Clark is the official team
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 ...
of
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
's
Chicago Cubs. He was announced on January 13, 2014, as the first official mascot in the modern history of the Cubs franchise.
He was introduced that day at the Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center's pediatric developmental center along with some of the Cubs' top prospects such as
number one draft pick Kris Bryant
Kristopher Lee Bryant (born January 4, 1992), nicknamed "KB", is an American professional baseball third baseman and outfielder for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Chicago Cubs and San ...
and Albert Almora, Jorge Soler, Mike Olt and Eric Jokisch. Over a dozen Cubs prospects were attending the Cubs' Rookie Development Program that week.
The Cubs become the 27th team in Major League Baseball to have a mascot, leaving the
Los Angeles Angels
The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...
,
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
and
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...
as the remaining franchises without mascots.
[ According to the Cubs' press release, Clark is a response to fan demands (expressed via surveys and interviews)][ for more kid-friendly elements at Wrigley Field Cubs games to keep pace with games in other cities that have more to offer youth fans.][
In 2014, an image of Clark's genitals were accidentally aired on Comcast's SportsNet.]
Description
He is a "young, friendly Cub" who will wear a backwards baseball cap and greet fans entering Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...
, which is located at the corner of Clark Street (for which he is named) and Addison Street
Addison Street is a major east–west street on the north side of Chicago and its western suburbs. Wrigley Field is located at 1060 West Addison Street, which is the home of the Chicago Cubs.
Chicago communities
From east to west:
*Lake View (City ...
.[ North Clark Street borders the ]third base
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...
side of Wrigley Field.[
Clark can be seen in events throughout Chicago, especially in the northern part of the city which is the home district of the team, wearing home or batting practice uniforms with brown pants. For the 2018 Players' Weekend, he was given a special uniform similar to those worn by the team during the weekend with his Twitter handle on the back of his jersey. The tradition carried on through the 2019 season, in which Clark wore home whites for the weekend together with the Cubs players; previously he wore a special uniform during the 2019 Little League World Series Classic in which the Cubs played.
]
Activities
According to the various stories "The mascot also will greet fans at Wrigley Field before and during games, as well as assist kids in running the bases on Family Sundays. Families can visit Clark's Clubhouse at Wrigley."[
]
See also
*List of Major League Baseball mascots
This is a list of current and former Major League Baseball mascots, sorted alphabetically.
The tradition in the Major League Baseball mascot began with Mr. Met, introduced for the New York Mets when Shea Stadium opened in 1964. Although some masc ...
References
External links
Clark
at MLB.com
MLB.com is the official site of Major League Baseball and is overseen by Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P. (a subsidiary of MLB). MLB.com is a source of baseball-related information, including baseball news, statistics, and sports column ...
Bear mascots
Chicago Cubs
Major League Baseball team mascots
Mascots introduced in 2014
Culture of Chicago
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