Phillie Phanatic

He's a police bomb squad officer who had to examine a briefcase left on a SEPTA bus yesterday afternoon at 13th and Chestnut streets. When a passenger told a man leaving the bus that he had left the briefcase, the man said he didn't want it. That was enough to raise suspicion and the bomb squad was called. The briefcase contained paperwork.

Lots of love to the Phillie Phanatic, who's belly-shaken his way through 34 years of Phillies games as of Wednesday. Few in this city can generate the adulation and love that this OG Green Man can. And there's no sign that Philly's favorite son is slowing down. Check his recent cameo on "30 Rock," where star and Upper Darby gal Tina Fey literally jumped for joy when she saw the Furry One in the flesh, for further proof of the Phanatic's star power. WIP "Professor" Glen Macnow talks his way to 57 Monday.

It was the Phanatic's birthday Sunday and all of his mascot friends showed up to celebrate. But this event seems to get weirder by the year. They played a Wiffle ball game before the real game and the Phanatic plunked his mother, Phoebe, in the head with a pitch. The Oriole Bird was not pleased with this development. A Tastykake Butterscotch Krimpet mascot played shortstop and made a crucial error to decide the game. When it was over, everyone, including the San Diego Friar, danced to music by Soulja Boy. Creepy.

A Montgomery County woman has sued the Phillie Phanatic, alleging a slew of injuries as a result of the mascot's tossing her into a swimming pool at a Jersey Shore hotel in 2010. The suit, filed last week in Common Pleas Court in Philadelphia, says that Suzanne M. Peirce of Abington was seated in a lounge chair at the Golden Inn Hotel & Resort in Avalon when the Phanatic, who was performing, "picked up her chair and threw plaintiff and her chair into the pool. " As a result of the incident, the suit says, "plaintiff suffered severe and permanent injuries to her head, neck, back, arms and legs, bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves and tissues of her head, neck, back, arms and legs, including, but not limited to, a herniated L5-S1 disc, aggravation and/or exacerbation of all known and unknown preexisting medical conditions, internal injuries of an unknown nature, severe aches, pains, mental anxiety and anguish, and a severe shock to her entire nervous system and other injuries, the full extent of which is not yet known.

TOM BURGOYNE, the Phillie Phanatic's best friend, says the Phanatic didn't know his "30 Rock" episode was airing last Thursday until "The Phanatic got a text from Swoop. " The Phanatic and the Eagles' mascot are buds. Burgoyne said he and the Phanatic spent about 5 hours in October shooting the scene in which Alec Baldwin 's character Jack Donaghy gets the Phanatic, TastyKake, soft pretzels and other Philly staples to impress a visiting Kabletown (Comcast) executive.

The Philadelphia Orchestra has played in Warsaw, Santiago, Chile, and Beijing, but its appearance last night at Veterans Stadium put the orchestra in front of probably its largest and certainly its noisiest audience ever. Dressed in formal tails, Philadelphia Orchestra sweat shirts and red Phillies caps, the orchestra took the field to play "The Star-Spangled Banner" under the baton of Mayor Rendell and the Phillie Phanatic before Game 4 of the World Series. The mayor had hoped for conducting lessons for his debut, but hadn't the time.

Great howls of laughter erupted as the Phillie Phanatic whirled into the dining room at the McAuley Convent in Merion while the Sisters of Mercy ate dessert. Stopping at each of the tables to dazzle the delighted audience with a sample of his unique showmanship, this green, utterly incorrigible creature blessed himself with the sign of the cross and . . . Hey! Come back here with that piece of cake! "Look," one of the nuns said excitedly. "He wants something to eat. Oh, goodness.

The fur was fake, the music loud, the colors garish, and dignity nowhere on the guest list. It was a scene to make a sports purist bristle and a 5-year-old giggle. There on the rain-soaked plaza of Philadelphia's Municipal Services Building, a menagerie of sports mascots assembled late yesterday morning: bear and moose, hawk and owl, parrot and coyote, eagle and falcon. They had come to honor three of their own, who were to be inducted as the inaugural class of the Mascot Hall of Fame: the San Diego Chicken, the Phoenix Gorilla and the Phillie Phanatic.

Frank Sullivan might be the only ex-Phillie who never had a bad day at the ballpark. He made people laugh, made them feel good, helped take their minds off games that sometimes were dreadful. He also assured they would be rewarded for showing up early. Sullivan, 65, died Wednesday of complications from liver disease. For 23 years, he was the Phillies' director of promotions. He gave you Kiteman, fireworks, camera night, national anthem singers, workouts by Little League teams, Karl Wallenda walking a tightrope from foul line to foul line high above the playing field, giveaways, Benny the Human Bomb . . . Most of all, he helped to give you the Phillie Phanatic.

Dave Raymond pulls his trousers on one leg at a time when he dresses for work, just like the rest of us. Then, unlike the rest of us, the Phillie Phanatic's alter ego completes his dress-for-success ensemble with a shaggy synthetic suit the color of faded Astroturf, a bug-eyed headpiece and size 56 sneakers. He does this more than 200 times a year. "I wash the costume at home in the bathtub full of Woolite," said Raymond, 37, who decamps to a modest ranch house in north Wilmington when he's not on the road.

CONGRATULATIONS to Alison Young , who won the fifth annual Dancing with the Philadelphia Stars on Sunday night at the Crystal Tea Room. Young, the vice president of External Affairs for the National Constitution Center, danced the foxtrot with Paul Samuelnas from the Studio on Take the Lead on Pine. Young was clad in floor-length pink spandex, covered in rhinetstones. She had no dance experience before. Q102 DJ Maxwell came in second with the waltz, while Fox29's Kacie McDonnell came in third with the tango.

The Phillies have filled the stadium the past few years with things like home runs, stellar pitching performances and playoff wins. It's easy to forget it wasn't always so. The 40,016 in attendance at Kevin Millwood's 2003 no-hitter were really there for the Phanatic's birthday party. The team is better now, but it's still worth checking the promotional-giveaway schedule before you pay $100 in the preseason for a 200-level seat at an August game. Worst case scenario, you go home with a knicknack for yourself or your kid. To help you get the most bang for the buck, the Daily News has developed an innovative new statistic for the modern-thinking baseball fan. Using Giveaway Wins Above Replacement, or GWAR, you can figure out how to get the best swag for your game-going buck.

If you made a New Year's resolution to run a 5k, and you're a Phillies fan, your hometown baseball team has a race for you to consider: the Phillies Charities 5k, which will be run March 23. Registration opens Monday at 9 a.m. at Phillies.com. The race is expected to sell out within 24 hours, so be quick to get to your browser. "We knew they were there," Mary Ann Moyer said of running Phillies fans. She's manager of marketing initiatives for the Phillies and had kicked around the idea of holding a 5k for years.

A Montgomery County woman has sued the Phillie Phanatic, alleging a slew of injuries as a result of the mascot's tossing her into a swimming pool at a Jersey Shore hotel in 2010. The suit, filed last week in Common Pleas Court in Philadelphia, says that Suzanne M. Peirce of Abington was seated in a lounge chair at the Golden Inn Hotel & Resort in Avalon when the Phanatic, who was performing, "picked up her chair and threw plaintiff and her chair into the pool. " As a result of the incident, the suit says, "plaintiff suffered severe and permanent injuries to her head, neck, back, arms and legs, bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves and tissues of her head, neck, back, arms and legs, including, but not limited to, a herniated L5-S1 disc, aggravation and/or exacerbation of all known and unknown preexisting medical conditions, internal injuries of an unknown nature, severe aches, pains, mental anxiety and anguish, and a severe shock to her entire nervous system and other injuries, the full extent of which is not yet known.

HE'S BIG, GREEN and usually just a little goofy, but an Abington woman claims that the Phillie Phanatic turned into the Incredible Hulk at the Jersey Shore when he tossed her into a hotel pool.   Suzanne Peirce claims that she was attending her sister's wedding at the Golden Inn in Avalon on July 17, 2010, and was poolside with the Phanatic, who was "engaging in various antics" during a comic routine, according to a lawsuit filed last week in Common Pleas Court and first reported by Courthouse News Service.

Broad Street Billy, who bleeds red pinstripes like all Fightin's die-hards, felt as if he got smacked in the head by a foul ball when he read that Mr. Met beat out the Phillie Phanatic in a national popularity poll. A company called the Marketing Arm just announced that the 1,000 people polled nationally in its Celebrity Davie Brown Index were more aware of Mr. Met than the Phillie Phanatic, and found Mr. Met more likable. "That's blasphemy!" said Francis Winkey, Aramark merchandise manager at Citizens Bank Park, where the wildly popular Phanatic has two stores of his own stuff — the Phanatic Attic and All Things Phanatic.

Lots of love to the Phillie Phanatic, who's belly-shaken his way through 34 years of Phillies games as of Wednesday. Few in this city can generate the adulation and love that this OG Green Man can. And there's no sign that Philly's favorite son is slowing down. Check his recent cameo on "30 Rock," where star and Upper Darby gal Tina Fey literally jumped for joy when she saw the Furry One in the flesh, for further proof of the Phanatic's star power. WIP "Professor" Glen Macnow talks his way to 57 Monday.

THE CITY OF Clearwater plans to roll out the red carpet today for . . . the Phillie Phanatic. Mayor George N. Creketos will give the cuddly green monster a key to the city, 10:30 this morning at Pier 60, culminating a whirlwind weekend tour in Phillies baseball heaven. Yesterday, the Phanatic made stops at famed breakfast spot Lenny's, took a stroll down the beach, took a ride on the Jolly Trolley and - if you can picture it - rode a segway down Mandalay Avenue. Before accepting the key, the Phanatic will make a stop at the Marine Museum at 9 a.m. to visit "Winter," the famous Dolphin without a flipper and star of the Disney movie "Dolphin Tale.

Phillies single-game tickets are set to go on sale Thursday at 8:30 a.m. at the west ticket windows near the Majestic Clubhouse Store at Citizens Bank Park. The store will open at 7 a.m., and the Phillie Phanatic and Phillies ball girls will greet fans in line.

TOM BURGOYNE, the Phillie Phanatic's best friend, says the Phanatic didn't know his "30 Rock" episode was airing last Thursday until "The Phanatic got a text from Swoop. " The Phanatic and the Eagles' mascot are buds. Burgoyne said he and the Phanatic spent about 5 hours in October shooting the scene in which Alec Baldwin 's character Jack Donaghy gets the Phanatic, TastyKake, soft pretzels and other Philly staples to impress a visiting Kabletown (Comcast) executive.