|
First impression of what’s going on:
Unlike the Orioles Mascot, the Colorado
Rockies mascot gets a name on the card, Dinger. There isn’t much “mascotting”
going on here as Dinger looks more like a deer caught in the headlights. I have
no idea if Dinger is male or female so I’ll say “it” until my research tells me
otherwise.
Dinger is a purple triceratops with
some multi-colored freckles(?) on it’s head. No pants, just a too short jersey.
DENVER, CO - SEPTEMBER 25: Dinger the mascot of the Colorado Rockies adorns a beard to commemorate Todd Helton #17 of the Colorado Rockies as he plays his last home game at Coors Field on September 25, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
The Reality of the Photo: The caption didn’t help much for Dinger’s gender because
anybody can sport a fake beard to honor longtime Rockie, Todd Helton. I noticed
the black around the mouth but I had no idea what it was supposed to be. Let’s
take a look at the BOXSCORE and see if Dinger did its job of cheering the Rockies
to victory.
Yikes! Nope. Well it didn’t help the
team, but maybe sporting that honorary fake beard helped Helton.
Yes! In his Coors Field swan song,
Helton went 2-3 with a double, home run and a sacrifice fly.
On to the back:
There’s no Rookie Fact on these as
it has been replaced by the Identifying Feature.
Identifying
Feature: Colorful Dots on His Head
Nice! I identified his identifying
feature in my first impressions. Score! And in case you missed it, his head.
Dinger is male!
The write up on the back provides Dinger’s origin story. Apparently, during contruction for the stadium, the construction crew found dinosaur bones. Maybe it did, but I’m surprised this didn’t cause some kind of delay or even relocation of the facilities.
I couldn’t find much information on Dinger through the Rockies website (just his rates for private appearances) and it appears he doesn’t even have his own Wikipedia page. There does appear to be a lot of anti-Dinger propaganda out there though. It’s a hard knock life for a
mascot.
Information I’ll be tracking:
Card Number: #M-10Player Name: Dinger
Team: Colorado Rockies
Position: Mascot
Game Date: September 25, 2013
Opponent: Boston Red Sox
Stadium: Coors Field
Division: National League West
Home/Away: Home
Outcome of the game: 15-5, Red Sox over the Rockies
Alternate/Throwback Jersey: N/A
Bats/Throws: N/A
Birthplace: Colorado
Cameos by: N/A
Photographer: Doug Pensinger
Niche collections this card could fit into: Awesome Hair, Mascots
My Grade: I mentioned at the beginning that Dinger didn’t seem to be
doing any “mascotting” in this photo and that, to me is kind of a detractor for
a mascot card. He should be hooting and hollering and pumping up the crowd. I
know there are some mixed feelings on mascots and their place in the game, but
I think they’re fun.
To be fair to Topps, there wasn’t
much of a selection to choose
from though.This card is getting a C.
I didn't realize you were breaking down the mascots, too! Nice!
ReplyDeleteThe plan is anything that uses the base card template, so mascots from Opening Day and cards from the factory team sets as well. Now that I'm way behind, I may include SPs once the prices drop!
Delete