Battle of the Mascots

Last year, the Mets and Phillies finally developed the on-field rivalry expected from teams in the same division situated just 90 miles apart -- especially as the Phillies overtook Mets for the NL East title.
Now, not only are the ballclubs true adversaries, but their mascots have become rivals. Mister Met's game time presence is steadily increasing at Shea Stadium -- accompanied by p-a system announcements touting him as baseball's best mascot. Turning that to reality could be harder than leaping over the Phillies into 1st place.
Part of a mascot's job now includes shooting free tee-shirts into the stands.A staple at Phillies home games since the late-'70s, the Phanatic's massive presence greets fans entering through the outfield side of Citizens Bank Park.
While Mister Met leads the 7th inning stretch celebration from the video screen.

Mister Met and the Phanatic are not alone... heck, he wasn't even first. That honor goes to the San Diego Chicken. As he wasn't employed by the team, he didn't appear at all their games, and eventually parted company with the club and become a freelance visit (kinda like the fabled baseball clowns, the late Al Schacht and Max Patkin).

The several teams tried following the path of the Chicken and the Phanatic. Montreal Expos fans were entertained by Youpi. And, on our 1990s visit to Three Rivers Stadium, we encountered the Pittsburgh variation, the Pirate Parrot.
As we roll back in time, it's 1985, with the Phanatic schmoozing with the fans at Veterans Stadium.
Mister Met, in his original 2-D form.

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