Can a Mascot Help Your Team Win?

So, it was Monday or Tuesday this week and I was trying to think of something I could write about that didn’t necessarily have to do with the Yankees. I mean the baseball season is six months long; there will be plenty of time for me to complain about some idle Tuesday that A.J. Burnett gives up 7 runs to the Royals.

In the midst of my brain-storming, I was talking to my friend Amanda and gave her the task of coming up with an out of the box idea that I could research and talk about. And, being the intelligent sports enthusiast that she is, simply said ‘mascots.’ It made perfect sense to me why she would come up with such a random idea such as that, so I’ll briefly explain. Amanda interns for the Syracuse Chiefs, the minor league affiliate of the Washington Nationals. She has also in the past worked for the New Britain Rock Cats and has donned the costume of Rocky the Rock Cat.

It got me to thinking about all those sports organizations that parade around some character or animal in front of the live crowd during games to bring joy to the faces of the children in attendance and rally support for the home team. Webster’s dictionary defines a mascot as “a person, animal, or object believed to bring good luck, especially one kept as the symbol of an organization such as a sports team.”

Do mascots make a difference? Can one figure bring a team from the depths of defeat and transform them into a group of champions?

In January, Forbes Magazine compiled a top ten list of “America’s Top Sports Mascots.” Below is that list:

10. Albert E. Gator - University of Florida
9. Goldy Gopher - University of Minnesota
8. Aubie the Tiger - Auburn University
7. Sparty - Michigan State
6. Mike the Tiger - LSU
5. Benny the Bull - Chicago Bulls
4. Wally the Green Monster - Boston Red Sox
3. Hairy Dawg - University of Georgia
2. Phillie Phanatic – Philadelphia Phillies
1. Mr. Met – New York Mets

Editors Note: I’m refraining from letting my disdain and bias against the New York Mets and Boston Red Sox from influencing any feelings I have towards that list

I decided to dig a little deeper into those particular mascots and took it to the internet to look up the respected teams records of the top 5 mascots over a ten year period; the five years prior to the mascot’s creation and the five years immediately following its debut, to compare the records and see if any similarities can be discovered.


Starting off our top five, we have Benny the Bull (and no, I don’t mean the character on Dora the Explorer), the Chicago Bulls mascot since 1969. Since the Bulls were founded in 1966, I was only able to compile a record for the three years prior to Benny’s debut. Granted, they were a new franchise, so expectations were very timid at the onset, the Bulls struggled with a combined winning percentage of .387, sporting a record of 95 – 150. With Benny the Bull’s introduction at the beginning of the 1969 season, the Bulls increased their win total to a franchise high of 39. For the five year period immediately following his debut, the Bulls were able to turn things around and had a drastic improvement in team play to have a 252 – 158 record, a .614 winning percentage and five consecutive playoff appearances. We have our first instance of a mascot obviously improving a team’s play.

Coming in the four spot, we have Wally the Green Monster, from the Boston Red Sox (give me credit, I’ve refrained from taking any cheap shots. I haven’t unleashed a profanity laced tirade at the mere mention of the Red Sox yet) who made his debut in 1997. For the five year period preceding Wally’s debut, the Red Sox had a combined record of 375 – 367 for a .505 winning percentage and only one playoff appearance. For the five years after Wally’s creation, the Red Sox were able to improve to a 431 – 378 record with a .532 winning percentage and two playoff appearances. So we’re now 2 for 2 with a mascot improving the play of his team.

As much as I hate the Red Sox, I give Wally credit. He, David Ortiz and Jorge Posada did have a humorous ESPN Commercial. That’s the nicest thing I will say about him, because I refuse to mention anything about the Red Sox reversing some supposed curse or winning two world championships in the first decade of Wally’s career. I just wont’ do it. Nobody can rope me into even acknowledging said events exist. It’s all lies and propaganda.

The University of Georgia’s Hairy Dawg is our number three finalist for
America’s Top Mascot. For the five years prior to his debut, the Georgia Bulldogs had a winning percentage of .724 with a record of 42 – 15 – 1. Following his costumed debut in the 1980 Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame (Georgia won the game, capping off their undefeated season en route to the National Championship), the Bulldogs compiled a respectable 45 – 11 – 4 record with a .750 winning percentage. Yet again, the results improved after the mascot was riling the crowd into a frenzy.

World renowned mascot, the Phillie Phanatic finished in the number two slot for Forbes’ list. The five seasons prior to his creation, the Phillies were able win 439 games and lose only 371, for a combined winning percentage of .541. Following the debut of the Phanatic in 1978, the Phillies managed a 410 – 345 record with a .543 winning percentage. While the winning percentages and records for the Phillies both pre and post Phanatic are undeniably similar, what cannot be ignored is the World Series championship the Phillies won in 1980, the first major championship in the Phillies history (and only championship until 2008).

And finally, number one on the list (and not even in the top 1,500,321,138, 231 of my heart), Mr. Met. The first mascot in Major League Baseball to exist in human form, Mr. Met and his gargantuan Barry Bonds-esque head popped onto the scene in the 1964 season for the Mets (Obviously steroids were prevalent during the 1960’s, case in point, the size of that damn head). Obviously it’s difficult to compile records for the five years prior to his metamorphosis into the hearts of millions, since the Mets were exactly two years old at the time of his ‘birth’. So, for prosperity’s sake, we’ll just look at the first 5 years of his Mets career. Always being dubbed the ‘loveable losers’, the Mets were unquestionably terrible during the first half decade of Mr. Met’s adolescent mascot life compiling a disappointing 303 - 506 for a .374 winning percentage. I know the Mets were able to bounce back and win the World Series as the "Miracle Mets" in 1969, but, that was one year too late to be relevant information to my little study.

So there you have it. Did we learn anything about what a mascot brings to a team? It seems that a mascot can positively influence a fan base and a team of players. Granted, my statistics and research would have looked a lot better if 100% of the teams I looked at saw positive results with the usage of a mascot, but of course the New York Mets had to screw that up. So thanks guys. I appreciate it. Way to blow 3 hours worth of research. I’ll remember this if I’m ever at a Mets game and I see Mr. Met. You’re getting a pretzel right upside your steroid induced temporal lobe buddy.

And since it’s been long enough, here’s a shameless plug for the New York Yankees, because I’m sure you were wondering if the Yankees ever had a mascot in their history. Well, I was even surprised to find out, that yes, the Yankees did at one point in time. At the start of the 1980 season, the Yankees introduced a large pinstriped bird named Dandy. He had a mustache eerily reminiscent of former Yankee Sparky Lyle. In typical New York fashion, Dandy was promptly beaten up by fans who didn’t want a mascot and he was replaced within months, never to be heard from again.

In all seriousness though (let’s see how long it lasts), I really don’t know if a mascot can incite a crowd of fans into turning a team around. Obviously the players a team puts on the field or court will play into it a lot and a mascot doesn’t have as much impact on a team as I’m attempting to lead you to believe. Although, I single handedly blame that stupid “Rally Monkey” the Angels have for them beating the Yankees in 2002 and 2005. (so the seriousness lasted a total of one and a half sentences. Not bad.) Seeing that little thing (I just found out it is actually a her, named Katie) jump up and down in a little Angels uniform during the bottom half of innings in which the Angels are trailing, will haunt me for the rest of my life. I need to stop now before that profanity laced tirade about the Red Sox turns into one about a 24 inch capuchin monkey.

A big thanks goes to Amanda for giving me such a good idea to research and for entertaining me as I wrote it. Until the next rant…