The history of the New York Yankees is so extensively (read:exhaustively) recounted that it’s hard to believe that there’s any sliver of it that has been allowed to slip into obscurity. But it’s true. At one point, the most storied organization in professional sports had a goofy mascot that was an abject and immediate failure.
His name was Dandy and he was a 7-foot mustachioed pear-shaped fuzzy ginger designed by Bonnie Erickson, the same woman responsible for the Muppets Ms. Piggy. His creation in 1979 was a transparent ploy to capitalize on the runaway success of the Phillie Phanatic. And he might have worked had the San Diego Chicken not been the victim of an on-field tirade by then-Yankees outfielder Lou Piniella, which prompted owner George Steinbrenner to pronounce that mascots had no place in the sport. This occurred two weeks before Dandy’s scheduled debut.
The Yankees Ripped Off The Phillie Phanatic With Disastrous Results
↵The rest, as they say, is history. History of which you are now aware. And so completes your undesired degree in Yankeeology.
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