Commenter J. takes a break from his/her busy workday (seriously, he/she's trying to preserve his/her anonymity. We won't even publish his/her full first name out of respect) to give a perspective on Twins mascots. We will say we believe this is the first-ever submission we've received from this individual. Go ahead sir (or madam?):
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As your paper does its final push to the start of the regular season at a new Twins stadium, I have a timely topic suggestion for a RandBall post. It bugged me for years and years at the Dome, and now that Target Field's opening, paying special attention to a particular animated neon sign in the outfield, it seems to be a good current talker. Here's a quick summary of my thoughts.
What the deuce is a TC Bear? Who decided to brand that as the Twins' in-stadium mascot, and why is he still here?
I understand that TC probably appeals a lot more to the kids, and that is probably the main point of having a mascot, at least in some sort of business sense. And I appreciate his upper-deck dinger hitting skills.
However, our hometown MLB team is called the TWINS. They represent the TWIN CITIES, namesake for the MINNESOTA TWINS. They are not called the Minnesota Grizzlies, Minneapolis Bears, Plymouth Pandas, Crystal Kumas, or the Multi-State-Upper-Midwest Fightin' Ursae. Mascotically speaking, TC Bear is a non-sequitur. In my mind, this is only allowable in places like Phoenix, where having a mass of incandescent gas/gigantic nuclear furnace as a mascot is not feasible.
Why on earth aren't Minnie and Paul going to be mascotting the Twins into Target Field? They really have a lot of potential to be on the level of Bernie Brewer or the Phanatic, as far as memorable mascots go. Whether their antics are positive and fan-friendly some innings, or humorous and mischievous in others, like 2 brothers in a good-natured rivalry; they could be so much more than a huge bear on an ATV shooting t-shirts out of a cannon.
Does anyone have any Pros or Cons towards either side of the mascot spectrum?
P.S.- Stu's Hunt Downs and TWWWTTWOWT segments are mostly incredible, and I haven't seen as many of them lately. I miss them. Just sayin'.
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Your thoughts on his/her mascot thoughts and his/her love of Stu in the comments, please.
