BirdZerk! is the performance name of Dominic Latkovski, a professional
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, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...
and entertainer known for appearances at
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, p ...
minor league baseball
Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...
games. He is most known for his skits that revolve around pranking players, umpires, bat boys, and managers and his acrobatic, synchronized dances with his sidekicks BirdZerk Jr., BabyZerk!, BallZerk!, and DogZerk!. In 2008, BirdZerk! was named as the top minor league baseball promotional act by
CNBC
CNBC is an American List of business news channels, business news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group, a unit of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The network broadcasts live business news and analysis programming during the morning, Day ...
sports business columnist
Darren Rovell
Darren Rovell (born June 30, 1978) is a sports business analyst who works for The Action Network. He previously worked for ESPN.
Early life and education
He attended and graduated cum laude from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, in ...
.Top Promotional "Acts" Of The Year For Minor League Baseball
History
BirdZerk! was created by brothers, Dominic and Brennan Latkovski in 1998. Dominic got his start in 1990 as Triple-A
Louisville Redbirds
Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...
mascot, Billy Bird. Over the course of the first two seasons, Dominic would have younger brother, Brennan, play the
antagonist
An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.MLB Trade Show and marketed the Billy Bird act. After success in their first year, Dominic says, " he Redbirdswanted me to sign a contract giving them a big portion of the money in exchange for using the name and the costume, and that's when we decided to break free and create a new character."MILB.com: Latkovski's passion fuels traveling act /ref> In came BirdZerk!, a neon green, yellow and purple bird based on the costume the brothers were accustomed to performing inside as their former act.
In 1991, the Louisville Redbirds were host to the Triple-A All-Star Game. Dominic and Brennan were able to showcase their Billybird act to the league's decision makers during the game. A year and a half later, Dominic and Brennan were able to obtain a booth at the 1992 MLB Trade Show after Dominic, age 21 at the time, parlayed a $6,000 profit from scalping Garth Brooks tickets. At the trade show, they marketed Billybird as the "New Bird on the Block" and began taking bookings. That first year, 48 shows were booked from teams all around the United States, Canada, and Mexico. This was in addition to the 72 home games Billybird appeared at that season.