MLB mascots allowed in parks

Phillie Phanatic, phenomenal. Mr. Met and Mariner Moose, marvelous. Wally the Green Monster, welcome back.

Mascots are getting a reprieve from Major League Baseball. A month after being tossed out of stadiums because of health concerns over the coronavirus outbreak, the fuzzy and funny creatures will return as inside-the-parkers.

“The fur is back on the field,” exclaimed Dave Raymond, the playful mischief maker who originally portrayed the Phanatic.

On May 16, in its 67-page draft of the operations manual sent to teams, MLB banned Bernie Brewer, the Pirate Parrot, Dinger, Fredbird and their ilk from the ballpark, trying to restrict access and limit contact exposure.

The final version of the manual this week reversed the policy. Mascots are in play, just not on the field.

We’ll see what that means for the Sausage Race in Milwaukee and the dashing Presidents in Washington. Maybe they can stay socially distant, sprinting through the upper decks.

No telling yet whether Mr. Met and Mrs. Met need to keep their distance. Now unmuzzled, no doubt, we’ll see plenty of masked mascots across the majors.

On television, that is. When MLB starts the season next month, fans won’t be allowed in the ballparks.

“I applaud MLB for this change,” Raymond said Tuesday. “They had said we

were nonessential, but that’s not true.. We’ve become part of the fabric of the game, engaging and entertaining the fans,” he said.

A former punter at the University of Delaware, Raymond was working as an intern with the Phillies when he turned the oversized, green Phanatic into Philadelphia’s most popular figure.