It was probably a great idea in concept and design: a new mascot for the Amarillo Sox, an independent minor league baseball team. It was supposed to look like a sock.
But instead it looked like an Anthony Weiner tweet.
And it’s going back to the drawing boards. From amarillo.com’s June 25 report (just sent to me this morning by a friend):
Amarillo Sox general manager Mark Lee shook his head late Friday evening and simply said: “Oh what a night.”
Friday night was supposed to be a wonderful night at Amarillo National Bank Sox Stadium with the unveiling of one of the two new Sox mascots.
Things turned sour for Lee as the Sox mascot was supposed to look like a sock but looked nothing like Lee had requested. Instead of a soft looking sock-type mascot from nearly head-to-toe, the foot portion of the sock stuck straight out about 2 feet at the waist.
“It was not the way I wanted it,” Lee said. “I’m very disappointed in the lady who did it, and I’ve told her so. She is going to fix it to the changes we want. I want to say on the record, if we offended anybody, I apologize.”
Apology for the nightmare fuel accepted, Mark. But let this be a lesson to you: There’s a reason the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox opted for androgynous green creatures for their in-house entertainment. And that’s because there’s just no acceptable way to create anthropomorphic hosiery
These things do happen and even possibly offended fans will survive. But the new mascot did sock it to ’em. In more ways than one.
Photo: Amarillo.com
UPDATE: This has inspired some other news stories.
MSNBC: If excitement of seeing the Amarillo Sox mascot lasts for more than four hours, please consult your physician
Guyism: When mascots get perverted; A video/photo essay
Immediately after its debut Friday night, the Sock was designated for assignment. He’s going back to the drawing board, with the team preparing to re-introduce its new mascot this coming weekend. Yes, the same designer is putting it together.
“It’s in her hands today,” Lee said without a trace of irony.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.