Phillie 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

He was just a guy dressed in a big green bird suit. Except that Dave Raymond made that big green bird the most beloved sports figure in Philadelphia. And the true testament to his genius is the number of people all over America who said, "I don't like mascots, but . . . " No matter how you felt about mascots in general, it was practically impossible not to appreciate the hilarious creative brilliance with which Dave Raymond portrayed the Phillie Phanatic over the last 16 years.

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.

THE BASEBALL CARD EXPO held at the Valley Forge Convention Center was supposed to be the highlight of my son, Sam's, year. Getting the autographs from his most admired players would have capped off an exciting season. After spending $425 for this bat-signing privilege, Sam nervously approached Ryan Howard, who then responded that, yes, he would sign his bat, but, no, he would not sign his glove. Shane Victorino was next. This time, Mr. Victorino reluctantly signed both, but not before his manager reprimanded Sam for asking for the additional autograph.

SIGNE, our award-winning cartoonist, says: A good mascot is like a good character in an animated cartoon or movie. Its figure amplifies its personality. Even if the 76ers-mascot proposals had any personality, their figures lack the verve that would help bring that personality to life. They're big-chested corporate titan figures. They are the 1 percenters. A mascot has to be a 99 percenter. As the Phillie Phanatic shows, a mascot has to have rhythm and swing. These guys might have a golf swing, but that's it.  

With his Lugz work boots and T-shirt with the sleeves cut off, Mitch Williams looked like a construction guy. Turns out he is. "My father taught me, you never pay someone to do something you can do yourself," the legendary Phillies closer said. Hard to believe, but one of the living symbols of Philadelphia sports history was only a small part of the package when cable's DIY channel came to town to shoot an episode of House Crashers that will be seen in the fall. As crazy construction and reality television swirled all around last week, Wild Thing was anything but. He lent a hand wherever needed, working to transform part of the home of Johnny McDonald, whom the show had decided was one of the world's biggest Phillies fans, into the ultimate baseball spectator environment.

Patricia Merbreier, better known to scores of Philadelphia's now-grown children as Mrs. Noah, died Thursday night after a long illness. She was 86. Merbreier entered Delaware Valley homes on Channel 6, alongside her husband W. Carter Merbreier, a/k/a Captain Noah, on "Captain Noah and His Magical Ark. " About 3,600 shows aired between 1967 and 1994. While Carter wore the captain's hat, it was Patricia who operated the puppets, like Mumwah the Monster. There also were occasional celebrity cameos, such as Elvis Presley and Charles Barkley.

A few weeks after declaring Scrooge McDuck is still the world's richest fictional character, Forbes has named the Phillie Phanatic "the most popular mascot in sports. " Can't be long now before Forbes is named the world's most list-crazed publication. Again, the race was close. Philly's jolly green giant, who also won in 2008, edged out last year's winner, the San Diego Chicken, thanks to "the highest entertaining score in the business. " Mr. Met, tops in 2009, dropped to fourth, behind the Milwaukee Brewers' Racing Sausages.