year at Veterans Stadium in 2003, including opening day and the final game.

The Phanatic debuted on April 25, 1978, at The Vet, when the Phils played the Chicago Cubs. He was formally introduced to the public on the locally produced children's show "Captain Noah and His Magical Ark" by then-Phillies player Tim McCarver, who was doing promotional work for the team.

In his book Pouring Six Beers at a Time, Giles wrote of the worst decision of his life when it came to the creation of the Phanatic. The design would cost $5,200 for both the costume and the copyright ownership, or $3,900 just for the costume with Harrison/Erickson retaining the copyright. Giles chose to just buy the costume. Five years later, when Giles and his group of investors bought the team from Ruly Carpenter, the franchise paid $250,000 to Harrison/Erickson for the copyright.

Performance

The Phanatic rides around on an ATV. During games, the Phanatic wanders the stadium, greeting fans and humorously mocking supporters of the opposition. The Phanatic performs a number of regular routines on the field before the game and between innings. Some of these routines are:

Taunting the visiting team by dancing provocatively in front of their dugout, mocking the actions of their players, and smashing or stomping on an object, such as a batting helmet, representing the team.

Standing on the roof of the Phillies dugout between halves of the seventh inning for "The Phanatic Dance" and remaining on the dugout roof for the home half of the inning to "hex" the opposing pitcher.

Warming up in the bullpen.

Shooting hot dogs into the stands using a pneumatic gun attached to his ATV.

Visiting the various broadcast booths and committing various pranks such as pouring popcorn on the broadcasters, spraying Silly String on them, or serving them Philly cheesesteaks.

Buffing the heads of any bald fans who happen to be sitting near him in the stands.

His mother, Phoebe Phanatic, occasionally appears on-field with the Phanatic. He also has a younger cousin Phred, and a girlfriend Phiona who are rarely seen. According to the Phanatic's official biography, his birthplace is the Galápagos Islands.



The Phanatic's favorite umpire was the late Eric Gregg, a Philadelphia native, and he would greet him enthusiastically on the field when Gregg was in charge. Gregg would often play along with the Phanatic between innings, sometimes dancing with him or otherwise participating in his routines.

One week before the Phillies had their 2006 opener, the Phanatic was "dyed" red as part of the team's week-long promotion to "Paint the Town Red". He was "dipped into a special paint" made by a team sponsor MAB Paints (now Sherwin-Williams) and changed from green to red. He returned to his regular color in time for the season opener for that year. This was repeated for the 2007 season, as he became red at a Philadelphia Fire Department station to help raise funds for smoke alarms in Philadelphia, raising over $4,000. "Paint the Town Red Week" has been repeated prior to the 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 seasons.

There is a running gag where the Phanatic humorously mocks opposition players and they would steal his ATV keys in retaliation. However, the Phanatic's antics are not always popular with opposition players and coaches. During a September 1982 game, Cardinals outfielder (and former Phillies player) Lonnie Smith did not take kindly to the Phanatic’s taunts and tackled the mascot mid game out of frustration. Dodgers' manager Tommy Lasorda in particular did not like the Phanatic's mocking of the Dodgers. In 1988, he assaulted the Phillie Phanatic during a nationally televised game after the Phanatic stomped on a life-sized dummy wearing Lasorda's uniform (reportedly provided by Dodger infielder Steve Sax).

The Phanatic also has the dubious distinction of being the most sued mascot in sports. In 2010, a woman filed suit claiming that the Phanatic injured her knee at a minor league game

Honors

The Phanatic was voted "best mascot ever" by Sports Illustrated Kids. In January 2008, Forbes magazine named the Phanatic the best mascot in sports.

In 2005, David Raymond founded the Mascot Hall of Fame, and the Phanatic was inducted as a charter member. Since 2003, Burgoyne has written several children's books, published by the team, featuring the Phanatic.

In 2009, the Phanatic was one of several recipients of the Great Friend to Kids (GFTK) Awards, given by the Please Touch Museum (the Children's Museum of Philadelphia).

The Phillie Phanatic, along with Youppi!, the mascot of the Montreal Expos, and the San Diego Chicken, are the only mascots on display in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York.

In 2010, an assortment of 5 feet (1.5 m) tall, 100 pounds (45 kg) fiberglass statues were painted by artists and placed on display throughout Philadelphia from April through August with all proceeds going to Phillies' Charities.

In 2015, Good Morning America bestowed the honor of the best mascot in baseball on the Phanatic.

Related Tags

MLB

Philadelphia Phillies

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