It came to my attention last week that the Baltimore Orioles’ mascot, The Oriole Bird, is a finalist for the Mascot Hall of Fame. In fact, it came to my attention last week that there even was a Mascot Hall of Fame. Fans can vote for up to four finalists through October 26th by clicking here.
The Mascot Hall of Fame is located in Whiting, IN. In looking through the web page, there are already some fascinating characters in the hall. Well-known mascots such as Mr. Met, The Phillie Phanatic, Brutus (from THE Ohio State University) are already there. However there are others which have me scratching my head.
With all due respect to the University of Delaware, how is “YouDee” the Fighting Blue Hen already a hall of famer but the Oriole Bird is not?! Same with the University of Nebraska’s “Lil’ Red.” Not to mention Utah’s “Jazz Bear.”
All mascots are fun, and they all have their quirks. In the early days of the Orioles/Nationals head-to-head games each team would bring it’s mascot to the opposing ballpark. While many people would argue that allowing the opposing team to bring it’s mascot to your ballpark makes it more “friendly” than a rivalry, I always thought that was a cool thing for the fans. Regardless of which team for which you were rooting, everyone loves mascots.
But some mascots stand above the rest. Admittedly, I’ll say that the Phanatic is probably the best known and most celebrated mascot. But I would submit that the Oriole Bird is in the tier of mascots (along with the Phanatic and Mr. Met) that are best known across sports. So again…how can mascots such as YouDee already be in the mascot hall, while the Oriole Bird is scraping to get in?!
So go out and vote, folks! You can vote once a day until 10/26. As I said, you can vote four finalists. For what it’s worth, the four finalists that I’m supporting are: The Oriole Bird, “Youppi!” (Montreal Canadiens), “Globie” (Harlem Globetrotters), and “Bernie Brewer” (Milwaukee Brewers). Fans can also follow the Oriole Bird on twitter by clicking here.
Birdland Crush 