Meet the World Series mascots: The Phillie Phanatic and Orbit

Sections

Axios Local

Axios gets you smarter faster with news & information that matters

About

Subscribe

How the World Series' big green furry mascots came to be

Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios; Photos: Bob Levey and Rich Schultz/Getty Images For all their differences, you'll notice one big, green and furry similarity when the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros match up Friday night: their mascots look irritatingly related. Yes, but: One's a bird from the Galapagos. The other's from outer space.We at wanted to know more about our less charming doppelgänger, so we traded mascot origin stories with .

The Phillie Phanatic

The Phanatic at Veterans Stadium circa 1980. Photo: Focus on Sport/ Getty Images Flashback: In the late 1970s, the Phillies were ready to say goodbye to their revolutionary past and colonial mascots . So they reached out to master puppeteer Jim Henson for help. Two of his Muppets designers, including the creator of Miss Piggy, made the laughable, lovable Phanatic, with his bulging eyes and . But why the Galapagos backstory?"We figured, who could contest that?" creator Bonnie Erickson said, per . "This seemed to be the perfect background for a character that nobody could describe. It's a purely fantasy animal." Philly's thought bubble: The Phanatic is quite literally the best mascot in America — so good at ruffling feathers, it nearly cost him his snout. See: in 1988. Plus: He's one of just on display in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Guess who isn't there?

Orbit

Junction Jack and Orbit. Photos: MLB via Getty Images; Bob Levey/Getty Images The Astros, meanwhile, were under the guard of , a Texas cavalry soldier, in the '70s. Several other mascots stomped around the stadium, including rabbit and armadillo duo in the '80s, when the Astros wore their . But in the early '90s, the unthinkable happened. An alien given to came down to Earth. His name? Orbit. The intrigue: Orbit was temporarily ousted by a Texas jackrabbit named when the team left the Astrodome in 2000. Fans petitioned for years to bring their beloved space being back, and the team finally obliged in 2013. Orbit has been the star of the stadium ever since. Houston's thought bubble: National Baseball Hall of Fame? In Space City, we're reaching for the Intergalactic Hall of Fame for our Orbit. Does anyone to Phanatic? Orbit is a bike-loving hero who once . We'll see soon enough who's waving the World Series champion flag.

Go deeper