Tommy Lasorda: I hate the Phillie Phanatic

More from our research into mascots ... here's an article from Tommy Lasorda's blog called "I hate the Phillie Phanatic".

In fact, I am not very happy about mascots in general. I think they take away from the game on the field.

One of the worst incidents was perpetrated by the Phillie Phanatic. The Dodgers were in town to play the Phillies and somehow, it got ahold of one of my jerseys. It took the jersey, put it on a dummy and ran over the dummy again and again.

That type of a display should not be shown in ballparks, especially in front of children. It exhibits violence and disrespect. Read on...

More fun facts about the Phanatic from Wikipedia:

• The Phanatic debuted on April 25, 1978 at The Vet when the Phils played the Chicago Cubs.
• The Phanatic was originally portrayed by Dave Raymond, who was then working as an intern in the team's front office, for fifteen years, from 1978 to 1993.
• In his book Pouring Six Beers At A Time, [Former Phillies VP Bill Giles] wrote of the worst decision of his life when it came to the creation of the Phanatic. The design would cost $5,200 for both the costume and the copyright ownership, or $3,900 just for the costume with Harrison/Erickson retaining the copyright. Giles chose to just buy the costume. Five years later, when Giles and his group of investors bought the team from Ruly Carpenter, the franchise paid $250,000 to Harrison/Erickson for the copyright.
• One week before the Phillies had their 2006 opener, the Phanatic was "dyed" red as part of the team's week-long promotion to "Paint the Town Red".
• He appeared in the closing credits of the film Rocky Balboa (2006).
• The Phanatic also has the dubious distinction of being the most sued mascot in sports. Most notably, the Phillies had to pay a judgment of $2.5 million to a man at a paint store event when the Phanatic jumped the patron with a rough-house bear hug, from which the man sustained serious back injuries.