Mascots always bring a new and exciting level to a sporting event. No matter where you are, if you see some weird cartoon character-looking thing, running around and pulling some shenanigans, it always adds that extra humor and enjoyment to any sporting environment. Philadelphia is lucky enough to have some of the most popular mascots in all of American sports. The real question is, which mascot is the true best mascot in the city of Philadelphia, the Phillie Phanatic or Gritty?
The Case For The Phanatic
The Phanatic was introduced in 1978, so it has a long history with the Philadelphia Phillies organization. Although it has gone through some redesigns throughout the years, it is still one of the most recognizable mascots in sports.
What exactly is the Phillie Phanatic? Nobody really knows. The Phanatic is described as a thing with a large, furry, green body, with a large area where it can shoot out it’s tongue. The Phanatic never shies away from its interactions with the Phillies fan base, as it would dance on top of dugouts, shake its belly, to riding his quad all over Citizens Bank Park (and occasionally gets stolen by players), he does a lot of other crazy antics that get the fans excited.
Most notably, the Phanatic got into a fight with former Los Angeles Dodgers manager, Tommy Lasorda. After an antic used by the Phanatic with a doll that looked like Lasorda, he managed to grab the doll from the mascot and used it to repeatedly hit the mascot. The mascot has taken American sports by storm and he continues to hold that title today as one of the most popular mascots in sports.
The Case For Gritty
When the Philadelphia Flyers first announced they were going to have a new mascot, no one expected the result they gave us. Gritty took the world by storm and was trending all over social media because no one knew what this thing was. Being described as a crazed muppet, Gritty instantly became one of the most popular mascots in all of hockey and is one of the most popular mascots in North American sports.
Gritty has a big orange fuzzy body, with longer hair on its head, while he wears a Flyers jersey and helmet. Gritty was never afraid to get his hands dirty, he had a reputation for smashing cakes in the faces of fans. In addition, Gritty has done a lot of crazy antics as well, most notably, Gritty streaked at the Flyers Penguins Stadium series game at Lincoln Financial Field. Gritty has become an instant sensation across the hockey world, but is that recent popularity enough to outdo the Phanatic?
The Verdict
This was a tough decision, both of these mascots are absolutely fantastic. However, the decision on who the overall better mascot is and who represents Philadelphia better goes to the Phillie Phanatic. Although it is very close, the Phanatic has the edge over Gritty due to how long he has been popular. Gritty was introduced in 2018. That means that the Phanatic has 40 years of more experience than Gritty. Considering that the Phanatic is well known in all the North American sports he does a bit of an advantage. However, due to the amount of popularity Gritty has gained over a short time, Philadelphia’s most popular mascot could change sooner rather than later.
Main image credit Embed from Getty Images
