Photo Credit: Bill Lyons

A NEW SPORT:

Kennett's Dave Raymond moves from Phanatic to role as family man
by Jeff Blumenthal

When Dave Raymond first donned his fuzzy, green Phillie Phanatic suit, costumed mascots were not commonplace in sporting venues. And those in existence were considered nothing more than a novelty.

Two decades later, the gregarious, lizard-tongued, oversized Muppet that spawned dozens of imitators is still widely regarded as the best costumed mascot in professional sports.

But while Raymond left the role in 1993 after 16 years and remains especially proud of the Phanatic-"The Big Green Thing" celebrates his 20th birthday this month-changes in his life and approach to the sporting world have put his professional personality on a different course.

"I think it's great that the character has lived on," said Raymond of the Phanatic during a recent interview at his Kennett Square home, where he lives with wife Sandy and their six-month old daughter Madison. "It's a testament to the work I did."

Raymond's new costumed persona is Sport, designed and marketed by the same Brooklyn couple who created the Phanatic, Wayde Harrison and Bonnie Erickson. The teal-colored, beak-nosed everyman comes equipped with a grungy flannel shirt and beer gut while paralleling Raymond's increased distaste for the direction of professional sports.

"Sport is a guy who's seen it all," said Raymond, whose eyes light up when asked to talk about his latest creation. "He's frustrated with greedy owners and players and he's fighting for purity in sports. So he goes to minor league games where kids play for the love of it."

"The Phanatic is still in awe of major league baseball players and blinded by his love of Phillies baseball. Sport has grown out of that phase."

Sport who Raymond claims is a distant cousin of the Phanatic, makes up to 100 appearances a year at sporting events across the country and is introducing his first family video called "Baseball: Behind the Scenes with Sport," which can be found at a local toy store chain.

"The video doesn't deal with the sport itself but rather the environment," Raymond said.

"Baseball needs to do more of that-sell the entire experience of going to a game."

Though he enjoys the challenge of playing a new character, Raymond admits it was tough to leave the Phanatic and the Phillies behind. He inherited the same fierce loyalty as his father, legendary University of Delaware football coach Harold "Tubby" Raymond. The elder Raymond has served as a coach at the school for the past 42 years, building a perennial Division I-AA powerhouse.

Before becoming the Phanatic in 1978, Raymond played for his father, serving as the Blue Hens' punter. Raymond's other chief role model was his mother, Suzanne, who lost her hearing as a young child. Her death 9 years ago brought Raymond closer together with his father.

"It's been a great experience becoming friends with him," he said. And I think my dad is one of the greatest football minds around.

He could have coached anywhere at any level, but he chose to stay in the same place for his whole career, largely because of his loyalty to the Carpenter family (major U of D benefactors). And he passed that trait down to me."

With his father's connections to the Carpenter family, who also at the time owned the Phillies, Raymond secured an intern position with the baseball team while still a college student.

He had yet to make a firm career choice when the Phillies Vice President Bill Giles asked him if he wanted to wear the costume created by Erickson, responsible for designing Jim Henson Muppets characters such as Ms. Piggy and The Two Old Men.

According to Harrison, who handles the business aspect in his partnership with Erickson, both he and the Phillies were concerned whether the Phanatic could roam the stands and interact with Philadelphia's tough fans that were once accused of booing Santa Claus.

It wasn't until Harrison saw Raymond in costume, leaping over a fence and running wild through the empty stands that he knew they had a keeper.

"Most people are tentative about those things, but not David," Harrison said. "I think he was a natural in part because of his background."

With his mother being deaf, David had a lot of experience communicating without words. He's also very physical person with a tremendous sense of timing."

During his first year in the suit, Raymond developed facets of the character in piecemeal fashion-sometimes even by accident. At one point he was instructed to entertain the crowd in the middle of the fifth inning when the ground crew manicures the infield.

While dancing around, he accidentally tripped a crew member, eliciting a hearty laugh from the crowd. Soon, Raymond developed a regular routine with the ground crew that became a staple in his performances.

Raymond his inspiration for the physical, sometimes naughty sense of humor that became the Phanatic's trademark came from watching the Three Stooges and old Warner Brothers cartoon characters. He even took dancing lessons to incorporate the latest steps into his routines.

No one was safe from the Phanatic's juvenile antics as fans, players, coaches and umpires alike were all at one time victims. Much to the surprise of Raymond, players joined in on the fun to become part of his act. Members of visiting teams, whom the Phanatic would regularly taunt by smashing one of their helmets in front of their dugout, would respond by taping his legs together or stealing his four-wheel cycle and driving it out to center field. "They knew I was lugging around this 35 pound costume and making me walk out to center field to get the thing was torture on a hot summer day," Raymond said. "But I think the fans loved seeing those millionaire superstars acting like normal kids."

Raymond's favorite person to torture was Tommy Lasorda. And the longtime Los Angeles Dodgers manager's own players would always lend a hand by stealing their skipper's warm-up jacket from his locker and giving it to the Phanatic. During one of his regular seventh inning routines, Raymond placed the jacket on a dummy, stuffed a pillow under its shirt to make fun of Lasorda's girth and pretended to have it devour an entire pizza. A livid Lasorda burst out of the dugout, grabbed the dummy and punched Raymond.

"All of the reporters came up to me the next day wondering if he was really mad," Raymond said.

"The guy punched my costume after all. So the next game I put a trail of Slimfast from the dugout to the on deck circle. He just ignored me from that point on."

Another celebrity with whom Raymond had a more cordial relationship was former 76ers star Charles Barkley, who regularly attended games in box seats behind the Phillies dugout. Raymond said he and Barkley developed a regular routine that always drew wild laughter from the crows. He would pretend to buff Barkley's head or take his wife on top of the dugout and start slow dancing with her-rubbing his hands up and down her back. Barkley, feigning anger, would jump onto the dugout, pretend to punch the Phanatic in the stomach and return to his seat as Raymond lay doubled over.

"I could do almost anything with Charles," he said. "He was one of those athletes that was not afraid to show he was a normal guy."

"You can tell a lot about a person based on how he reacts to the Phanatic. If they're irritated, they're probably not having much fun in life."

With each year, the Phanatic grew in stature until he became a mascot for all of Philadelphia, with Raymond attending a variety of functions. But the passing of time also brought the need for a new challenge as well as financial security. So Raymond called Harrison and Erickson and asked if they were interested in starting an business venture.

The result was Acme Mascots, a company where, in addition to Sport, the threesome will also create mascots for sports teams, train those who wear the costumes and act as sports marketing consultants. Even with the business securing his family's financial future, Raymond still had doubts about leaving behind a character that had encompassed his entire professional life. He was also concerned how his then 4-year-old son Kyle would react. Raymond broke the news to his son while tucking him into bed one night.

"His response was, 'Will you still be my Daddy?," Raymond said. "That's when I knew that I would still be me no matter what I did."


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