The person inside Dandy -- the Yankees' ill-fated and short-lived mascot -- recalled the costume being ripped to shreds by "followers."
Madison Ford/Midcoast Studio
Rick Ford knew that Dandy was doomed from the outset.
The short-lived Yankees mascot — a 7-foot-tall, pinstriped, mustachioed chicken in a staff cap — solely lasted from 1979-’81 earlier than being axed.
It debuted in July 1979, however was benched weeks later when catcher Thurman Munson, whose facial hair regarded an terrible lot like Dandy’s, was killed in a aircraft crash. Crew proprietor George Steinbrenner had authorized the character, however was by no means a fan: Dandy ended up banished to the higher deck of Yankee Stadium.
Ford, a younger actor on the time, had the indignity of enjoying Dandy for a season.
“No one had any concept what I used to be or what I used to be doing there,” he informed The Submit in 2019. “[The audience at ] simply checked out me like, ‘What the hell is that this factor?’”
Ford additionally recalled an look at Madison Sq. Backyard in 1978 when, blinded by the spotlights, he jumped off the stage. “The gang simply began ripping me to items as I lay on the ground. I believed I wouldn’t get out alive,” he informed The Submit this week.
“I had all this fur in my mouth — I couldn’t breathe. All I might hear was folks shouting ‘Unzip his head! Unzip his head!’”
Within the single season that Ford spent as Dandy, he obtained simply $40 per recreation and $105 for private appearances.
However, he alleged, “They by no means paid me. I used to be at all times chasing cash so I form of kidnapped the costume and informed them I’d return it after they paid me.”
It’s a really totally different story for mascots right now.
A current report from Sport Enterprise Journal revealed the astonishing salaries of a few of these staff characters. On the prime for the NBA is Rocky the Mountain Lion of the Denver Nuggets, who reportedly makes $625,000 a yr, adopted carefully by Harry the Hawk of the Atlanta Hawks on a wage of $600,000. The Chicago Bulls’ Benny the Bull pulls down a cool $400,000 yearly.
It’s severe cash for what, on the face of it, looks as if a foolish job.
However Dave Raymond, the godfather of the mascot business, mentioned it’s hard-earned.
“There's actually good cash to be made, certain, however just for the folks which might be essentially the most gifted,” he informed The Submit. “Bear in mind, the one cause why they’re making that cash is that they’re [driving] two or 3 times that quantity for the group. ‘
“So so long as the character model has been taken care of correctly and constructed correctly, and the group cares about that character model, after which you've gotten an ideal and gifted performer, then it’s price paying them that and ensuring that they’re completely satisfied.”
In 1978, Raymond was employed to be the brand new Philadelphia Phillies mascot — a inexperienced furball by the title of Phillie Phanatic that he performed for 16 years. He’s gone on to assist design characters for groups —together with the Flyers’ polarizing Gritty — in addition to discovered the Mascot Corridor of Fame and even run a boot camp for mascot actors in Whiting, Indiana.
He recalled as soon as narrowly averting immolation throughout a recreation. Because the Phanatic, Raymond was driving a three-wheeler automobile across the stands; the gasoline cap was free and, as he pulled a wheelie, the gasoline leaked out and coated the decrease half of the costume — simply as some followers close by have been lighting cigarettes.
“All I might think about was that the Phanatic was going to go up in flames,” he mentioned.
Certainly, it may be a harmful job. Clutch, the Houston Rockets mascot, was dancing across the court docket in April when boxer and social media star Jake Paul laid him out with a single punch. “He was asking for it,” Paul mentioned. Clutch, with the one that performs him nonetheless contained in the costume, needed to be carried off the court docket.
Bernie Brewer, in the meantime, is understood for throwing himself down an extended and winding slide each time the Milwaukee Brewers rating a house run. In August, TV reporter David Vassegh was invited to strive it earlier than a recreation and ended up smashing right into a barrier, cracking six ribs and fracturing his wrist.
The Submit requested for a remark from Bernie however, his spokesperson defined, “Since Bernie doesn’t communicate, it wouldn’t actually make sense to have a quote from him within the piece.”
(Certainly, the actors who play most mascots are given the form of anonymity normally afforded to these on a witness safety program.)
And God forbid a mascot go off-script. In 2003, Harvey the Hound of the NHL’s Calgary Flames determined to hang around behind the opposing staff’s bench, occupied by the Edmonton Oilers — who have been down 4-0. Oilers coach Craig McTavish ripped off Harvey’s tongue and threw it into the group.
Then there’s the bodily taxing nature of sporting a 40-pound costume through which temperatures can soar as much as 20 levels greater than exterior.
So the truth that Tom Burgoyne is now 56 and nonetheless enjoying the Phillie Phanatic — a job he took over from Raymond in 1988 — is unbelievable.
He utilized for the job by way of a mysterious P.O. Field commercial within the Philadelpha Inquirer, unaware simply what he was getting himself into.
“It didn’t say that it was for the Phillies – it simply mentioned ‘Mascot needed’,” Burgoyne informed The Submit. “I utilized, pondering I might make just a few further bucks possibly being that man with an indication on the aspect of a street.”
Thirty-four seasons later and it’s nonetheless his perfect job.
“The costume is magical. If there are days after I don’t really feel proper or I've again points, I put the costume on, the ache goes away and my temper improves,” Burgoyne mentioned. “It’s form of like placing on a pair of slippers.”
It’s additionally a profession that has taken him all around the world, from Japan to Europe, South America to Australia. The Phillie Phanatic has dined with Supreme Court docket justices, guested on Jimmy Kimmel’s present, and rocked out with the likes of Elton John, Billy Joel and Paula Abdul.
“Individuals marvel why I haven’t retired?” Burgoyne mentioned. “However I’m having an excessive amount of enjoyable!”
The Yankees, in the meantime, realized their lesson with Dandy — the staff nonetheless doesn’t have a mascot.
“Final I heard, Dandy had ended up in an industrial shredder,” Ford mentioned. “He received’t be missed.”
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