Etc.

Big-league baseball mascots deliver a barrel of laughs

For fans of Major League Baseball, the focus is often the battle between pitcher and batter. Increasingly, however, mascots are show-stealers at big-league ballparks as their costumed performers entertain in the aisles, on top of dugouts, and sometimes on the field. When the virtual Mascot Hall of Fame began in 2005, it was no surprise that two of the first three inductees were famous for their baseball antics – the San Diego Chicken at Padre games and the Phillie Phanatic at Phillies games. In an informal reader poll by the ArmchairGM.com website, the Chicken and Phanatic were voted the top two still-active pro sports mascots. The Top 10, with the teams that employ them:

• Phillie Phanatic (Philadelphia Phillies)
• The San Diego Chicken (San Diego Padres)
• Chief Wahoo (Cleveland Indians)
• Mr. Met (New York Mets)
• Bernie Brewer (Milwaukee Brewers)
• Mariner Moose (Seattle Mariners)
• Pirate Parrot (Pittsburgh Pirates)
• Wally the Green Monster (Boston Red Sox)
• Swinging Friar (San Diego Padres)
• Rally Monkey (Los Angeles Angels)