Strike the Sasquatch
Posted by: Loren Coleman on March 28th, 2008
A mascot inhabiting the Baseball Cryptozoo, with an identity from cryptozoology and hominology, gets a new name.
The Northwest Arkansas Naturals announced earlier this month that the name of their furry, baseball-loving Sasquatch will hereby be known as “Strike.”
Several hundred entries were submitted in the team’s “Name the Mascot” contest in January 2008. After the contest was completed, Naturals’ staff members selected from the top-five most frequent names submitted along with five other “wild-card” entries.
Tanner Winn, from Happy Hollow Elementary School in Fayetteville, Arkansas, was the lone child who submitted the name Strike. Seven-year old Tanner will receive one game’s worth of “VIP” treatment from the Naturals, including joining the team on the field for batting practice, sitting in super premium seating for the game with three of his friends, and also will have the opportunity to throw a ceremonial first pitch before the game.
Strike was created and produced by Street Characters Inc. of Calgary, Alberta, a creative ideas company specializing in mascot and costume conceptualization and design. Street Characters has designed mascots for numerous Major League Baseball teams such as the Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, and Texas Rangers, as well as NFL teams such as the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots.
Merchandise and souvenirs depicting Strike will be available in the team’s store, Red Dirt Outfitters, which opened on March 22nd.
The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and will begin play at Arvest Ballpark, located in Springdale, Arkansas, on Thursday, April 10th against the San Antonio Missions. You can purchase season tickets and group outings with the Naturals by calling (479) 927-4900.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Personally, I would have gone with the name “Homer”. That’s one unique mascot!
Excellent! Almost anything that increases awareness regarding a creature that may exists still is a benefit to those who still seek evidence.
The fact that a name whose origin is ostensibly of Northwest Native American origin might also draw attention to the fact that Native Americans before Columbus had a cultural network the extent of which is only now becoming apparent.
Oh, and cool outfit…how long before we see plaster casts of giant feet…with cleats!