Slider isn’t the best mascot in baseball, but he’s certainly not the worst. Which is more than Indians fans could say back in 1980 when “The Baseball Bug” was the fuzzy image of the team. Poking through the Cleveland Memory Project, I came upon these photos, and through a rudimentary Google search, I found a couple of passages describing the low point in Cleveland mascot history (although there’s surprisingly little written about the bastard bug.)
From the Indians Journal: Year by Year & Day by Day with the Cleveland Indians Since 1901:
“The Indians foisted one of the worst mascots in baseball history on Municipal Stadium patrons in 1980. Looking to follow the success of the San Diego Chicken and the Phillie Phanatic, the Indians introduced an insect of indiscriminate origin called “The Baseball Bug.” The costume consisted of a red golbe-shaped body, with a blue vest and antennae of springs with baseballs on the ends. Fans understandably failed to embrace the idea, and “The Baseball Bug” was sidelined after the 1981 season.”
From Greg Brinda and Bill Livingston’s The Great Book of Cleveland Sports Lists, and specifically, the chapter on Cleveland mascots:
It was, said Indians Vice President Bob Dibiasio, “a red, furry thing.” Supposed to look like a lady bug, a good luck charm, it was more appealing than the midges that would swarm in from the lake in the summer time. You know, the “swarm troopers” that beat Joba Chamberlain and the Yankees in the playoffs. But not by much. Told during a hitting slump in the 2007 season that the Bug should be brought back for luck, Dibiasio said: “I’d rather our bats be reincarnated.”
This article appears in May 13-19, 2009.
Hell yes, i remember the Baseball Bug! I was 10 years old and watched Large Lenny throw his perfect game on Channel 43 with my Dad. Dad knew history was in the making that night and let me stay up to watch it. The Baseball Bug was at the Stadium that night too. I always thought that Gabe Paul was the in the Bug suit to save on payroll!
That is pretty funny to think dad was “The bug”….I can promise you you he was a lot of things but a bug was not one of them!!!
Jennie Paul
Gabe’s daughter
I just saw this now and it is funny how misconceptions occur. I was the person in the “Bug” costume. The Bug was called the “Baseball Bug” in 1980 and it was shortened to the “Basebug” in 1981. The original idea of a bug was because the Indians theme at the time was “Indian Fever, Get Bitten By the Bug”. so, I guess they wanted a creature that would be able to jump around the stadium and cavort with the fans, especially the kids. The problem was that the original costume in 1980 was too large and too cumbersome to do almost anything except walk around. It largely hung off of my shoulders and weighed over 30 pounds. So, for 1981 they changed the costume to make it so that I could do more things with it, which I did. Many of the things I did were criticized as being “too risky” and George Steinbrenner even filed a protest with the league office and so they banned me from the field and dugouts during Yankee games at the Stadium. The reason that the Bug was “sidelined” after the 1981 season had absolutely nothing to do with the fans not caring for the mascot. It had to do with money. A radio station approached the Indians with incentives and one of the station’s requirements was to use a new mascot with their call letters on the back. They asked me to stay and don that costume, but I had finished grad school and got a “real job”!! In the middle of the 1982 season they again called me because they had gone through several people in the costume and none seemed to work. I turned it down. That mascot lasted a year. I personally do not care if someone does not care for the mascot or anything else for that matter, but it is interesting how people like to talk or write about something they know nothing about and treat their words as fact, like our man Vince above. I had a wonderful couple years in the costume, met many interesting people, saw things I am glad I saw and some I wished I had not. The Indians players at the time were a great bunch of guys and the front office were good people overall. And I guarantee you, Gabe Paul never wore the costume (though Joe Charboneau did!!)