| 2004 |
| 2004 |
In 2004, Spike the Dog made fewer appearances and most ended with a drenching,
as other mascots adopted Spike's old weapon of choice, the Super Soaker.
Ben "Blowtorch" Horning in New Hampshire and Trent Theriault in Maine
wrangled and willingly joined the Dog on hikes around grandstands. This
solved the problem of pre-teen misconduct.
In Nashua, Cone Man and "Rocket Fire" Osofsky guarded his gear.
Spike got equipment upgrades, but got thrown out of his first
ballpark. And then his second.
| Me. | Sanford Mainers | |
| N.H. | NH Fisher Cats | |
| Nashua Pride | 31-May, 31-Aug | |
| Mass. | North Shore Spirit |
At a poorly-attended doubleheader on 31-Aug, the sparring at the start of the second game was less playful: Having pursued Prime Time for several minutes, swatting him on the butt with the plastic bat led to a chase through the grandstand. When Prime Time armed himself with a weapon of mass destruction (the Super Soaker), Spike's vivid memories of drenchings at Sanford (see below) led him to prematurely morph back into a human.
The next time the Q-Dogs were in town, it was more of the same. The dizzy-bat contestants were the Sanford Little-League girls; they accepted Spike as one of their own and he eagerly rode with them in the pick-up truck. Spike brought an umbrella with him, but after boarding he saw that Broose D'Moose was packing a Super Soaker. Despite the umbrella, Spike took a direct water-balloon hit from the Quarry Dogs; also collateral damage from the Sanford bench, and friendly fire from Broose and from a Sanford fan.
As well as the happy kids, there are still a couple of older fans who remember the Mad Dogs and are amazed to see their mascot up in Sanford; that alone is worth the soggy walk back to the car.
Spike sat unobtrusively in Section E amid a crowd of 3725 for two innings, then walked the back corridor for more handshakes and photo-ops. But two security guys (dressed the same as a guy who, one week earlier, gave assurances that the only concern would be the possibility of blocking views) insisted that Spike and his wrangler follow them to "get to the bottom of this."
They were polite as always, thanked us for coming to the game, took Spike aside rather than making him take off his head in the crowd, arranged for his readmission in street clothes, and even invited him to audition as next year's Fungo. But after seeing that there was no bottom to get to--and even recognizing the human face from 15 previous visits--they still insisted that league or MLB rules, they could not say which, required him to leave.
It is their call, and clearly they worry that some businessman or politician is trying to pitch to fans without going through the club, to the detriment of the club and its paid advertisers. But the bureaucratic reaction to a non-threat is amazing (except that the same has been our theme nationally for three years).
It was not until Game 5 of the Northeast League finals that low attendance,
chilly weather, and the unplanned arrival of two out-of-town wrangler
candidates combined to favor the appearance of Spike the Dog. But the GM
stopped them at the door, citing a vote to play this decisive game as old-time
baseball without distractions. Presumably, on a money-losing evening in which
between-inning entertainment and even Slugger, the mascot, had been given the
day off, it would not do for someone else's mascot to appear. (Slugger,
incidentally, had apparently not been informed of this, and was seen in the
concessions area for half an inning.)
Spike the Dog has been led away twice this year, by staff reacting as they would to a robber caught red-handed (except that Spike acknowledges their authority). Spike does not like being treated like a crook, but the staff isn't the problem, but rather the legal opportunism and the social panic. Our ballparks are being turned from places for spontaneity to stage-managed theme parks--like the rest of the country. Maybe Spike's career amusing adults and delighting kids is drawing to a close. He'll survive because he can revert to human form at will. But can America?
