Whatever You Do, Don’t Touch His Head” A Review and an Interview With a Former Mr. Met

What would possess an otherwise sane high school or college student (Is there such an animal?) too often leave behind their career ambitions to throw their hats into an ultra-competitive ring for the chance to wear a sweaty and often foul smelling animal suit, only to face the humiliation of their peers as a team mascot? The truth is men as well as women have served for teams in both the pro and amateur ranks for years and often made a name, not to mention a hefty paycheck in the process. Case in point, AJ Mass, who happens to have served a stint as “Mr. Met,” and relates some of his experiences as a mascot in his just released book, Yes, It’s Hot in Here: Adventures in the Weird, Wooly World of Sports Mascots.

Yes, it’s Hot In Here not only recounts some of his hilarious and sometimes harrowing tales of life as one of baseball’s busiest, and at the time, few mascots, but explores the entertaining history of the mascot, from its jester roots in Renaissance society to the slapstick pantomine of the Clown Prince of Baseball, Max Patkin, all the way up to the mascots of the slam-dunk, rock-and-roll, Jumbotron culture of today. Along the way Mass talks to the pioneers among modern-day mascots like Dave Raymond (Phillie Phanatic), Dan Meers (K.C. Wolf), and Glenn Street (Harvey the Hound) and finds out what it is about being a mascot that simply won’t leave the performer.

What could possess an otherwise educated and intelligent person with so much career promise to abandon it all to take a job with no real promise other than a considerable amount of potential, in order to walk to the center of a sports park and hope to create pandamoniumtotal with so little, even when the team they represent might be losing. It’s not a life that’s full of roses. After all, there are kids that don’t understand the concept that there’s a human being inside, and as a result might give a swift kick to his shins. Otherwise, your usual exhaustive work day includes other promotional feats such as numerous opportunities to bend WAY down for group hugs and let’s not forget a hot and smelly costume.

Mass should know, since he even predates the San Diego Chicken and so many other creatures of record. Despite this, he still has the distinction of being one of the few bright lights in Mets history.