Day 16 of Explaining Every MLB Mascot – the Los Angeles Angels’ “Rally Monkey” #mlb #baseball

Day 16 of Explaining Every MLB Mascot – the Los Angeles Angels’ “Rally Monkey” #mlb #baseball

The Los Angeles Angels are one of only three MLB teams without a mascot. Their best attempt at creating a character came completely by accident, and it turned into one of the strangest, most beloved traditions in baseball. This is day 16 of explaining every MLB mascot. The Angels were founded in 1961 and went without a mascot for over 30 years until Disney bought the team and experimented with a few characters in the ’90s. The most popular of these experiments were Scoop and Clutch, two friendly Californian bears that fulfilled typical mascot duties around the ballpark. They were eventually phased out, but they aren’t gone. The heads of the costumes are still safe and sound with the team’s entertainment department. After their departure, the team had no mascot to call their own until June 6th, 2000. The Angels were down late to the Giants at home. In the control room, two video board operators were looking for a way to hype up the crowd. They grabbed a random clip of a monkey from Ace Ventura, slapped the words rally monkey on top, and threw it on the jumbotron. The crowd exploded. The Angels rallied to win that game six to five, and a superstition was born. Over the next few years, the rally monkey went from a one-off joke to a full-on ballpark tradition. The gag got so big, they even brought in a real monkey to create new hype videos. Her name was Katie, a white-haired capacin who was already famous. She played Ross’ pet monkey, Marcel, in the very first season of Friends. Katie filmed original video spots, bouncing to jump around and becoming a regular action star on the video board. It was fun, but it wasn’t quite mascot territory until 2002. Game six of the World Series against the Giants. The Angels were down 5 to nothing in the seventh inning, just eight outs from elimination. Then the rally monkey hit the big board. Scott Speizzio homerred. The Angels pulled off a miracle comeback and two nights later they were world champions. From that moment on, the Rally Monkey was cemented as an icon. There were Rally Monkey plushies, bobblehead giveaways, even a Sports Center commercial. The players themselves bought into it when Tory Hunter signed with the Angels in 2008. He showed up to his introductory press conference with his own Rally Monkey. And while the Rally Monkey tradition is still going strong today at Angel Stadium, Katie herself lived out her years at the Denver Zoo. [Music] [Music] In September of 2024, the Denver Zoo announced that Katie had passed away after a decline in health at the age of 29. A very full long life for a Capachin and the most iconic Angels fan of all time. Follow and come back tomorrow for part 17.