document_title: Great Lakes

question_text: which great lake is the highest above sea level

question_tokens: which great lake is the highest above sea level

text: Great Lakes

text: Geography[edit]

text: Though the five lakes reside in separate basins, they form a single, naturally interconnected body of fresh water, within the Great Lakes Basin. The lakes form a chain connecting the east-central interior of North America to the Atlantic Ocean. From the interior to the outlet at the Saint Lawrence River, water flows from Superior to Huron and Michigan, southward to Erie, and finally northward to Lake Ontario. The lakes drain a large watershed via many rivers, and are studded with approximately 35,000 islands.[13] There are also several thousand smaller lakes, often called "inland lakes," within the basin.[14] The surface area of the five primary lakes combined is roughly equal to the size of the United Kingdom, while the surface area of the entire basin (the lakes and the land they drain) is about the size of the UK and France combined.[15] Lake Michigan is the only one of the Great Lakes that is located entirely within the United States; the others form a water boundary between the United States and Canada. The lakes are divided among the jurisdictions of the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. Both Ontario and Michigan include in their boundaries portions of four of the lakes: Ontario does not border Lake Michigan, and Michigan does not border Lake Ontario. New York and Wisconsin's jurisdictions extend into two lakes, and the remaining states into one of the lakes.

text: Bathymetry[edit]

text:
Lake Erie
Lake Huron
Lake Michigan
Lake Ontario
Lake Superior

Surface area[5]
9,910 sq mi (25,700 km2)
23,000 sq mi (60,000 km2)
22,300 sq mi (58,000 km2)
7,340 sq mi (19,000 km2)
31,700 sq mi (82,000 km2)

Water volume[5]
116 cu mi (480 km3)
850 cu mi (3,500 km3)
1,180 cu mi (4,900 km3)
393 cu mi (1,640 km3)
2,900 cu mi (12,000 km3)

Elevation[16]
571 ft (174 m)
577 ft (176 m)
577 ft (176 m)
246 ft (75 m)
600.0 ft (182.9 m)

Average depth[15]
62 ft (19 m)
195 ft (59 m)
279 ft (85 m)
283 ft (86 m)
483 ft (147 m)

Maximum depth[17]
210 ft (64 m)
748 ft (228 m)
925 ft (282 m)
804 ft (245 m)
1,333 ft (406 m)

Major settlements[18]
Buffalo, NY
Erie, PA
Cleveland, OH
Lorain, OH
Toledo, OH
Sandusky, OH
Alpena, MI
Bay City, MI
Owen Sound, ON
Port Huron, MI
Sarnia, ON
Chicago, IL
Gary, IN
Green Bay, WI
Sheboygan, WI
Milwaukee, WI
Kenosha, WI
Racine, WI
Muskegon, MI
Traverse City, MI
Hamilton, ON
Kingston, ON
Mississauga, ON
Oshawa, ON
Rochester, NY
Toronto, ON
Duluth, MN
Marquette, MI
Sault Ste. Marie, MI
Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Superior, WI
Thunder Bay, ON

text:
Relative elevations, average depths, maximum depths, and volumes of the Great Lakes.

Notes:
The area of each rectangle is proportionate to the volume of each lake. All measurements at Low Water Datum.

Source:
EPA[16]

text: As the surfaces of Lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan, and Erie are all approximately the same elevation above sea level, while Lake Ontario is significantly lower, and because the Niagara Escarpment precludes all natural navigation, the four upper lakes are commonly called the "upper great lakes". This designation, however, is not universal. Those living on the shore of Lake Superior often refer to all the other lakes as "the lower lakes", because they are farther south. Sailors of bulk freighters transferring cargoes from Lake Superior and northern Lake Michigan and Lake Huron to ports on Lake Erie or Ontario commonly refer to the latter as the lower lakes and Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Superior as the upper lakes. This corresponds to thinking of Lakes Erie and Ontario as "down south" and the others as "up north". Vessels sailing north on Lake Michigan are considered "upbound" even though they are sailing toward its effluent current.[25]

text: Primary connecting waterways[edit]

text:
The Chicago River and Calumet River systems connect the Great Lakes Basin to the Mississippi River System through man-made alterations and canals.
The St. Marys River, including the Soo Locks, connects Lake Superior to Lake Huron.
The Straits of Mackinac connect Lake Michigan to Lake Huron (which are hydrologically one).
The St. Clair River connects Lake Huron to Lake St. Clair.
The Detroit River connects Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie.
The Niagara River, including Niagara Falls, connects Lake Erie to Lake Ontario.
The Welland Canal, bypassing the Falls, connects Lake Erie to Lake Ontario.
The Saint Lawrence River and the Saint Lawrence Seaway connect Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which connects to the Atlantic Ocean.

text: Lake Michigan–Huron[edit]

text: Lakes Huron and Michigan are sometimes considered a single lake, called Lake Michigan–Huron, because they are one hydrological body of water connected by the Straits of Mackinac.[26] The straits are 5 miles (8 km) wide[15] and 120 feet (37 m) deep; the water levels – currently at 577 feet (176 m) – rise and fall together,[27] and the flow between Michigan and Huron frequently reverses direction.

text: Other significant bodies of water[edit]

text:
Lake Nipigon, connected to Lake Superior by the Nipigon River, is surrounded by sill-like formations of mafic and ultramafic igneous rock hundreds of meters high. The lake lies in the Nipigon Embayment, a failed arm of the triple junction (centered beneath Lake Superior) in the Midcontinent Rift System event, estimated at 1,109 million years ago.
Green Bay is an arm of Lake Michigan, located along the south coast of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the east coast of Wisconsin. It is separated from the rest of the lake by the Door Peninsula in Wisconsin, the Garden Peninsula in Michigan, and the chain of islands between them, all of which were formed by the Niagara Escarpment.
Lake Winnebago, connected to Green Bay by the Fox River, serves as part of the Fox–Wisconsin Waterway and is part of a larger system of lakes in Wisconsin known as the Winnebago Pool.
Grand Traverse Bay is an arm of Lake Michigan located on Michigan's west coast, being one of the largest natural harbors in the Great Lakes. The bay has one large peninsula[28] and one major island known as Power Island. Its namesake is derived from when Jacques Marquette crossed the bay from Norwood to Northport calling it La Grande Traversee.[29]
Georgian Bay is an arm of Lake Huron, extending northeast from the lake entirely within Ontario. The bay, along with its narrow westerly extensions of the North Channel and Mississagi Strait, is separated from the rest of the lake by the Bruce Peninsula, Manitoulin Island, and Cockburn Island, all of which were also formed by the Niagara Escarpment.
Lake Nipissing, connected to Georgian Bay by the French River, contains two volcanic pipes, which are the Manitou Islands and Callander Bay.[30] These pipes were formed by a violent, supersonic eruption of deep-origin. The lake lies in the Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben, a Mesozoic rift valley that formed 175 million years ago.
Lake Simcoe, connected to Georgian Bay by the Severn River, serves as part of the Trent–Severn Waterway, a canal route traversing Southern Ontario between Lakes Ontario and Huron.
Lake St. Clair, connected with Lake Huron (to its north) by the St. Clair River and with Lake Erie (to its south) by the Detroit River. Although it is 17 times smaller in area than Lake Ontario and only rarely included in the listings of the Great Lakes,[31][32] proposals for its official recognition as a Great Lake are occasionally made, which would affect its inclusion in scientific research projects, etc., designated as related to "The Great Lakes".[33]

text: Islands[edit]

text: Dispersed throughout the Great Lakes are approximately 35,000 islands.[13] The largest among them is Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron, the largest island in any inland body of water in the world.[34] The second-largest island is Isle Royale in Lake Superior.[35] Both of these islands are large enough to contain multiple lakes themselves—for instance, Manitoulin Island's Lake Manitou is the world's largest lake located on a freshwater island.[36]

text: Shipping connection to the ocean[edit]

text: The Saint Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway make the Great Lakes accessible to ocean-going vessels.[37] However, shifts in shipping to wider ocean-going container ships—which do not fit through the locks on these routes—have limited container shipping on the lakes. Most Great Lakes trade is of bulk material, and bulk freighters of Seawaymax-size or less can move throughout the entire lakes and out to the Atlantic.[38] Larger ships are confined to working in the lakes themselves. Only barges can access the Illinois Waterway system providing access to the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River. Despite their vast size, large sections of the Great Lakes freeze over in winter, interrupting most shipping from January to March. Some icebreakers ply the lakes, keeping the shipping lanes open through other periods of ice on the lakes.

text: The Great Lakes are also connected by canal to the Gulf of Mexico by way of the Illinois River (from the Chicago River) and the Mississippi River. An alternate track is via the Illinois River (from Chicago), to the Mississippi, up the Ohio, and then through the Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway (a combination of a series of rivers and lakes and canals), to Mobile Bay and the Gulf. Commercial tug-and-barge traffic on these waterways is heavy.[39]

text: Pleasure boats can also enter or exit the Great Lakes by way of the Erie Canal and Hudson River in New York. The Erie Canal connects to the Great Lakes at the east end of Lake Erie (at Buffalo, New York) and at the south side of Lake Ontario (at Oswego, New York).

text: Water levels[edit]

text: In 2009, the lakes contained 84% of the surface freshwater of North America;[40] if the water were evenly distributed over the entire continent's land area, it would reach a depth of 1.5 meters (5 feet).[15] The source of water levels in the lakes is tied to what was left by melting glaciers when the lakes took their present form. Annually, only about 1% is "new" water originating from rivers, precipitation, and groundwater springs that drain into the lakes. Historically, evaporation has been balanced by drainage, making the level of the lakes constant.[15] While the lake levels have been preserved, intensive human population growth only began in the region in the 20th century and continues today.[15] At least two human water use activities have been identified as having the potential to affect the lakes' levels: diversion (the transfer of water to other watersheds) and consumption (substantially done today by the use of lake water to power and cool electric generation plants, resulting in evaporation).[41]

text: The water level of Lake Michigan–Huron had remained fairly constant over the 20th century,[42] but has nevertheless dropped more than 6 feet from the record high in 1986 to the low of 2013.[43] One newspaper reported that the long-term average level has gone down about 20 inches because of dredging and subsequent erosion in the St. Clair River. Lake Michigan–Huron hit all-time record low levels in 2013; according to the US Army Corps of Engineers, the previous record low had been set in 1964.[43] By April 2015 the water level had recovered to 7 inches (17.5 cm) more than the "long term monthly average".[44]

text: Name origins[edit]

text: Statistics[edit]

text: The Great Lakes contained 21% of the world's surface fresh water around the year 2000: 5,472 cubic miles (22,810 km3), or 6.0×1015 U.S. gallons (2.3×1016 liters). This is enough water to cover the 48 contiguous U.S. states to a uniform depth of 9.5 feet (2.9 m). Although the lakes contain a large percentage of the world's fresh water, the Great Lakes supply only a small portion of U.S. drinking water on a national basis.[51]

text: The total surface area of the lakes is approximately 94,250 square miles (244,100 km2)—nearly the same size as the United Kingdom, and larger than the U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire combined.[52]

text: The Great Lakes coast measures approximately 10,500 miles (16,900 km);[15] however, the length of a coastline is impossible to measure exactly and is not a well-defined measure (see Coastline paradox). Of the total 10,500 miles (16,900 km) of shoreline, Canada borders approximately 5,200 miles (8,400 km), while the remaining 5,300 miles (8,500 km) are bordered by the United States. Michigan has the longest shoreline of the United States, bordering roughly 3,288 miles (5,292 km) of shoreline, followed by Wisconsin (820 miles (1,320 km)), New York (473 miles (761 km)), and Ohio (312 miles (502 km)).[53] Traversing the shoreline of all the lakes would cover a distance roughly equivalent to travelling half-way around the world at the equator.[15]

text: Geology[edit]

text: It has been estimated that the foundational geology that created the conditions shaping the present day upper Great Lakes was laid from 1.1 to 1.2 billion years ago,[15][54] when two previously fused tectonic plates split apart and created the Midcontinent Rift, which crossed the Great Lakes Tectonic Zone. A valley was formed providing a basin that eventually became modern day Lake Superior. When a second fault line, the Saint Lawrence rift, formed approximately 570 million years ago,[15] the basis for Lakes Ontario and Erie were created, along with what would become the Saint Lawrence River.

text: The Great Lakes are estimated to have been formed at the end of the last glacial period (the Wisconsin glaciation ended 10,000 to 12,000 years ago), when the Laurentide Ice Sheet receded.[11] The retreat of the ice sheet left behind a large amount of meltwater (see Lake Algonquin and Lake Chicago) that filled up the basins that the glaciers had carved, thus creating the Great Lakes as we know them today.[55] Because of the uneven nature of glacier erosion, some higher hills became Great Lakes islands. The Niagara Escarpment follows the contour of the Great Lakes between New York and Wisconsin. See also Glacial Lake Iroquois and Champlain Sea.

text: Land below the glaciers "rebounded" as it was uncovered.[56] Because the glaciers covered some areas longer than others, this glacial rebound occurred at different rates.

text: Climate[edit]

text: The Great Lakes have a humid continental climate, Köppen climate classification Dfa (in southern areas) and Dfb (in northern parts)[57] with varying influences from air masses from other regions including dry, cold Arctic systems, mild Pacific air masses from the West, and warm, wet tropical systems from the south and the Gulf of Mexico.[58] The lakes themselves also have a moderating effect on the climate; they can also increase precipitation totals and produce lake effect snowfall.[57]

text: Lake effect[edit]

text: The most well-known winter effect of the Great Lakes on regional weather is the lake effect in snowfall, which is sometimes very localized. Even late in winter, the lakes often have no icepack in the middle. The prevailing winds from the west pick up the air and moisture from the lake surface, which is slightly warmer in relation to the cold surface winds above. As the slightly warmer, moist air passes over the colder land surface, the moisture often produces concentrated, heavy snowfall that sets up in bands or "streamers". This is similar to the effect of warmer air dropping snow as it passes over mountain ranges. During freezing weather with high winds, the "snow belts" receive regular snow fall from this localized weather pattern, especially along the eastern shores of the lakes. Snow belts are found in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, United States; and Ontario, Canada.

text: The lakes also moderate seasonal temperatures to some degree, but not with as large an influence as do large oceans; they absorb heat and cool the air in summer, then slowly radiate that heat in autumn. They protect against frost during transitional weather, and keep the summertime temperatures cooler than further inland. This effect can be very localized and overridden by offshore wind patterns. This temperature buffering produces areas known as "fruit belts", where fruit can be produced that is typically grown much farther south. For instance, Western Michigan has apple and cherry orchards, and vineyards cultivated adjacent to the lake shore as far north as the Grand Traverse Bay and Nottawasaga Bay in central Ontario. The eastern shore of Lake Michigan and the southern shore of Lake Erie have many successful wineries because of the moderating effect, as does the Niagara Peninsula between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. A similar phenomenon allows wineries to flourish in the Finger Lakes region of New York, as well as in Prince Edward County, Ontario on Lake Ontario's northeast shore. Related to the lake effect is the regular occurrence of fog over medium-sized areas, particularly along the shorelines of the lakes. This is most noticeable along Lake Superior's shores.

text: The Great Lakes have been observed to help intensify storms, such as Hurricane Hazel in 1954, and the 2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, which moved onshore as a tornadic waterspout. In 1996 a rare tropical or subtropical storm was observed forming in Lake Huron, dubbed the 1996 Lake Huron cyclone. Rather large severe thunderstorms covering wide areas are well known in the Great Lakes during mid-summer; these Mesoscale convective complexs or MCCs[59] can cause damage to wide swaths of forest and shatter glass in city buildings. These storms mainly occur during the night, and the systems sometimes have small embedded tornadoes, but more often straight-line winds accompanied by intense lightning.

text: Ecology[edit]

text: Historically, the Great Lakes, in addition to their lake ecology, were surrounded by various forest ecoregions (except in a relatively small area of southeast Lake Michigan where savanna or prairie occasionally intruded). Logging, urbanization, and agriculture uses have changed that relationship. In the early 21st century, Lake Superior's shores are 91% forested, Lake Huron 68%, Lake Ontario 49%, Lake Michigan 41%, and Lake Erie, where logging and urbanization has been most extensive, 21%. Some of these forests are second or third growth (i.e. they have been logged before, changing their composition). At least 13 wildlife species are documented as becoming extinct since the arrival of Europeans, and many more are threatened or endangered.[15] Meanwhile, exotic and invasive species have also been introduced.

text: Fauna[edit]

text: The organisms living on the bottom of shallow waters are similar to those found in smaller lakes. The deep waters, however, contain organisms found only in deep, cold lakes of the northern latitudes. These include the delicate opossum shrimp (order mysida), the deepwater scud (a crustacean of the order amphipoda), two types of copepods, and the deepwater sculpin (a spiny, large-headed fish).[61]

text: The Great Lakes are an important source of fishing. Early European settlers were astounded by both the variety and quantity of fish; there were 150 different species in the Great Lakes.[15] Throughout history, fish populations were the early indicator of the condition of the Lakes and have remained one of the key indicators even in the current era of sophisticated analyses and measuring instruments. According to the bi-national (U.S. and Canadian) resource book, The Great Lakes: An Environmental Atlas and Resource Book: "The largest Great Lakes fish harvests were recorded in 1889 and 1899 at some 67,000 tonnes (66,000 long tons; 74,000 short tons) [147 million pounds]."[62]

text: By 1801, the New York Legislature found it necessary to pass regulations curtailing obstructions to the natural migrations of Atlantic salmon from Lake Erie into their spawning channels. In the early 19th century, the government of Upper Canada found it necessary to introduce similar legislation prohibiting the use of weirs and nets at the mouths of Lake Ontario's tributaries. Other protective legislation was passed, as well, but enforcement remained difficult.[63]

text: On both sides of the Canada–United States border, the proliferation of dams and impoundments have multiplied, necessitating more regulatory efforts. Concerns by the mid-19th century included obstructions in the rivers which prevented salmon and lake sturgeon from reaching their spawning grounds. The Wisconsin Fisheries Commission noted a reduction of roughly 25% in general fish harvests by 1875. The states have removed dams from rivers where necessary.[clarification needed][64]

text: Overfishing has been cited as a possible reason for a decrease in population of various whitefish, important because of their culinary desirability and, hence, economic consequence. Moreover, between 1879 and 1899, reported whitefish harvests declined from some 24.3 million pounds (11 million kg) to just over 9 million pounds (4 million kg).[65] By 1900, commercial fishermen on Lake Michigan were hauling in an average of 41 million pounds of fish annually.[66] By 1938, Wisconsin's commercial fishing operations were motorized and mechanized, generating jobs for more than 2,000 workers, and hauling 14 million pounds per year.[66] The population of giant freshwater mussels was eliminated as the mussels were harvested for use as buttons by early Great Lakes entrepreneurs.[65] Since 2000, the invasive quagga mussel has smothered the bottom of Lake Michigan almost from shore to shore, and their numbers are estimated at 900 trillion.[66]

text: The influx of parasitic lamprey populations after the development of the Erie Canal and the much later Welland Canal led to the two federal governments of the US and Canada working on joint proposals to control it. By the mid-1950s, the lake trout populations of Lakes Michigan and Huron were reduced, with the lamprey deemed largely to blame. This led to the launch of the bi-national Great Lakes Fishery Commission.

text: The Great Lakes: An Environmental Atlas and Resource Book (1972) noted: "Only pockets remain of the once large commercial fishery."[62] But, water quality improvements realized during the 1970s and 1980s, combined with successful salmonid stocking programs, have enabled the growth of a large recreational fishery.[67] The last commercial fisherman left Milwaukee in 2011 because of overfishing and anthropogenic changes to the biosphere.[66]

text: Since the 19th century an estimated 160 new species have found their way into the Great Lakes ecosystem; many have become invasive; the overseas ship ballast and ship hull parasitism are causing severe economic and ecological impacts.[68][69] According to the Inland Seas Education Association, on average a new species enters the Great Lakes every eight months.[69]

text: Introductions into the Great Lakes include the zebra mussel, which was first discovered in 1988, and quagga mussel in 1989. The mollusks are efficient filter feeders, competing with native mussels and reducing available food and spawning grounds for fish. In addition, the mussels may be a nuisance to industries by clogging pipes. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that the economic impact of the zebra mussel could be about $5 billion over the next decade.[70]

text: The alewife first entered the system west of Lake Ontario via 19th-century canals. By the 1960s, the small silver fish had become a familiar nuisance to beach goers across Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Erie. Periodic mass dieoffs result in vast numbers of the fish washing up on shore; estimates by various governments have placed the percentage of Lake Michigan's biomass, which was made up of alewives in the early 1960s, as high as 90%. In the late 1960s, the various state and federal governments began stocking several species of salmonids, including the native lake trout as well as non-native chinook and coho salmon; by the 1980s, alewife populations had dropped drastically.[71] The ruffe, a small percid fish from Eurasia, became the most abundant fish species in Lake Superior's Saint Louis River within five years of its detection in 1986. Its range, which has expanded to Lake Huron, poses a significant threat to the lower lake fishery.[72] Five years after first being observed in the St. Clair River, the round goby can now be found in all of the Great Lakes. The goby is considered undesirable for several reasons: it preys upon bottom-feeding fish, overruns optimal habitat, spawns multiple times a season, and can survive poor water quality conditions.[73]

text: Several species of exotic water fleas have accidentally been introduced into the Great Lakes, such as the spiny waterflea, Bythotrephes longimanus, and the fishhook waterflea, Cercopagis pengoi, potentially having an effect on the zooplankton population. Several species of crayfish have also been introduced that may contend with native crayfish populations. More recently an electric fence has been set up across the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in order to keep several species of invasive Asian carp out of the area. These fast-growing planktivorous fish have heavily colonized the Mississippi and Illinois river systems.[74] The sea lamprey, which has been particularly damaging to the native lake trout population, is another example of a marine invasive species in the Great Lakes.[75] Invasive species, particularly zebra and quagga mussels, may be at least partially responsible for the collapse of the deepwater demersal fish community in Lake Huron,[76] as well as drastic unprecedented changes in the zooplankton community of the lake.[77]

text: Flora[edit]

text: See also: Flora of the Great Lakes region, and Index: Trees of the Great Lakes region.

text: Native habitats and ecoregions in the Great Lakes region include:

text:
Eastern forest-boreal transition
Eastern Great Lakes lowland forests
Southern Great Lakes forests
Central forest-grasslands transition
Upper Midwest forest-savanna transition
Western Great Lakes forests
Central Canadian Shield forests
Laurentian Mixed Forest Province
Beech-maple forest
Habitats of the Indiana Dunes

text: Plant lists include:

text:
List of Michigan flowers
List of Minnesota wild flowers
List of Minnesota trees

text: Logging

text: Logging of the extensive forests in the Great Lakes region removed riparian and adjacent tree cover over rivers and streams, which provide shade, moderating water temperatures in fish spawning grounds. Removal of trees also destabilized the soil, with greater volumes washed into stream beds causing siltation of gravel beds, and more frequent flooding.

text: Running cut logs down the tributary rivers into the Great Lakes also dislocated sediments. In 1884, the New York Fish Commission determined that the dumping of sawmill waste (chips and sawdust) had impacted fish populations.[78]

text: Pollution[edit]

text: The first U.S. Clean Water Act, passed by a Congressional override after being vetoed by US President Richard Nixon in 1972, was a key piece of legislation,[79] along with the bi-national Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement signed by Canada and the U.S. A variety of steps taken to process industrial and municipal pollution discharges into the system greatly improved water quality by the 1980s, and Lake Erie in particular is significantly cleaner.[80] Discharge of toxic substances has been sharply reduced. Federal and state regulations control substances like PCBs. The first of 43 "Great Lakes Areas of Concern" to be formally "de-listed" due to successful cleanup was Ontario's Collingwood Harbour in 1994; Ontario's Severn Sound followed in 2003.[81] Presque Isle Bay in Pennsylvania is formally listed as in recovery, as is Ontario's Spanish Harbour. Dozens of other Areas of Concern have received partial cleanups such as the Rouge River (Michigan) and Waukegan Harbor (Illinois).[82]

text: Until 1970, mercury was not listed as a harmful chemical, according to the United States Federal Water Quality Administration. Within the past ten years mercury has become more apparent in water tests. Mercury compounds have been used in paper mills to prevent slime from forming during their production, and chemical companies have used mercury to separate chlorine from brine solutions. Studies conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency have shown that when the mercury comes in contact with many of the bacteria and compounds in the fresh water, it forms the compound methyl mercury, which has a much greater impact on human health than elemental mercury due to a higher propensity for absorption. This form of mercury is not detrimental to a majority of fish types, but is very detrimental to people and other wildlife animals who consume the fish. Mercury has been known for health related problems such as birth defects in humans and animals, and the near extinction of eagles in the Great Lakes region.[83]

text: The amount of raw sewage dumped into the waters was the primary focus of both the first Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement and federal laws passed in both countries during the 1970s. Implementation of secondary treatment of municipal sewage by major cities greatly reduced the routine discharge of untreated sewage during the 1970s and 1980s.[84] The International Joint Commission in 2009 summarized the change: "Since the early 1970s, the level of treatment to reduce pollution from waste water discharges to the Great Lakes has improved considerably. This is a result of significant expenditures to date on both infrastructure and technology, and robust regulatory systems that have proven to be, on the whole, quite effective."[85] The commission reported that all urban sewage treatment systems on the U.S. side of the lakes had implemented secondary treatment, as had all on the Canadian side except for five small systems.[citation needed]

text: However contrary to federal laws in both countries, those treatment system upgrades have not yet eliminated Combined sewer Overflow events.[citation needed] This describes when older sewerage systems, which combine storm water with sewage into single sewers heading to the treatment plant, are temporarily overwhelmed by heavy rainstorms. Local sewage treatment authorities then must release untreated effluent, a mix of rainwater and sewage, into local water bodies. While enormous public investments such as the Deep Tunnel projects in Chicago and Milwaukee have greatly reduced the frequency and volume of these events, they have not been eliminated. The number of such overflow events in Ontario, for example, is flat according to the International Joint Commission.[85] Reports about this issue on the U.S. side highlight five large municipal systems (those of Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, Milwaukee and Gary) as being the largest current periodic sources of untreated discharges into the Great Lakes.[86]

text: Phosphate detergents were historically a major source of nutrient to the Great Lakes algae blooms in particular in the warmer and shallower portions of the system such as Lake Erie, Saginaw Bay, Green Bay, and the southernmost portion of Lake Michigan. By the mid-1980s, most jurisdictions bordering the Great Lakes had controlled phosphate detergents,[87] resulting in sharp reductions in the frequency and extent of the blooms.[citation needed]

text: In 2013, news of a garbage patch of plastic pollution in the lakes was reported.[88]

text: History[edit]

text: Several Native American tribes inhabited the region since at least 1000 BC, after the end of the Wisconsin glaciation. The peoples of the Great Lakes traded with the Hopewell culture from around 1000 AD, as copper nuggets have been extracted from the region, and fashioned into ornaments and weapons in the mounds of Southern Ohio. The brigantine Le Griffon, which was commissioned by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, was built at Cayuga Creek, near the southern end of the Niagara River, and became the first known sailing ship to travel the upper Great Lakes on August 7, 1679.[89]

text: The Rush–Bagot Treaty signed in 1818, after the War of 1812 and the later Treaty of Washington eventually led to a complete disarmament of naval vessels in the Great Lakes. Nonetheless, both nations maintain coast guard vessels in the Great Lakes.

text: During settlement, the Great Lakes and its rivers were the only practical means of moving people and freight. Barges from middle North America were able to reach the Atlantic Ocean from the Great Lakes when the Welland canal opened in 1824 and the later Erie Canal opened in 1825.[90] By 1848, with the opening of the Illinois and Michigan Canal at Chicago, direct access to the Mississippi River was possible from the lakes.[91] With these two canals an all-inland water route was provided between New York City and New Orleans.

text: The main business of many of the passenger lines in the 19th century was transporting immigrants. Many of the larger cities owe their existence to their position on the lakes as a freight destination as well as for being a magnet for immigrants. After railroads and surface roads developed, the freight and passenger businesses dwindled and, except for ferries and a few foreign cruise ships, has now vanished. The immigration routes still have an effect today. Immigrants often formed their own communities and some areas have a pronounced ethnicity, such as Dutch, German, Polish, Finnish, and many others. Since many immigrants settled for a time in New England before moving westward, many areas on the U.S. side of the Great Lakes also have a New England feel, especially in home styles and accent.

text: Since general freight these days is transported by railroads and trucks, domestic ships mostly move bulk cargoes, such as iron ore, coal and limestone for the steel industry. The domestic bulk freight developed because of the nearby mines. It was more economical to transport the ingredients for steel to centralized plants rather than try to make steel on the spot. Grain exports are also a major cargo on the lakes.

text: In the 19th century and early 20th centuries, iron and other ores such as copper were shipped south on (downbound ships), and supplies, food, and coal were shipped north (upbound). Because of the location of the coal fields in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and the general northeast track of the Appalachian Mountains, railroads naturally developed shipping routes that went due north to ports such as Erie, Pennsylvania and Ashtabula, Ohio.

text: Because the lake maritime community largely developed independently, it has some distinctive vocabulary. Ships, no matter the size, are called boats. When the sailing ships gave way to steamships, they were called steamboats—the same term used on the Mississippi. The ships also have a distinctive design (see Lake freighter). Ships that primarily trade on the lakes are known as lakers. Foreign boats are known as salties. One of the more common sights on the lakes has been since about 1950 the 1,000‑by‑105-foot (305-by-32-meter), 78,850-long-ton (80,120-metric-ton) self-unloader. This is a laker with a conveyor belt system that can unload itself by swinging a crane over the side.[92] Today, the Great Lakes fleet is much smaller in numbers than it once was because of the increased use of overland freight, and a few larger ships replacing many small ones.

text: During World War II, the risk of submarine attacks against coastal training facilities motivated the United States Navy to operate two aircraft carriers on the Great Lakes, USS Sable (IX-81) and USS Wolverine (IX-64). Both served as training ships to qualify naval aviators in carrier landing and takeoff.[93] Lake Champlain briefly became the sixth Great Lake of the United States on March 6, 1998, when President Clinton signed Senate Bill 927. This bill, which reauthorized the National Sea Grant Program, contained a line declaring Lake Champlain to be a Great Lake. Not coincidentally, this status allows neighboring states to apply for additional federal research and education funds allocated to these national resources.[94] Following a small uproar, the Senate voted to revoke the designation on March 24 (although New York and Vermont universities would continue to receive funds to monitor and study the lake).[95]

text: In the early years of the 21st century, water levels in the Great Lakes were a concern.[96] Researchers at the Mowat Centre said that low levels could cost $19bn by 2050.[97]

text: Economy[edit]

text: Shipping[edit]

text: Except when the water is frozen during winter, more than 100 lake freighters operate continuously on the Great Lakes,[98] which remain a major water transport corridor for bulk goods. The Great Lakes Waterway connects all the lakes; the smaller Saint Lawrence Seaway connects the lakes to the Atlantic oceans. Some lake freighters are too large to use the Seaway, and only operate on the Waterway and lakes.

text: In 2002, 162 million net tons of dry bulk cargo were moved on the Lakes. This was, in order of volume: iron ore, grain and potash.[99] The iron ore and much of the stone and coal are used in the steel industry. There is also some shipping of liquid and containerized cargo but most container ships cannot pass the locks on the Saint Lawrence Seaway because the ships are too wide.

text: Only four bridges are on the Great Lakes other than Lake Ontario because of the cost of building structures high enough for ships to pass under. The Blue Water Bridge is, for example, more than 150 feet high and more than a mile long.[98]

text: Drinking water and compact[edit]

text: The Great Lakes are used to supply drinking water to tens of millions of people in bordering areas. This valuable resource is collectively administered by the state and provincial governments adjacent to the lakes, who have agreed to the Great Lakes Compact to regulate water supply and use.

text: Recreation[edit]

text: Tourism and recreation are major industries on the Great Lakes.[100] A few small cruise ships operate on the Great Lakes including a couple of sailing ships. Sport fishing, commercial fishing, and Native American fishing represent a U.S.$4 billion a year industry with salmon, whitefish, smelt, lake trout, bass and walleye being major catches. Many other water sports are practiced on the lakes such as yachting, sea kayaking, diving, kitesurfing, powerboating, and lake surfing.

text: The Great Lakes Circle Tour is a designated scenic road system connecting all of the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River.[101]

text: Great Lakes passenger steamers[edit]

text: From 1844 through 1857, palace steamers carried passengers and cargo around the Great Lakes.[102] In the first half of the 20th century large luxurious passenger steamers sailed the lakes in opulence.[103] The Detroit and Cleveland Navigation Company had several vessels at the time and hired workers from all walks of life to help operate these vessels.[104] Several ferries currently operate on the Great Lakes to carry passengers to various islands, including Isle Royale, Drummond Island, Pelee Island, Mackinac Island, Beaver Island, Bois Blanc Island (Ontario), Bois Blanc Island (Michigan), Kelleys Island, South Bass Island, North Manitou Island, South Manitou Island, Harsens Island, Manitoulin Island, and the Toronto Islands. As of 2007, four car ferry services cross the Great Lakes, two on Lake Michigan: a steamer from Ludington, Michigan, to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and a high speed catamaran from Milwaukee to Muskegon, Michigan, one on Lake Erie: a boat from Kingsville, Ontario, or Leamington, Ontario, to Pelee Island, Ontario, then onto Sandusky, Ohio, and one on Lake Huron: the M.S. Chi-Cheemaun [105] runs between Tobermory and South Baymouth, Manitoulin Island, operated by the Owen Sound Transportation Company. An international ferry across Lake Ontario Rochester, New York, to Toronto ran during 2004 and 2005, but is no longer in operation.

text: Shipwrecks[edit]

text: The large size of the Great Lakes increases the risk of water travel; storms and reefs are common threats. The lakes are prone to sudden and severe storms, in particular in the autumn, from late October until early December. Hundreds of ships have met their end on the lakes. The greatest concentration of shipwrecks lies near Thunder Bay (Michigan), beneath Lake Huron, near the point where eastbound and westbound shipping lanes converge.

text: The Lake Superior shipwreck coast from Grand Marais, Michigan, to Whitefish Point became known as the "Graveyard of the Great Lakes". More vessels have been lost in the Whitefish Point area than any other part of Lake Superior.[106] The Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve serves as an underwater museum to protect the many shipwrecks in this area.

text: The first ship to sink in Lake Michigan was Le Griffon, also the first ship to sail the Great Lakes. Caught in a 1679 storm while trading furs between Green Bay and Michilimacinac, she was lost with all hands aboard.[107] Its wreck may have been found in 2004,[108] but a wreck subsequently discovered in a different location was also claimed in 2014 to be Le Griffon.[109]

text: The largest and last major freighter wrecked on the lakes was the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, which sank on November 10, 1975, just over 17 miles (30 km) offshore from Whitefish Point on Lake Superior. The largest loss of life in a shipwreck out on the lakes may have been that of Lady Elgin, wrecked in 1860 with the loss of around 400 lives on Lake Michigan. In an incident at a Chicago dock in 1915, the SS Eastland rolled over while loading passengers, killing 841.

text: In August 2007, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society announced that it had found the wreckage of Cyprus, a 420-foot (130 m) long, century-old ore carrier. Cyprus sank during a Lake Superior storm on October 11, 1907, during its second voyage while hauling iron ore from Superior, Wisconsin, to Buffalo, New York. The entire crew of 23 drowned, except one, Charles Pitz, who floated on a life raft for almost seven hours.[110]

text: In June 2008, deep sea divers in Lake Ontario found the wreck of the 1780 Royal Navy warship HMS Ontario in what has been described as an "archaeological miracle".[111] There are no plans to raise her as the site is being treated as a war grave.

text: In June 2010, L.R. Doty was found in Lake Michigan by an exploration diving team led by dive boat Captain Jitka Hanakova from her boat the Molly V.[112] The ship sank in October 1898, probably attempting to rescue a small schooner, Olive Jeanette, during a terrible storm.

text: Still missing are the two last warships to sink in the Great Lakes, the French minesweepers, Inkerman and Cerisoles, which vanished in Lake Superior during a blizzard in 1918. 78 lives were lost making it the largest loss of life in Lake Superior and the greatest unexplained loss of life in the Great Lakes.

text: Related articles

text:
List of shipwrecks in the Great Lakes
Index: Shipwrecks in the Great Lakes
Great Storms of the North American Great Lakes
Great Lakes Storm of 1913

text: Legislation[edit]

text: In 1872, a treaty gave access to the St. Lawrence River to the United States, and access to Lake Michigan to the Dominion of Canada.[113] The International Joint Commission was established in 1909 to help prevent and resolve disputes relating to the use and quality of boundary waters, and to advise Canada and the United States on questions related to water resources. Concerns over diversion of Lake water are of concern to both Americans and Canadians. Some water is diverted through the Chicago River to operate the Illinois Waterway but the flow is limited by treaty. Possible schemes for bottled water plants and diversion to dry regions of the continent raise concerns. Under the U.S. "Water Resources Development Act",[114] diversion of water from the Great Lakes Basin requires the approval of all eight Great Lakes governors through the Great Lakes Commission, which rarely occurs. International treaties regulate large diversions.

text: In 1998, the Canadian company Nova Group won approval from the Province of Ontario to withdraw 158,000,000 U.S. gallons (600,000 m3) of Lake Superior water annually to ship by tanker to Asian countries. Public outcry forced the company to abandon the plan before it began. Since that time, the eight Great Lakes Governors and the Premiers of Ontario and Quebec have negotiated the Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement[115] and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact[116] that would prevent most future diversion proposals and all long-distance ones. The agreements strengthen protection against abusive water withdrawal practices within the Great Lakes basin. On December 13, 2005, the Governors and Premiers signed these two agreements, the first of which is between all ten jurisdictions. It is somewhat more detailed and protective, though its legal strength has not yet been tested in court. The second, the Great Lakes Compact, has been approved by the state legislatures of all eight states that border the Great Lakes as well as the U.S. Congress, and was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 3, 2008.[117]

text: The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, described as "the largest investment in the Great Lakes in two decades,"[118] was funded at $475 million in the U.S. federal government's Fiscal Year 2011 budget, and $300 million in the Fiscal Year 2012 budget. Through the program a coalition of federal agencies is making grants to local and state entities for toxics cleanups, wetlands and coastline restoration projects, and invasive species-related projects.

text: Coast Guard live fire exercises[edit]

text: In 2006, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) proposed a plan to designate 34 areas in the Great Lakes, at least 5 mi (8 km) offshore, as permanent safety zones for live fire machine gun practice. In August 2006, the plan was published in the Federal Register. The USCG reserved the right to hold target practice whenever the weather allowed with a two-hour notice. These firing ranges would be open to the public when not in use. In response to requests from the public, the Coast Guard held a series of public meetings in nine U.S. cities to solicit comment. During these meetings many people voiced concerns about the plan and its impact on the environment.[119] On December 18, 2006, the Coast Guard announced its decision to withdraw the entire proposal.[120] Officials said they would look into alternative ammunition, modifying the proposed zones and have more public dialogue before proposing a new plan.[121]


document_title: List of Major League Baseball mascots

question_text: when was lou seal first introduced as the giants mascot

question_tokens: when was lou seal first introduced as the giants mascot

root

text: List of Major League Baseball mascots

text: Current mascots[edit]

text: Ace (Toronto Blue Jays)[edit]

text: Ace is the official mascot of the Toronto Blue Jays. He, along with his female counterpart, "Diamond" replaced former mascot BJ Birdie before the 2002 season as a mascot duo.  Like his predecessor, Ace resembles a large blue jay.  The mascot's name is baseball slang for a team's top starting pitcher (the "ace" of the staff, such as former Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay).

tag: p

text: In 2004, Ace became the sole mascot of the team after Diamond was removed by the Blue Jays prior to the start of the season.  In 2011, Blue Jays fans were introduced to his younger brother Junior (see below).

text: Barrelman (Milwaukee Brewers)[edit]

text: Barrelman (aka "Owgust" and "Beer Barrel Man"), is an auxiliary mascot for the Milwaukee Brewers. He was resurrected and upgraded to be a costumed performing character in 2015, having previously only been an official logo image and since 1977 only appearing on special materials.

text: Baxter the Bobcat (Arizona Diamondbacks)[edit]

text: Baxter the Bobcat is the mascot of the Arizona Diamondbacks.[1]  His full name is D. Baxter the Bobcat, and he became the mascot in 2000.  The mascot was created by Brantley Bell (who is currently an infielder in the Cincinnati Reds minor league system), the son of Jay Bell, one of the players on the Diamondbacks 1998 inaugural season roster. Brantley came up with the name from two sources. "D. Baxter" comes from the team's nickname, "the D-Backs".  The bobcat is from the original name of the stadium where the Diamondbacks play. Today called Chase Field, it was once called Bank One Ballpark, or "BOB" for short. The bobcat is a wild cat native to Arizona.

text: Bernie Brewer (Milwaukee Brewers)[edit]

text: Bernie Brewer is the official mascot for the Milwaukee Brewers.

text: The Bernie Brewer character became the team's mascot in 1973, appearing as a cheerful man with a big mustache.  A beer-barreled chalet was built for him inside the stadium where he led the crowd cheering.  Following each home run and every victory by the Brewers, he would slide down and plunge himself into a huge beer mug in celebration.  He was joined by a companion Bonnie Brewer, who would playfully swat at the backside of the opposing team's third base coach with a broom as the field crew swept the base paths.

text: Bernie Brewer was a fixture at Brewers home games until 1984, when the Brewers re-built the bleachers, replacing the chalet with a sound tower and sending Bernie into retirement. By popular demand, Bernie Brewer came out of his retirement in 1993, when the fans voted for his return.  Bernie was brought back not as just a mustachioed man in lederhosen, but a full-body costume of a man, including large foam head. The chalet was then rebuilt (it had been in storage on the third base side under the box seats) above the left-center field bleachers.  The original beer mug that Bernie used to slide into is still in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as part of the Lakefront Brewery, Inc. tour.

text: Billy The Marlin (Miami Marlins)[edit]

text: Billy The Marlin is the official mascot of the Miami Marlins. Resembling a marlin with limbs, he can be seen at every Marlins home game. He competes in a waterboat race, which is a computer-animated video shown on the screen, during each game.  The name, picked by original team owner Wayne Huizenga, is derived from the fact that a marlin is a billfish, and Huizenga wanted a name that was different from the baseball type names of other mascots (like Slider and Sluggerrr) and one that children could remember more easily.  On Mothers Day and Father's Day, Billy is joined by his parents, Bill Sr. and Betty the Marlin.  Billy is also seen at games dancing with kids on the field in between innings and making special appearances in the Fan Zone.

text: On Opening Day of 1997, the year the Marlins won their first World Series Championship, a Navy SEAL who was parachuting into Hard Rock Stadium (then known as Pro Player Stadium) as Billy, lost the head in mid-air.  While the crowd was unaware of the problem, media outlets had been alerted to Billy's parachute entrance.  When he didn't arrive, the media ran with the story, getting national attention and leading to ESPN's Dan Patrick's nightly quote, "Bring me the head of Billy the Marlin!"

text: The original Billy The Marlin was John Routh, who spent 10 years (1993–2002) entertaining Marlins fans.[2] Routh previously portrayed the University of Miami mascots, Sebastian the Ibis and The Miami Maniac from 1983–1993, and prior to that, Cocky for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks.

text: Blooper (Atlanta Braves)[edit]

text: Blooper is the new mascot of the Atlanta Braves.[3]

text: Clark (Chicago Cubs)[edit]

text: On January 13, 2014, the Chicago Cubs announced that Clark, a "young, friendly Cub", would become the team's first official mascot in modern history. Clark was named after Clark Street, since the Cubs home field, Wrigley Field, is famously located at "Clark and Addison".[4]

text: D-backs Luchador (Arizona Diamondbacks)[edit]

text: The D-backs Luchador is the second mascot of the Arizona Diamondbacks. After a giveaway of masks in June 2012 proved popular, the team introduced the Luchador as a permanent character in July 2013. He wears a black cape, red pants, and a mask patterned after the team's logo. Meant to represent the team's Hispanic fans, the Luchador also wrestles with Club Deportivo Coloseo at the Glendale Park and Swap.[5]

text: Dinger (Colorado Rockies)[edit]

text: Dinger is the official mascot of the Colorado Rockies. He is an anthropomorphic purple triceratops. The choice of a dinosaur, specifically this type, was inspired by the discovery of a number of dinosaur fossils—most notably a 7-foot-long (2.1 m), 1,000-pound (450 kg) triceratops skull—at Coors Field during its construction. His name "Dinger" is one of many slang terms for a home run.

text: Dinger is often seen on the field before and after the game and roaming around the stadium during the game.  When Rockies hitters are at bat in the late innings of a game, he often dances in the seats immediately behind home plate in an effort to distract opposing pitchers, sitting down only immediately before the beginning motion of each pitch.[6][7][8]

text:
Dinger has been the Colorado Rockies biggest fan since he first hatched from his egg at Mile High Stadium on April 16, 1994 [1]. Dinger works year-round promoting physical fitness and literacy for thousands of elementary school students in the Rocky Mountain Region. He acts out his own Dinger Story for the kids. He also makes appearances at Children's Hospital Colorado and Denver Health. He makes appearances at Rockies events including the 5K Home Run, and the Rockies Rookies Kids Fan Club.[2]
He is a purple dinosaur with a Rockies jersey on with black sneakers.

text: DJ Kitty (Tampa Bay Rays)[edit]

text: DJ Kitty is the new mascot for the Tampa Bay Rays. DJ Kitty comes from the Internet sensation of a kitty playing a DJ System and dancing to the music. The cat wears a Tampa Bay Rays ring, wears chains, and wears his Rays hat backwards. As of 2013, DJ Kitty is the new secondary mascot for the Rays along with Raymond.

text: Fredbird (St. Louis Cardinals)[edit]

text: Fredbird is the official mascot for the St. Louis Cardinals.[9] He is an anthropomorphic cardinal wearing the team's uniform.  A person dressed up as Fredbird can often be found entertaining young children during baseball games at Busch Stadium. His name is derived from "Redbird", a synonym for the cardinal bird and for the Cardinals themselves.

text: Fredbird was introduced in 1979 by the Cardinals, then owned by Anheuser-Busch, to entertain younger fans at the games. He quickly became popular with fans for his dancing, habit of "beaking" the heads of supporters, and for throwing T-shirts into the stands. In later years, he has been joined by "Team Fredbird", a group of young women employed by the club who help him with his T-shirt toss and occasionally in other duties. He is one of baseball's best-known mascots, and he makes hundreds of appearances year-round in the St. Louis area.

text: Gapper (Cincinnati Reds)[edit]

text: Gapper is one of the current mascots for the Cincinnati Reds.[10] He was first introduced as the furry companion to Mr. Red, the long-time mascot in the winter of 2002 as the franchise was preparing to move to their new home, Great American Ball Park. The mascot was created by David Raymond's Raymond Entertainment Group, the founder being the man inside the Phillie Phanatic costume from 1973 to 1993.  A young fan won two season tickets for submitting the winning name; he is named after the "gap" in the stands in the seats of Great American, which provides a view into and out of the stadium.  The term "gapper" is also a slang phrase for a batted ball which falls into the "gap" between outfielders (generally a ball hit to either left-center or right-center field which rolls to the fence).  According to a recent cincinnati.com poll of the Red's four mascots, he is the least popular amongst fans. He received 6% of the voting, Mr. Red received 23%, Rosie Red received 34%, and Mr. Redlegs received 47%.

text: Junior (Toronto Blue Jays)[edit]

text: Junior is the younger brother of Ace. He made his mascot debut in 2011. He is half the size of Ace so he wears the number 1/2. He only appears on Jr.Jays Saturdays. In the game, he and Ace stand in two different aisles and they run in slow motion and hug.

text: Lou Seal (San Francisco Giants)[edit]

text: Lou Seal is the official mascot of the San Francisco Giants. "Born" on July 25, 1996,  Luigi Francisco Seal[11] has been a regular part of all Giants home games, as well as numerous events in San Francisco and around the United States, ever since. Although his name (a play on the name "Lucille") is a bit ambiguous, he is indeed "officially" male and the person inside the costume is a man.[12] Species-wise, Lou Seal is a reference to the San Francisco Seals, the baseball club that was a mainstay of the Pacific Coast League from 1903 until 1957.

text: In a contest held by the Giants where fans were asked for ideas, six people submitted the name "Lou Seal." These lucky fans were then invited to a game that season where they sat in a luxury box and got to meet the newly named mascot, and one of them was randomly chosen to throw out the first pitch. In 2008 Forbes Magazine named Lou Seal the best mascot in sports.[citation needed] He has had 1,150 consecutive home-game appearances,[13] and is one of the four subjects followed in the second season of the Hulu series Behind the Mask.[14]

text: Lou Seal also made occasional appearances at the Giants' High-A minor league team, the San Jose Giants. This practice ended in 2006 when the San Jose Giants introduced their own mascot named Gigante.

text: Mariner Moose (Seattle Mariners)[edit]

text:
The Mariner Moose is the mascot of the Seattle Mariners. In 1990, a contest for children 14 and under was held to select a mascot, after 2500 entries the club chose the "Mariner Moose" The Moose made his debut on April 13, 1990 dancing on the field at the Kingdome.
During the 1995 American League Division Series between the M's and the New York Yankees, the Moose gained national attention when he broke his ankle crashing into the outfield wall at the Kingdome while being towed on inline skates behind an ATV in the outfield. Inline skating behind an ATV would continue to be a fan favorite until 1999, when the team moved to Safeco Field and a natural grass playing surface. Since then, the Moose has become quite adept at driving his own ATV around Safeco Field's warning track while performing various tricks and having water coolers emptied on him by bullpen pitchers.

text: The Moose makes several hundred appearances in the community each year in addition to Mariners home games, at everything from hospitals to wedding receptions. The Mariner Moose was featured on the ballot for the Mascot Hall of Fame in 2006 and 2007.  He also nearly ran over Coco Crisp with his ATV in 2007, raising the ire of Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell.

text: Mr. Met (New York Mets)[edit]

text: Mr. Met is the official mascot of the New York Mets, and MLB's first live action mascot (April 14, 1964). He is a baseball-headed humanoid being who wears a Mets cap and uniform. He can be seen at Citi Field (and previously at Shea Stadium) during Mets home games. He also has appeared in several commercials as part of ESPN's This is SportsCenter campaign, and was selected in 2007 into the Mascot Hall of Fame. Starting in 2014, Mr. Met appeared as a sleeve patch on the Mets' blue alternate home and road jerseys.

text: Mrs. Jan Met (New York Mets)[edit]

text: Mrs. Jan Met (or Lady Met) is the female version of Mr. Met, the mascot of the New York Mets. She is a baseball-headed humanoid being, has brown hair in a ponytail and wears a Mets cap and uniform.

text: Mrs. Met first appeared at games in 1975 before disappearing into obscurity. She appeared with Mr. Met in a 2003 "This is SportsCenter" commercial. The Mets reintroduced Mrs. Met in mascot form in 2013.[15]

text: Mr. Red (Cincinnati Reds)[edit]

text: Mr. Red (or The Running Man) was the first mascot of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team. He is a humanoid figure dressed in a Reds uniform, with an oversized baseball for a head.

text:
Mr. Red made his first appearance on a Reds uniform as a sleeve patch in 1955. The patch featured Mr. Red's head, clad in an old-fashioned white pillbox baseball cap with red stripes. The following season, 1956, saw the Reds adopt sleeveless jerseys, and Mr. Red was eliminated from the home uniform. He was moved to the left breast of the road uniform, and remained there for one season before being eliminated entirely. In 1999, the Reds re-designed their uniform and "Mr. Red" was reintroduced as a sleeve patch on the undershirt.
A human version of the mascot didn't appear until the early 1980s. The costumed mascot disappeared in the late 1980s but was reintroduced in 1997. The humanoid Mr. Red retired in 2007 leaving Gapper, Rosie Red and Mr. Redlegs to take his place.  A new version of Mr. Red was unveiled at Redsfest 2012; the new mascot will be on the field with Mr. Redlegs, Gapper and Rosie Red.

text: Mr. Redlegs (Cincinnati Reds)[edit]

text: Mr. Redlegs is a mascot of the Cincinnati Reds.  He was reintroduced in 2007 to play a supporting role, along with Mr. Red. Mr. Redlegs appeared as a patch on the Reds' uniforms for two seasons in the 1950s (the team briefly assumed the nickname as a response to the second red scare).  In 2008, Mr. Redlegs gained national notoriety by falling off of an ATV during pre-game antics.  This caused the large, baseball-shaped head to fall off of the Mr. Redlegs costume, exposing the head of the person inside the costume. He was seen a few days later wearing a neck brace as a joke.

text: Orbit (Houston Astros)[edit]

text: Orbit is the mascot of the Houston Astros.  Orbit represents a green space alien with antennae, in keeping with the Space City theme of the city of Houston.  Originally serving as team mascot from 1990 until 1999, he was replaced by a new mascot, Junction Jack.

text: To coincide with the Astros' move to the American League West and unveiling of their new uniforms, caps, and logo, Orbit was reintroduced on November 2, 2012 to serve as the Astros' mascot once more for 2013 and beyond.

text: The Oriole Bird (Baltimore Orioles)[edit]

text: The Oriole Bird is the official mascot of the Baltimore Orioles and is a cartoon version of the bird of the same name. He was "hatched" out of a giant egg prior to the team's 1979 season opener at Memorial Stadium on April 6. According to Orioles.com, The Oriole Bird's favorite foods are "mostly bird seed, with occasional crab cake." The Oriole Bird's head was featured on the team's caps from 1966 until 1988, and again since 2012.

text: Paws (Detroit Tigers)[edit]

text: Paws is the mascot of the Detroit Tigers. He is a tiger who made his debut on May 5, 1995, in Tiger Stadium. He wears a Tigers hat and jersey; in previous years, Paws' jersey would have the current season's 2 digit abbreviation (i.e. '10 for 2010). However, in 2011 and 2016, Paws' number changed to 00, since the Tigers retired #11 and #16 in honor of Sparky Anderson and Hal Newhouser, respectively. His dress changes during Comerica Park theme nights such as a Santa Claus outfit during "Christmas in July" night, or an Elvis Presley-inspired costume for Elvis Night. He "resides" in Comerica Park to this day.

text: Phillie Phanatic (Philadelphia Phillies)[edit]

text: Phillie Phanatic is the official mascot of the Philadelphia Phillies. He is a large, furry, green bi-pedal creature with a cylindrical beak containing a tongue that sticks out. He was created by Harrison/Erickson, who thought that the team needed a mascot similar to The San Diego Chicken. The character is named for the fanatical fans of the team and, according to current owner and former team vice president, Bill Giles, was to bring more families to  Veterans Stadium, the Phillies' ballpark at the time, which had become noted for rowdiness and even violence at times. He can be seen riding around on an ATV at home games.  In 2008, Forbes named the Phanatic the 2nd best mascot in sports, behind San Francisco's Lou Seal.

text: The Pierogis (Pittsburgh Pirates)[edit]

text: The Pierogis are a series of six people dressed in pierogi costumes that race in a promotion between innings during Pittsburgh Pirates baseball games. The contestants in this race include:Jalapeño Hannah (green hat), Cheese Chester (yellow), Sauerkraut Saul (red), Oliver Onion (purple), Bacon Burt (orange) and Potato Pete (blue). It was inspired by the Milwaukee Brewers' Sausage Race. Another pierogi includes Pizza Penny (Red and White checkered) despite pizza not being normally ascossiated with pierogis.

text: Pirate Parrot (Pittsburgh Pirates)[edit]

text: The Pirate Parrot is the mascot of the Pittsburgh Pirates, debuting in 1979.  He is a large green parrot who wears a Pirates jersey and cap. The character of a parrot was derived from the classic story Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, most notably the one owned by Long John Silver named "Captain Flint".  He is often seen dancing on the dugouts and shooting hot-dogs from a cannon.

text: The Racing Presidents (Washington Nationals)[edit]

text: The Washington Nationals have a President Race during their games. The race debuted in 2006, and the four presidents on Mount Rushmore – George Washington ("George"), Thomas Jefferson ("Tom"), Abraham Lincoln ("Abe"), and Theodore Roosevelt ("Teddy") – have raced in every season since. In 2013, a fifth permanent contestant – William Howard Taft ("Bill") – was added. A sixth contestant was added in 2015 as part of a three-year marketing deal with the White House Historical Association, with the sixth slot changing annually based on the president featured by the association on its annual Christmas ornament. Calvin Coolidge ("Cal") was the first to fill the sixth slot, making his debut in July 2015. Herbert Hoover ("Herbie") replaced Coolidge for 2016. Each president has a uniform number corresponding to his place in the order in which they held the office (George – 1; Tom – 3; Abe – 16; Teddy – 26; William – 27; Cal – 30; Herbie – 31).

text: The Racing Presidents became an instant success upon their 2006 debut and make multiple public appearances every year. Notably, Abraham Lincoln appeared on the Illinois float for President Barack Obama's first inauguration parade on January 20, 2009.

text: A running gag with the Racing Presidents from 2006 to 2012 was that Teddy could never win a race, although he came close in 2012, after apparently defeating the other three presidents: While he was "Tebowing" near the finish line, George drove up in a car and whacked him in the back of the head with a baseball bat, knocking him out before he could finish the race. In October 2012, however, just before the regular season ended and shortly before the Nationals' first postseason run began, Teddy finally won his first race, and he then went on to win four straight.

text: The Nationals scrapped plans to replace Herbie in 2017 with the president to be featured on that year's White House Historical Association Christmas ornament. Instead, they announced before the 2017 season that Bill, Cal, and Herbie all had retired to Florida, where in 2017 they began a new series of Presidents Races among themselves during Nationals spring training games at FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach. Meanwhile, the Presidents Race at Nationals Park returned in 2017 to its original format of 2006-2012, featuring only George, Tom, Abe, and Teddy.

text: Rally Squirrel (St. Louis Cardinals)[edit]

text: Rally Squirrel is a secondary mascot for the St. Louis Cardinals. He is an anthropomorphic squirrel wearing the team's uniform with a number 11 (presumably for the 2011 postseason), and was introduced not long after an actual squirrel appeared on the field at Busch Stadium during the fifth inning of Game 4 of the 2011 National League Division Series. The squirrel ran across home plate as Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Roy Oswalt was delivering a pitch to Skip Schumaker, causing Oswalt to complain to the umpire that he was distracted by the squirrel. The video of the incident became very popular, and several local businesses in the St. Louis area began creating items to capitalize on the phenomenon.

text: A performer dressed up as Rally Squirrel took part in Cardinals fan rallies beginning with Game 3 of the 2011 National League Championship Series,[17] and was a companion of the existing Cardinals mascot Fredbird during the remainder of the postseason, assisting Fredbird and Team Fredbird with their duties entertaining the Cardinals fans at Busch Stadium. Since the Cardinals won the 2011 World Series, it is unknown if Rally Squirrel would become an official secondary mascot alongside Fredbird.

text: Rangers Captain (Texas Rangers)[edit]

text: Rangers Captain is the mascot for the Texas Rangers. Introduced in 2002, he is a palomino-style horse, dressed in the team's uniform.  He wears the uniform number "72" in honor of 1972, the year the Rangers relocated to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

text: Rangers Captain has multiple uniforms to match each of the variants the team has; his chosen uniform for the game matches the uniform choice made by the team for that particular game.  However, his outfit sometimes matches a theme the team is promoting; as an example, on April 24, 2010, he dressed up like Elvis Presley as part of an Elvis theme promotional night.

text: Raymond (Tampa Bay Rays)[edit]

text: Raymond is the mascot of the Tampa Bay Rays.[18] Raymond is a furry blue creature wearing a large pair of sneakers and a backwards baseball cap, completed with a Rays jersey.  He is described officially as a "seadog", having been born somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico. He is said to reside in a private condominium inside Tropicana Field.  Raymond was awarded an honorable mention in the GameOps.com Best Mascot contest for 2006.

text: Rosie Red (Cincinnati Reds)[edit]

text: Rosie Red is the female mascot of the Cincinnati Reds.  She was introduced in August 2008 as the new companion of Gapper and Mr. Redlegs, and her name comes from a female fan, Rosie Janis, who became famous in 1940 for cheering for the team, and is also derived from a female fan group founded to prevent the team from moving from Cincinnati in 1963 and is a philanthropic group associated with the team. The official group name comes from the acronym of "Rooters Organized to Stimulate Interest and Enthuiasm in the Cincinnati Reds."

text: The Sausages (Milwaukee Brewers)[edit]

text: The sausages are unofficial mascots of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are stylized in the appearance of sausages from around the world. When they were debuted in the mid-1990s there were only three: The German Bratwurst, The Polish Kielbasa, and The Italian Sausage. In the late 1990s the  Hot Dog became a racer. In 2006 a fifth sausage was debuted, The Spanish Chorizo. They are a favorite of fans and make sports highlights reels occasionally.

text: Screech (Washington Nationals)[edit]

text: Screech is the mascot of the Washington Nationals. He is a bald eagle who wears the home cap and jersey of the team. He was "hatched" on April 17, 2005 at the "Kids Opening Day" promotion at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium. A nine-year-old fourth grade student in Washington, Glenda Gutierrez, designed the mascot and won a contest sponsored by the team, explaining that it was "strong and eats almost everything." A new "matured" edition of the mascot was unveiled March 2, 2009. The Springfield Falcons, which played in the American Hockey League until they moved to Tucson in 2016, also had a mascot named Screech.

text: Slider (Cleveland Indians)[edit]

text: Slider is the mascot for the Cleveland Indians. He is a large, furry fuchsia-colored creature. He has a large yellow nose and shaggy yellow eyebrows.[19] He was created in 1990, inspired by the Phillie Phanatic.[20] He was best known for an injury during the 1995 American League Championship Series when he fell six feet off an outfield wall and tore knee ligaments.[citation needed] He was inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame in 2008.

text: Sluggerrr (Kansas City Royals)[edit]

text: Sluggerrr is the official mascot of the Kansas City Royals. The lion whose mane looks like a crown made his debut on April 5, 1996. The word slugger also refers to a powerful batter with a high percentage of extra base hits.  Sluggerrr is one of few mascots that has Facebook and Twitter accounts, both clearly marked on his homepage.

text: In 2009, a spectator was injured by a hot dog thrown into the stands by Sluggerrr as part of a between-innings promotion.  The spectator sued the Royals organization, claiming that they had been negligent.  A jury found that neither the team nor the fan were at fault, and awarded no damages.[21]

text: In 2017, Sluggerrr was inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame.

text: Southpaw (Chicago White Sox)[edit]

text: Southpaw is the mascot of the Chicago White Sox. His name is a reference to a left-hand pitcher and is also a reference to Chicago's South Side, where the team plays.  He was on a float for Illinois at Barack Obama's inauguration, along with the Washington Nationals racing president representation of Abraham Lincoln.[22]

text: Stomper (Oakland Athletics)[edit]

text: Stomper is the mascot of the Oakland Athletics. Created in 1997, he is an elephant who wears an A's uniform adorned with the number 00. Stomper has performed at several All-Star Games and has appeared in a Public Service Announcement discouraging the use of chewing tobacco.

text: The use of an elephant to symbolize the A's dates back to the early years of the franchise, when a group of Philadelphia businessmen, headed by industrialist Benjamin Shibe, became the team's first owners.  When asked to comment, John McGraw, manager of the New York Giants of the rival National League, said something to the effect that "Shibe had bought himself a white elephant."  In response, A's manager (and future owner) Connie Mack selected the elephant as the team symbol and mascot.  From time to time an illustration of an elephant has been featured on the Athletics uniform, including from 1988 to the present.

text: Swinging Friar (San Diego Padres)[edit]

text: The Swinging Friar is the mascot of the San Diego Padres.

text: The Swinging Friar has been a mascot with the team as early as 1958, when the Padres were still a member of the Pacific Coast League, a minor league baseball organization.  He was named after the Spanish Franciscan friars, who founded the Mission San Diego de Alcalá, around which the city of San Diego began to emerge in the 18th century.  The Padres joined Major League Baseball in 1969 and kept the popular mascot.  He was even on the team emblem until 1984.  Wanting a more "professional" image, the owners introduced a more corporate logo.  In 1996, he was brought back as a sleeve patch for the club's blue alternate jerseys, and though the team has changed its logo and colors since then, the Friar remains there to this day.

text: The Swinging Friar is a cartoon-like character, pudgy, balding, and always smiling.  He is dressed as a friar with a tonsure, sandals, a dark hooded cloak, and a rope around the waist. He swings a baseball bat; but reportedly, in some years he swings left-handed, in other years he swings right-handed, he may be ambidextrous, or even a switch hitter. On home game Sundays, the Friar wears a special camouflage cloak as the team honors the military background of San Diego with similar uniforms.  The Friar also rings a mission bell at home games immediately after a win.

text: Originally, The Swinging Friar was represented at the ballpark as a real man wearing a friar outfit.  Since his return, the character has been a full mascot costume.

text: Some in the past have confused The San Diego Chicken as the mascot of the Padres.  Although he does make appearances occasionally at San Diego sporting events, he has never been the official mascot of any San Diego sports team.

text: T. C. Bear (Minnesota Twins)[edit]

text: T. C. is the mascot for the Minnesota Twins.  He was first introduced to Minnesota on April 3, 2000. T. C. is loosely modeled[citation needed] after the Hamm's Beer Bear, a mascot used in advertisements for Hamm's Brewery, an early sponsor for the Twins. The "T. C." stands for the "Twin Cities", Minneapolis and St. Paul.[23] Prior to T.C., the mascot for the Minnesota Twins 1980–81 was a loon named "Twinkie".

text: Wally the Green Monster and Tessie (Boston Red Sox)[edit]

text: Wally the Green Monster is the official mascot for the Boston Red Sox.  His name is derived from the Green Monster nickname of the 37-foot (11 m) wall in left field at Fenway Park.  Wally debuted in 1997 to the chagrin of many older Red Sox fans, despite his popularity with children.

text: According to the Red Sox promotions department, Wally was a huge Red Sox fan who, in 1947, decided to move inside the left field wall of Fenway Park, since it "eats up" hits that would easily be home runs at other parks. Apparently, he was very shy and lived the life of a hermit for 50 years. In 1997, on the 50th anniversary of the Green Monster being painted green, he came out of the manual scoreboard and has been interacting with players and fans ever since.[24]

text: When the team began to grow out their beards as a trademark during their 2013 World Series run, Wally was given a long beard as well.

text: In January 2016, the Red Sox unveiled a new mascot named Tessie, Wally the Green Monster's little sister.[25]  Tessie is named after the song "Tessie", which has long been associated with the Red Sox.[26][27]

text: Former mascots[edit]

text: This is a list of former Major League Baseball mascots. Some of these mascots may still be used, but are not considered "official" mascots.

text: Astrojack and Astrodillo[edit]

text: Astrojack, an anthropomorphic rabbit, and Astrodillo, an anthropomorphic armadillo, were mascots for the Houston Astros in the 1980s. They wore the Astros' "rainbow" uniforms of that time, and were also the team's first mascots to circulate through the crowd. Before games and during breaks between innings, they would also race around the field on three-wheelers and perform skits with the Astrodome's house band, The Astronuts. The creator of Astrojack and Astrodillo, Logan Goodson, would go on to create a later Astros mascot, Junction Jack.

text: BJ Birdy[edit]

text: BJ Birdy served as the official mascot for the Toronto Blue Jays from 1979 to 1999.[28] He was ejected from a game in 1993 for "showing up" the umpire, after making gestures the umpire found offensive.[29][30] He was replaced in 1999 with Ace and Diamond. BJ was created and played by the same person, Kevin Shanahan, for his entire 20-year career as the Jays' mascot.  Shanahan lost 3 toes on his left foot in an automobile accident during the 1991 off season, but managed to return as the Jays mascot, missing only the first home game of the season.

text: Bonnie Brewer[edit]

text: Bonnie Brewer is a former official mascot for the Milwaukee Brewers, appearing at Milwaukee County Stadium from 1973 to 1979. Bonnie was portrayed as a young blonde woman in a gold blouse and short blue lederhosen, wearing a baseball cap and frequently carrying a blue-and-gold broom which she would use to sweep the bases.

text: Bonnie was first introduced as the female companion to the Brewers' mascot Bernie Brewer. Bernie and Bonnie were created by then-team vice president Dick Hackett as part of an effort to create a lively atmosphere at County Stadium, which also included hiring organist Frank Charles to play a Wurlitzer during the games. As Hackett remembers it, Bernie and Bonnie were added over the objections of team owner Bud Selig.

text: Bonnie was noted mainly for her colorful antics during the seventh-inning stretch. As the grounds crew swept the infield, Bonnie wielded her signature broom, sweeping off each base in turn. After sweeping third base, she would playfully swat the opposing team's third-base coach on the backside with her broom, following it up with a kiss on his cheek.

text: Bonnie was discontinued after the 1979 season, although no clear reason has ever been given for her "firing". Bernie Brewer was discontinued as a mascot in 1984, although he was brought back as a costumed mascot in 1993, complete with full-body costume and large foam head. Bonnie Brewer returned as part of the nostalgia-heavy final home stand at County Stadium, September 18–28, 2000. As of  2008[update], Bonnie is part of the Brewers' "Retro Fridays" promotions at Miller Park, incorporating the traditional base sweeping as well as dancing with Bernie on Bernie's Dugout during the fans' singing of the "Beer Barrel Polka" in the seventh inning stretch.

text: Braves Bleacher Creature[edit]

text: The Braves Bleacher Creature was a mascot for the Atlanta Braves major league baseball team during the late 1970s. It featured green shaggy fur with a Braves cap and logo on top. The word Braves was written across its chest in big red letters. It had a permanent toothless smile. The mascot usually roamed the stands from time to time during home games and was intended more for the entertainment of younger fans.

text: The mascot was costumed by Alan Stensland, then a student at Georgia Tech. Stensland was working as an usher at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium when he was approached to wear the costume. The outfit required someone who was 5"8" to 5'10" tall, and Alen met the height and shoe size requirements. Alen recalls having one of his costume's eyes removed by a youngster on his first night out. They also attempted to bust his kneecaps on bat night. During the 1977 season, the mascot made some 250 appearances at games, parties, and parades.

text: Stensland was only 18 at the time he first donned the costume. The most intense problem he had was the heat. With the added humidity, a really "funky smell" permeated the inside of the costume. Once Stensland graduated, he left the Braves organization, and the mascot was discontinued. The other Braves mascot, Chief Noc-A-Homa, continued on for several more years.

text: Charlie-O[edit]

text: Charlie-O the Mule was the mascot used by the Kansas City Athletics and Oakland A's from 1963 to 1976. The mule was named after their colorful owner at that time, Charles O. Finley.

text: When the A's moved to then heavily Democratic Missouri, where the official state animal is the mule, Warren Hearnes gave a mule to Finley for his barnyard menagerie at Municipal Stadium which also include sheep and goats that scampered up the hill behind right field.[31] The Municipal Stadium menagerie also included Warpaint, the horse mascot of the Kansas City Chiefs.  As questions swirled about whether Finley would be loyal to Missouri, he embraced the mule and removed the elephant from the A's logo and changed the A's colors from blue, red and white to green, gold, and white.

text: Finley took the sorrel 5-foot-tall (1.5 m) mule around the country, walking him into cocktail parties and hotel lobbies, and on one occasion even into the press room after a large feeding to annoy reporters.

text: Chester Charge[edit]

text: In April 1977 the Houston Astros introduced their very first mascot, Chester Charge.  Chester Charge was a 45-pound costume of a cartoon Texas cavalry soldier on a horse.  Chester appeared on the field at the beginning of each home game, during the seventh inning stretch and then ran around the bases at the conclusion of each win. At the blast of a bugle, the scoreboard would light up and the audience would yell, "Charge!"  The first Chester Charge was played by Steve Ross who was then an 18-year-old Senior High School student. The creation of Chester Charge and the (incredible for its day) scoreboard graphics were created by Ed Henderson.

text: Chief Noc-A-Homa[edit]

text: Chief Noc-A-Homa was the original mascot of the Atlanta Braves from the 1950s until 1986. The name was used for the "laughing Indian" sleeve patch worn on Braves jerseys. From at least the early 1960s, while still in Milwaukee County Stadium, until the early 1980s at Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium, this mascot "lived" in a teepee in an unoccupied section of the bleacher seats.

text: The teepee was involved in a bit of controversy in 1982 when the Braves, who were in first place in the National League West at the time, elected to remove the chief's home to provide more seating for the fans. The team dropped out of first when they lost 19 of 21 games after the removal. The teepee was returned to its spot and the team won the division.

text: Opposition to Native American mascots caused the Braves to retire Chief Noc-A-Homa and eventually replace him with Homer The Brave.

text: Crazy Crab[edit]

text: The Crazy Crab was a mascot of the San Francisco Giants for the 1984 season. As opposed to other mascots, Crazy Crab was meant as an "anti-mascot", satirizing on the mascot craze that was going on at the time.  Fans were encouraged to boo the mascot (played by actor Wayne Doba) and manager Frank Robinson appeared in a commercial with the crustacean where Robinson was restrained from attacking him.  This encouragement may have worked too well, as Giants fans regularly threw various dangerous objects at Crazy Crab, including beer bottles and batteries, and Crazy Crab's suit had to be reinforced with a fiberglass shell for protection.[32] The crab was so hated, players on both the Giants and even the opposition would throw rosin bags and other objects at the mascot.  Doba sued the San Diego Padres after two of their players (Kurt Bevacqua and Bruce Bochy) tackled him, causing injuries. The mascot lasted only one year and the Giants would not have another mascot until Lou Seal in 1996. The crab returned for the last game at Candlestick Park that the Giants played in 1999, and a bobblehead was given away with its likeness July 18, 2008 as the franchise celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in the Bay Area. There is even a website devoted to bringing back the Crazy Crab called Rehab The Crab [33] and now a Crazy Crab sandwich at AT&T Park. In 2014, Colin Hanks directed The Anti-Mascot, an ESPN 30 for 30 short about Crazy Crab.[34] On July 7, 2018, the Crazy Crab made its AT&T Park debut in honor of the Giants' Crazy Crab scarf giveaway. [35]

text: Dandy[edit]

text: Dandy was a short-lived mascot of the New York Yankees. He was a large pinstriped bird-like mascot that sported a Yankees hat.  He had a mustache that gave him an appearance similar to that of former Yankee pitcher Sparky Lyle.  His name was a play on the classic American folk song "Yankee Doodle Dandy".  He appeared at the start of the 1980 season and was so unpopular that he was quickly canceled.  Dandy was beaten up by fans who didn't want a mascot, and quit, leading to the elimination of the character as the Yankees chose not to replace him.

text: Along with this experiment, the Yankees briefly had mascots resembling ballpark food (plus Yankees hats on top) during the mid-1990s. Outside of these two occasions, the Yankees have not had an official mascot or cheerleading squad roam the stands or perform on the field, although the late Freddy Schuman has served as an unofficial promoter in the stands for decades, and a squirrel appearing on the field has brought inspiration as a mascot for the team.

text: General Admission[edit]

text: General Admission (a pun on the unreserved $4 seating section of the Astrodome) was a mascot for the Houston Astros in the mid-to-late 1990s.  He was played by a middle-aged white male and wore a traditional U.S. Cavalry uniform complete with gold stars he would affix to his uniform for every Astros home run hit in the dome. Whenever an Astro hit a home run, General Admission would fire a cannon from his outfield platform (that would often scare those seated near him). He was "killed off" at the end of the 1999 season when the Astros main mascot, Orbit, had him zapped by an alien ray gun on the penultimate game of the regular season.[citation needed]

text: Homer[edit]

text: Homer was the mascot of the Atlanta Braves.  He had a baseball shaped head, and looked a little like Mr. Met. Before having the baseball head however, Homer was the personification of the old "Screaming Warrior" logo the Braves used before dropping it in 1988.

text: Homer's full name was Homer the Brave. This was meant to sound like "home of the brave", the last words of the national anthem. Incidentally, "homer" was also the longtime nickname for a home run.

text: Junction Jack[edit]

text: Junction Jack was the mascot character for the Houston Astros from 2000 until 2012. He was a 7-foot-tall (2.1 m) rabbit dressed as a railroad engineer. His "relatives" were Junction Julie and Junction Jesse, although they were not certified official mascots by the Astros.

text: Junction Jack replaced Orbit when the team moved from the Astrodome to Minute Maid Park.  The new stadium was originally called "The Ballpark at Union Station" because it was built on the site of the historic railway station in downtown Houston.  In keeping with this new theme for the Astros, Orbit was replaced by the engineer.  The character was designed by Logan Goodson and named by Duone Byars, both former Astros employees.

text: After the 2012 season, Junction Jack, Julie, and Jesse were retired, with Orbit returning to his former place as the Astros mascot on November 2, 2012.  Orbit's return coincided with the Astros' move to the American League West as well as their new uniforms, caps, and logo.

text: Larry[edit]

text: Larry, a Bull Terrier, was the mascot for the Cleveland Naps in the 1910s, cared for by player Jack Graney.[36]

text: Lefty and Righty (Boston Red Sox)[edit]

text: Before their retirement in 2014, Lefty and Righty were each a large, red sock with arms, and before Tessie the Green Monster's introduction in 2016,[37] were the alternate mascot characters for the Boston Red Sox through the 2014 MLB season, joining Wally the Green Monster. They were seen on large outings with Wally such as the 2007 World Series Parade as well as weekend afternoon games at Fenway Park.

text: Mettle the Mule[edit]

text: Mettle the Mule was a mascot of the New York Mets for a short time starting in 1976.[38]  Originally named Arthur, Mettle was renamed as a result of a fan contest.  Mettle was kept in a pen near the Mets' bullpen in the right field of Shea Stadium.[39]

text: Philadelphia Phil and Philadelphia Phillis[edit]

text: Philadelphia Phil and Philadelphia Phillis served as mascots for the Phillies during the 1970s (1971–79). Their costumes invoked the city's revolutionary spirit from 1776. The pair reappeared with their replacement—the Phanatic—as the Phillies celebrated their final year at Veterans Stadium in 2003, including the final opening day and final game.

text: Rally[edit]

text: This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2017)

tag: table

text: Rally was one of the Atlanta Braves mascots. He was a bear-like mascot and looked like Wally the Green Monster.

text: Ribbie and Roobarb[edit]

text: Ribbie and Roobarb were a pair of mascots used by the Chicago White Sox from 1981 to 1988 at Comiskey Park. After the Sox were sold in 1981 by Bill Veeck to an ownership group headed by Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn, the new owners, who were eager to draw on the 1970s popularity of such mascots as The San Diego Chicken, hired the design firm responsible for creating the Phillie Phanatic to create a new mascot for the Sox.

text: They debuted the pair of furry mascots in September 1981, but the fans never accepted the two, ridiculing them throughout their tenure with the team—both because of their ludicrous appearance, which had no apparent connection with the team, and also because they were seen as an attempt to eliminate Andy the Clown, who had performed unofficially at Sox games since 1960. "Rhubarb" is longtime baseball slang for a heated on-field argument; Ribbie comes from the acronym RBI, for runs batted in. Often reports will say ribbie instead of RBI to describe it.

text: For most of the 1980s, the patrons at Comiskey Park ... were asked to endure the 'antics' of baseball's least appealing mascots, Ribbie and Roobarb. One looked like the dim-witted son of Oscar the Grouch, the other like a chartreuse anteater with a genetic flaw.[40]

text: After another failed mascot in the early 1990s was  Waldo the White Sox Wolf. The White Sox introduced a new mascot, Southpaw, in 2003.

text: Scoop and Clutch[edit]

text: Scoop and Clutch were mascots for the Anaheim Angels in the 1990s. The pair were bears wearing Angels uniforms complete with halos and wings for some time. They disappeared and were effectively replaced by the Rally Monkey in the 2002 season.

text: Souki[edit]

text: Souki was the mascot of the Montreal Expos, for only one season (1978), a figure in an Expos uniform with a giant baseball for a head. It was a variation of the popular mascot of the New York Mets called Mr. Met, but with one difference. The Expos' Mr. Met, called Souki, had odd antennas sticking out the sides of his head. He looked like something from outer space and the kids were afraid of him. During a game in late fall, a father attacked Souki after his child was afraid of him (and after a loss).

text: Twinkie the Loon[edit]

text: Twinkie was used by the Minnesota Twins for two seasons 1980 and 1981.

text: Youppi![edit]

text: Youppi! was the mascot of the Montreal Expos, before the franchise moved to Washington as the Washington Nationals. He is an orange furry creature with a white face originally leased in 1979 and designed by Bonnie Erickson, formerly a designer for some of Jim Henson's Muppets characters. Youppi! was so named resembling the phrase Yippee! or Hooray! in French. Youppi! was the first mascot to be thrown out of a Major League Baseball game: on August 23, 1989, in the 11th inning, while atop the visitors' dugout, Youppi! took a running leap, landing hard and noisily on its roof, and then sneaked into a front row seat. Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda complained to the umpires and Youppi! was ejected, though he later returned, confined to the home team's dugout roof. Youppi! was abandoned as a mascot after the Expos franchise moved to Washington in 2005, but was adopted by the NHL's Montreal Canadiens team on September 16, 2005, as potentially the first sports mascot to switch their allegiance from one sport to another, while remaining in the same city.

text: Teams without a mascot[edit]

text: The following MLB teams do not currently have an official mascot:

text:
New York Yankees
Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

text: Mascot store in various ballparks[edit]

text: The "Build-A-Bear Workshop" Make-Your-Own-Phanatic store, at Citizens Bank Park, was the first store of its kind in sports. Fans are invited to buy and stuff a Phillie Phanatic doll and dress it up. Following the 2010 season, the Build-A- Bear in Philadelphia was discontinued.  Similar shops have since been set up in Cincinnati (Great American Ball Park), Cleveland (Progressive Field), St. Louis (Busch Stadium), San Francisco (AT&T Park), and Washington, D.C. (Nationals Park). The Milwaukee Brewers also have in their main team store at Miller Park a whole section of their store consisting entirely of merchandise featuring the Racing Sausages, called The Meat Locker.

text: Gallery[edit]

text:
Gapper, one of the official mascots of the Cincinnati Reds.

The mascot of the Seattle Mariners, the Mariner Moose.

Sluggerrr, the team mascot of the Kansas City Royals.

Ace is the mascot for the Toronto Blue Jays.


document_title: National Technical Institute for the Deaf

question_text: when was national technical institute for the deaf established

text: History[edit]

text: The Institute was established in 1965 by the passage of Pub.L. 89–36.[2] The law also established a National Advisory Group to find a suitable site for the school. The Advisory Group considered proposals from Illinois State University, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Southern California, the State University of New York, the University of Colorado at Boulder and others before deciding on RIT as its home in 1966.[3] Three factors helped RIT secure the responsibility for the new Institute:

text:
RIT had just moved to a new campus, so the Institute would not find itself in second-hand quarters.
Rochester businessmen had enlightened views about disability in the workplace and were eager to share those views with the Advisory Group.
RIT had a trustee, Edmund Lyon, who had served as President of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and as trustee of the Rochester School for the Deaf.

tag: ul

text: The Institute was originally conceived as tuition-free, providing technical training as well as academic and communication skills training to 600 students annually.[4]

text: NTID admitted its first students in 1968.[5] Its establishment initially caused a great deal of friction on campus between hearing students and deaf students and RIT faculty and NTID faculty, the points of contention centering on the construction of new buildings for NTID, whether or not NTID faculty salaries were more generous than those of their peers, and communication differences between American Sign Language and American English.[6]

text: In the early 1980s, NTID's enrollment spiked as deaf students from the "rubella bulge" of the mid-1960s entered their college years.[7] Enrollment has been trending higher again in recent years; NTID's 2008 enrollment was its highest ever at 1,450, easily surpassing the previous record of 1,358 set in 1984.[8]

text: In 1993, NTID established its Center for Arts and Sciences to help boost the numbers of undecided (or underprepared) students who stay on to pursue a baccalaureate degree.[9] By 2005, this program had raised the proportion of NTID students in bachelor's degree programs to 41% (from 12% twenty years earlier).[10]

text: The history of NTID and the art, culture, technology, and language of the Deaf community are preserved in the RIT/NTID Deaf Studies Archive, which is housed on campus in the RIT Archive Collections at The Wallace Center.[11]

text:
Institute leaders

Name
Title
Tenure

D. Robert Frisina
Director
Senior Vice President
1967–1968
1977–1979

William E. Castle
Director
Vice President
1968–1982
1979–1994

Peter Pere
Dean
1982–1984

James J. DeCaro
Dean
1984–1998

Robert R. Davila
Vice President
1996–2006

T. Alan Hurwitz
Dean
President
1998 – December 31, 2009
2006 – December 31, 2009

James J. DeCaro
Interim president
January 1, 2010 – December 31, 2010

Gerard J. Buckley
President
January 1, 2011 – present