Tommy Lasorda lost his cool. The Phillie Phanatic nearly lost his head. Sports fans across the world lost their minds 36 years ago at the sight of the cartoonish clash that involved the portly Los Angeles Dodgers manager, a life-sized mannequin beaten in effigy and the potbellied Phanatic.
FILE - Philadelphia Phillies mascot, the Phillie Phanatic, performs before a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Saturday, July 27, 2024, in Philadelphia. FILE - Los Angeles Dodgers Tommy Lasorda watches practice during spring training baseball in Phoenix, Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013. FILE - Philadelphia Phillies mascot, the Phillie Phanatic, performs before a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Saturday, July 27, 2024, in Philadelphia.
No, on Aug. 28, 1988, at a rather inconsequential game on the artificial turf of Veterans Stadium, Lasorda was fed up with the Phanatic and his antagonistic antics and in a rare, raw moment of rage,, Raymond actually played the Phanatic from 1978 until 1993. He has remained connected to the industry as a mascot consultant to the stars and helped create, brand and train the next generation of hundreds of stadium characters.
“He would always do it up the level where I thought he was really angry and then he would come back and laugh,” Raymond said. “I realized this is what I liked doing.”Lasorda had grown tired of what he considered the Phanatic’s constant degradation of the Dodgers uniform, not so much poking fun at the manager himself.
Lasorda was not in fighting shape when he confronted the 6-foot-6, 300-pound, 90-inch waist frame of the Phanatic.
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