The Mascot Hall of Fame, formally "The Mascot Hall of Fame Interactive Children's Museum", is a hall of fame for

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

sports

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

s. It was founded by David Raymond, who was the original Phillie Phanatic from 1978 to 1993. It was founded as an online-only hall, with an induction ceremony taking place each year in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, Pennsylvania. However, in September 2014, Raymond's mascot company signed a memorandum of understanding with the City of

Whiting, Indiana Whiting is a city located in the Chicago Metropolitan Area in Lake County, Indiana, which was founded in 1889. The city is located on the southern shore of Lake Michigan. It is roughly 16 miles from the Chicago Loop and two miles from Chicago' ...

, to develop a permanent Mascot Hall of Fame on the south shore of Lake Michigan. The museum opened December 26, 2018. Each year (beginning in 2005), mascots are elected into the Mascot Hall of Fame by the voting membership and an executive committee made up of performers, sports executives, and other individuals intimate with the mascot community. The mascots go through a nomination process that ends with the Executive Committee selecting six finalist in each category to be placed on the ballot for consideration. There is a public online vote that contributes a percentage of the final tally. In 2006, the Hall added a separate class to honor college mascots. The mission of the Mascot Hall of Fame is to honor mascot performers, performances, and programs that have positively affected their communities. The Mascot Hall of Fame has also partnered with the Boys and Girls Clubs and holds an online auction contributing to that cause. The main bulk of the items up for auction are pieces of signed

sports memorabilia Sports memorabilia refers to collectables associated with sports. Types include equipment, trophies, sports cards, autographs, photographs, etc. A multi-billion-dollar industry has grown up around the trading of sports memorabilia. Individual ...

donated by professional sports teams around the nation. To be eligible for the Mascot Hall of Fame, a mascot must have existed for a minimum of 10 years. They must also impact both their sport and community, inspire their fans, and consistently give memorable and groundbreaking performances.

Inductees

File:Phillies Phanatic5.jpg, The Phillie Phanatic with the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

Andrés Galarraga Andrés José Padovani Galarraga (; born June 18, 1961) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball first baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Montreal Expos (– and ), St. Louis Cardinals (), Colorado Rockies (–), At ...

in 1987 File:Big Red WKU Mascot Image.jpg, Western Kentucky's HOF mascot Big Red File:Aubie-01.jpg, Aubie, Auburn University's mascot File:Clutch-Halloween-2005.jpg, Clutch the Bear, the mascot of the Houston Rockets, on Halloween 2005 File:BuckinghamUBadger.jpg, Bucky Badger, University of Wisconsin-Madison's mascot File:Sparty.jpg, Sparty, Michigan State University's mascot File:Houston rockets mascot.JPG, Clutch in 2013 File:KC Wolf fourwheeler.JPG, K.C. Wolf, the mascot of the Kansas City Chiefs File:Brutus Buckeye in 2017.jpg, Brutus Buckeye, Ohio State University's mascot File:Nulilred.jpg, Lil' Red, University of Nebraska's mascot File:BennyBull.JPG, Benny the Bull, the mascot of the Chicago Bulls File:Mr_Met_Fenway.jpg, Mr. Met, the mascot of the New York Mets, at Fenway Park File:BTSmokey.JPG, Smokey IX, former mascot of the University of Tennessee

References

External links

Mascot Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mascot Hall Of Fame * Sports halls of fame Halls of fame in Indiana Museums established in 2005 Whiting, Indiana Museums in Lake County, Indiana