Surf through the mascot history of Houston’s pro sports teams.
Guys in form-fitting spandex suits making fabulous trick dunks. Blue bulls riding out on fourwheelers. Green aliens with a taste for mischief. A gray bear throwing cakes at opposing fans. Houston has never been without amazing sports mascots.
From Orbit, to Turbo, to Toro, the city long has had great, sweaty people in suits to cheer us up during defeat or pump us up during triumphant moments with our professional sports teams. Some go unsung, like the Astros’ Junction Jack, usurped by Orbit during a rebuild that saw the green alien return to his rightful place on top of the Astros’ dugout at Minute Maid Park. Jack went away, along with his relatives Junction Julie and Junction Jesse. Last we heard, they were somewhere in the minor leagues rallying fans.
It can’t be denied that the return of Orbit at the end of 2012 brought back countless memories for Houston baseball fans of a certain age who grew up under the Astrodome’s gleaming tiles. And the Astros have had their share of mascots. Let’s also pour out a cup of 8th Wonder Brewery’s Dome Faux’m for the dearly departed Astrojack, AstroDillo, Chester
Charge, all obscure greats that predated Orbit’s move to Earth from the “Sixth Moon on Fifth Planet in the 19th Galaxy in the solar system” in the early ’90s.
Chester Charge, introduced in 1977, was the Astro’s first real mascot at a time when the only other mascot in the MLB was the San Diego Chicken. Part of Astrodillo’s costume is still in the Astros team archives, along with the head of Mr. Charge.
The Astros also had General Admission, a man in U.S. Cavalry garb in the ’90s at the Astrodome who shot a cannon when an Astros player hit a home run. Fun fact: Our man Orbit “killed” General Admission with a ray gun during the last regular season game of 1999 at the Astrodome. It was probably for the best, though, as the General’s Civil War attire might have gotten the team in hot water later down the line.
Oddly enough, the old Colt .45s had no real mascot to speak of, and one can only imagine that a giant bullet roaming around Colt Stadium would have brought a lot of questionable imagery to mind.
Right after the Astros moved into the ’Dome, Roy Hofheinz hired comedian Bill Dana to do comedy and gags during games while dressed in a team uniform.
The Texans’ Toro has been the team’s secret weapon at home, known for roaming the halls of NRG Stadium and riding his four-wheeler onto the field during pregame antics.
The dearly departed Oilers had a mascot in “Roughneck,” played by the burly Art Horridge.
For young Houstonians, the Derrick Dolls were enough to get us through the lean times on the field.
Over at the Toyota Center (and before that the Summit/Compaq Center), there has been Clutch the Bear, the most mischievous of Houston sports mascots, who never met a special costume he didn’t love while helping us root on the Rockets. During the Halloween season last year, he dressed up as clown villain Pennywise — nightmare fuel for opposing teams and hometown fans alike.
Of course, most Rockets fans of a certain age still hold a candle for Turbo, the costumed wonder who did trick dunks that defied reality. Played by Jerry Burrell, he is likely the cause of many ’90s kids in Houston suffering broke bones trying to re-create some of his theatrics.