The biggest key to the success of various minor league teams is being able to reach out to families. This means that little kids are the largest part of the team’s audience. These teams do everything they can to attract families and earn those family dollars. They do this through things like games and low ticket prices.

However, one of the key ingredients to keeping the kids entertained is the creation of a mascot. Yes, a mascot. I know, it seems like a minor thing. However, one visit to a minor league game and one look at the Pied Piper-like way the kids follow the mascot around will confirm that a good mascot is a key ingredient for the success of any team. Plus, unlike the big leagues, the mascots as these stadiums are more easily acceptable.

In the minor leagues the players can be transient in nature. Players can get signed by major league teams. Other times the players simply decide they cannot continue to live on the relatively low salaries of the independent leagues. Sometimes players just move on, get traded or quit. So, selling the players is not always easy. The face of that one player you really like may be a player who is not on the team by mid-July. Thus,t he mascot often becomes the face of the team.

So, it’s time to get to know your mascots!
The Schaumburg Flyers - Bearon

The Flyers have one of the cutest mascots you are likely to find. Plus, he is very interactive. Around the seventh inning Bearon even makes himself available to sign autographs at a specific time and place.

Bearon is, as you might expect, is a bear. However, this guy is not just a man in a bear suit. No, Bearon follows the “flying” theme of the team. He wears an old leather-looking flyers cap like you would see on the pilot of a World War I plane. To continue with the flyer theme he also has a long white scarf around his neck and gloves like the World War I aces wore. Finally, to make sure you understand he is affiliated with a baseball team, he wears the team’s jersey.

Bearon wanders the park during most of the game. He also conducts at least two or three games during the course of nine innings. He starts with a foot race against a youngster. He is there during the T-Shirt toss. He also does a bit that involves giving away a certificate for a free pizza that involves sections of the stadium yelling very loudly.

The Windy City Thunderbolts - Boomer

The Thunderbolts began their professional life as the Cook County Cheetahs. They had, as you might imagine, was a guy in a giant cheetah costume. To be honest, it was a rather scary-looking mascot.

With the overhaul the team had, they are now the Thunderbolts and that meant they needed a whole new mascot. As such, they now have Boomer. Of course, this has now lead to a rather famous statement amongst fans of the ‘Bolts. “What exactly IS Boomer?”

The Thunderbolts website says that Boomer appeared in the outfield after a particularly nasty thunderstorm. He was a giant “infant” unable to speak and of unknown origin. The staff of the stadium began feeding him “foul balls” and he is now at his current size.

To me, Boomer looks like that old cartoon ant-eater that had the voice of Jackie Mason from when I was a kid. He is big and blue and has a large, long nose. He appears covered with blue fur. He wears some kind of helmet with lightning bolts on either side. He also wears a Thunderbolts home jersey.

Boomer circulates all over during the game. He also plays games with the kids and helps out during the various games and contests run throughout. He does disappear from time to time during the game, though.
The Rockford Riverhawks - Rocco

You can probably guess what the Riverhawks have as a mascot. Yes, it is a guy in a bird suit. He has undergone some changes from the first time I went to a Riverhawks game. The newest version of Rocco the Riverhawk has more of a square-jawed look. It makes him look more like a “Rocco.” In short, he looks like kind of a tough guy.

Rocco is blue. The costume only goes down to about the knees of the costume wearer. Therefore, the costumer wearer’s legs come out the bottom. I guess this is supposed to make it look more like the bare, featherless legs of an actual bird.

Rocco is a bit like the San Diego Chicken, since his beak can be used for comedic purposes. He, like the others, wanders during the game and the kids follow him along like the adore him. I had a friend who took his family, including his little girls to the game, and his youngest was obsessed during the entire game over where Rocco was.

The Gary SouthShore Railcats - Rusty the Railcat

Just like Rocco, there really isn’t a “Railcat” in nature. There isn’t really a “Riverhawk” as any hawk that happened to be by a river would be considered one. Rusty would be a “Railcat” because he happened to be by a set of railroad tracks, I imagine.

Sadly, I have never made it to the U.S. Steelyard and seen a Railcats game. So, I cannot say how Rusty interacts with the crowd. I am guessing he also participates in the various games. Rusty looks very much like a guy in a cat costume but wearing a Railcats jersey.

Rusty also has a fan club and a kids club. This is also true of all of the mascots listed above. These are special clubs where the kids get special attention, food and a time exclusive with the mascot.

The Kane County Cougars - Ozzie

Sticking with the cat theme, the Cougars also have a cat as their mascot, as their name would seem to dictate. Ozzie has a number of programs like a community outreach program, kids zone and a kids reading club. He is a giant cat dressed in a Cougars uniform, complete with baseball cap.

During my times going to Cougar’s games, I do not recall Ozzie being as interactive as other mascots. This may be jsut because I was more focused on the games with the Cougars, or what. He does wander around the stadium and it seems he also goes out on the field for some games.

The Joliet Jackhammers - Jammer

Jammer could be the brother or cousin of Boomer. He looks very similar to me. He is a blue creature in a Jackhammer’s uniform with blue fur and a long blue nose. Jammer also adds one of those party-favor things that you blow on New Years Eve and the paper tongue flies out and it makes a noise. I am guessing this is supposed to be his tongue.

I also have not made my way to Silver Cross Field to see Jammer do his thing. I am guessing he is similar to Bearon. His mascot details on the team website is very funny, so I like the fact he is a mascot with a sense of humor. I am also not sure he is mute like Boomer.

He is, however, an entirely fictional creature and not something you would find in nature.

The Chicago Wolves - Skates

The Chicago Wolves have a wolf as a mascot, as you might imagine. However, Skates is not just a guy in a wolf suit wandering around the stands. He is a wolf that skates! He is also the only mascot I am aware of that has explosives at any point during the game.

When the team introduces themselves and the player skate out onto the ice, coming through the mouth of a giant wolf, it is Skates who comes out first. He raises his paws and sets off something that spews sparks and flames. It’s really quite awesome.

Skates also dances, along with various dancing girls, to songs like “Black Betty” from RamJam. He helps sling shot T-shirts into the stands. Quite honestly, he is the most athletic and active of the mascots that I have seen.

The Rockford Icehogs - Runt

The Icehog’s mascot is, well, a hog. However, he is a friendly looking hog. He is red and wears the Icehogs uniform. He is called “Runt” but I don’t see him being the runt of anything, really. I guess you couldn’t just name the mascot “hog” or “piggie.”

The Ichogs do have a great team and manage to put on a great show. It may not have the explosions and fireworks of a Wolves game, but the skaters come out of a giant inflatable hog’s mouth. It’s also the only pro hockey game I have ever been to where the goalies got into a fight.

I do not recall seeing Runt as much as Skates. During the between period moments, I was also helping run some of the games, so maybe I just missed him.

The Chicago Rush - Grabowski

Of all of the mascots, the AFL team, the Chicago Rush’s mascot, Grabowski is the strangest. And yes, I am taking into account the fact that Boomer is a giant alien ant-eater. Grabowski is a giant, well, guy… Yes, it’s a human, but one that is taller and less-talkative than a real person.

Grabowski takes his name from the time that Mike Ditka once referred to his team as a “bunch of Grabowskis.” By this he meant there were not prima donna’s. They were hard-working, working-class guys.

As such Grabowski is a guy in a hard hat, Rush jersey and tool belt. He has a huge grin on his face. He wears number 89.

Each of these mascots have a kind of fan club, commonly called a “Kids Club.” They also have a lot of community outreach programs and can be hired for special events. They are also available for special days at the ball parks and stadiums for kids who may be having birthday parties or something of that nature. Many of these clubs have opportunities for discounted tickets and special seating for the kids.

So, when you make your visit to the minor league team that interests you, sound like a know-it-all and be able to tell your kids who the mascot is.

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