The past two games for the San Francisco Giants have not been accompanied with their traditional mascot Lou the Seal. Instead of the original fabric Lou the Seal, there is now an inflatable costume for the mascot to wear instead.
This now inflatable mascot made its first appearance on Sunday, and reappeared at their game on Monday, but the original mascot made its well welcomed appearance after the first pitch, according to sophomore Ruby Quintos.
“I was at the Giants game on Sunday and I didnt even notice the change until the whole crowd made it a big deal,” said Quintos. “It was definitely weird to see after it being the same for so long to the original mascot was well welcomed back yesterday,”
Since 1996, Lou has been the face of the SF Giants, attending all of their home games as well as most of their team events. ‘Lou Seal’ is also a reference to the San Francisco Seals, the baseball club that was a centerpiece of the Pacific Coast League from 1903 and up until 1957 according to MascotFandom.
“I definitely do not want the mascot to be different because it has been the same for so long,” said sophomore Sophie Ignatova. “I’m not usually against change but the new version also just looks so strange in comparison,”
In an interview with SFGATE, Team Spokesperson Shana Daum said that the reason for the inflatable costume was to allow for additional stunts and tricks that aren’t possible with the normal costume. They do not plan to completely switch to the inflatable version but it will be used from time to time to switch things up.
“I wasn’t really sure of the reason why they would change something that has been a huge part of the team for so long,” said Junior Annika Carpenter. “I guess it’s good to make sure the person inside the costume is safe when doing stunts so it’s a good compromise to change the costume but keep the stunts,”
This is not the first time an inflatable mascot has been introduced to the sports world, according to MascotsFandom. The NBA has introduced both before, but this was the first time a complete switch had happened in the MLB. Although the Phillies once had multiple inflatable costume versions of their mascot, Phillie Phanatic, there was no replacement whatsoever.
“I think it could end up being an interesting idea,” said Quintos. “It will just definitely take some time getting used to because of how long it has been the same for.”
