GaryMrMets
10-22-2003, 09:28 PM
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/baseball/marlins/sns-ap-bbo-billy-the-marlin,0,1028326.story?coll=sns-ap-baseball-headlines
Billy the Marlin Still Roots for Team
By BEN WALKER
AP Baseball Writer
Posted October 22 2003, 4:15 PM EDT
MIAMI -- John Routh still owns the giant banner he waved on the mound at Pro Player Stadium after Florida won the 1997 World Series. Still has his championship ring, too.
Just one thing is missing: His job as Billy the Marlin.
Fired last Halloween as the team's one and only mascot -- the club and Routh offer different reasons for his dismissal -- he continues to root for the Marlins. He was at the ballpark a couple of times during the first round of the playoffs -- but without the giant fish head.
"It was fun, just being able to relax and eat peanuts and watch the game," he said this week. "But I would've preferred to be performing. I haven't gotten the mascot thing out of my system."
Routh wore the costume for a decade, zooming around the ballpark in a go-cart, dancing with celebrities and getting into water-gun wars with bullpens.
His antics made him as popular as anyone on the team, the Hall of Fame contacted him about donating his $12,000 costume and he became a fixture on ESPN, getting more face time than the San Diego Chicken or Phillie Phanatic.
When the Marlins won it all six years ago, he brazenly waved a huge flag from the middle of the diamond while players and fans went crazy.
"Devon White came up from behind me and stole it, then Jim Leyland got it and they took it around the field on a victory lap," Routh said. "But I got it back."
Sitting out during this World Series has been especially tough.
"It's nice to know that people remember what you did," he said. "I wasn't down on the field playing, but I was a part of it."
Marlins third baseman Mike Lowell was among those sorry to see Routh leave.
"I like John. He's a good person. He worked hard," Lowell said before Game 3 of the World Series against the Yankees. "I don't think he really got a good deal the way he was let go."
The Marlins gave Routh the hook last October, and he said it was a cost-cutting move. He said he offered to take a pay cut from his $80,000 salary and work in the office, but the Marlins said no.
"It was a total surprise," he said.
The Marlins said the decision did not revolve around money.
"It was time to change direction, to find someone to bring more vitality to the job and be more proactive as far as working in the community," team spokesman P.J. Loyello said.
Had Routh become a little too big for his oversized mascot head?
"I don't understand that," he said. "When they asked me to do something, I always did it."
Billy II, an employee in the team's sales office, replaced Routh. The new mascot had a much lower profile this year, and did not attract a lot of attention in the playoffs.
"I don't know what their philosophy is," Routh said.
Routh spent this year as the Maniac, wearing a dodo bird outfit and making appearances at minor league parks. He didn't get as many bookings as he would've liked because many clubs set their promotional schedules in advance.
At 44, Routh said he's gotten some feelers from NBA and NHL teams. He'd like to keep doing it, having spent half his life performing as a mascot.
Before joining the expansion Marlins in 1993, he was the Miami Hurricanes' mascot. The night before the Hurricanes played for a national title in the Sugar Bowl, a stray bullet grazed his temple as he walked around the French Quarter.
"It's going to take a hell of a lot more than a bullet hole in the head to keep me from this game," he said then.
This week, he can merely watch the Marlins on television.
"Those were 10 great years, and I have great memories," he said. "I'm a Marlins fan and want to see them win. I just wish I was there with them." Email story
Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press
Billy the Marlin Still Roots for Team
By BEN WALKER
AP Baseball Writer
Posted October 22 2003, 4:15 PM EDT
MIAMI -- John Routh still owns the giant banner he waved on the mound at Pro Player Stadium after Florida won the 1997 World Series. Still has his championship ring, too.
Just one thing is missing: His job as Billy the Marlin.
Fired last Halloween as the team's one and only mascot -- the club and Routh offer different reasons for his dismissal -- he continues to root for the Marlins. He was at the ballpark a couple of times during the first round of the playoffs -- but without the giant fish head.
"It was fun, just being able to relax and eat peanuts and watch the game," he said this week. "But I would've preferred to be performing. I haven't gotten the mascot thing out of my system."
Routh wore the costume for a decade, zooming around the ballpark in a go-cart, dancing with celebrities and getting into water-gun wars with bullpens.
His antics made him as popular as anyone on the team, the Hall of Fame contacted him about donating his $12,000 costume and he became a fixture on ESPN, getting more face time than the San Diego Chicken or Phillie Phanatic.
When the Marlins won it all six years ago, he brazenly waved a huge flag from the middle of the diamond while players and fans went crazy.
"Devon White came up from behind me and stole it, then Jim Leyland got it and they took it around the field on a victory lap," Routh said. "But I got it back."
Sitting out during this World Series has been especially tough.
"It's nice to know that people remember what you did," he said. "I wasn't down on the field playing, but I was a part of it."
Marlins third baseman Mike Lowell was among those sorry to see Routh leave.
"I like John. He's a good person. He worked hard," Lowell said before Game 3 of the World Series against the Yankees. "I don't think he really got a good deal the way he was let go."
The Marlins gave Routh the hook last October, and he said it was a cost-cutting move. He said he offered to take a pay cut from his $80,000 salary and work in the office, but the Marlins said no.
"It was a total surprise," he said.
The Marlins said the decision did not revolve around money.
"It was time to change direction, to find someone to bring more vitality to the job and be more proactive as far as working in the community," team spokesman P.J. Loyello said.
Had Routh become a little too big for his oversized mascot head?
"I don't understand that," he said. "When they asked me to do something, I always did it."
Billy II, an employee in the team's sales office, replaced Routh. The new mascot had a much lower profile this year, and did not attract a lot of attention in the playoffs.
"I don't know what their philosophy is," Routh said.
Routh spent this year as the Maniac, wearing a dodo bird outfit and making appearances at minor league parks. He didn't get as many bookings as he would've liked because many clubs set their promotional schedules in advance.
At 44, Routh said he's gotten some feelers from NBA and NHL teams. He'd like to keep doing it, having spent half his life performing as a mascot.
Before joining the expansion Marlins in 1993, he was the Miami Hurricanes' mascot. The night before the Hurricanes played for a national title in the Sugar Bowl, a stray bullet grazed his temple as he walked around the French Quarter.
"It's going to take a hell of a lot more than a bullet hole in the head to keep me from this game," he said then.
This week, he can merely watch the Marlins on television.
"Those were 10 great years, and I have great memories," he said. "I'm a Marlins fan and want to see them win. I just wish I was there with them." Email story
Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press