Mascot Mayhem

It's not easy being green—or purple or yellow or any of the other bright hues that those fuzzy team mascots come in. A study released last week shows that pro mascots suffer remarkably high rates of injury. "Sometimes we don't think a person is inside that costume," says the study's senior author, Edward McFarland, director of sports medicine and shoulder surgery at Johns Hopkins. Indeed, over the years mascots have suffered all manner of abuse and mishap.

November 1988
Testudo, the Maryland Terrapins' mascot, is knocked to the ground by the Virginia Cavalier during an ACC football game and breaks an arm in three places.

September 1990
The University of Miami's Sebastian the Ibis tears cartilage in a knee after a Brigham Young University ballcarrier knocks him down while running out-of-bounds.

October 1995
During an AL playoff series, the Mariner Moose suffers a compound ankle fracture after his in-line skates get caught on the Kingdome's artificial surface, causing him to crash into the outfield wall. A week later the Indians' Slider tears the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in a knee after slipping off the right-field wall and onto the warning track at Jacobs Field.

October 1995
The Mighty Ducks' Wild Wing jumps off a trampoline and belly flops into—instead of passing through—a wall of fire. Although his tail is set ablaze, he escapes serious injury.

April 1996
Sabre, a mascot for the CBA's Fort Wayne Fury, injures his back after falling 50 feet onto a concrete floor while trying to lower himself from the rafters using a cable. His fall is broken by another Fury mascot, who is unhurt.

May 1999
A fan pushes the Baltimore Oriole off the roof of the grounds crew's dugout at Camden Yards, causing the mascot to fall 10 feet and break his ankle.

April 2000
The Capital City Bombers, a Single A team in South Carolina, lose Bomber the Mouse for two games after Hickory Crawdads outfielder Jovanny Sosa bops the fuzzy friend on the head with his forearm.

February 2001
Raymond, the Devil Rays' 6'5" bundle of blue fur, makes a guest appearance for the ABA's Tampa Bay ThunderDawgs. While attempting a trampoline-aided dunk, he breaks a wrist on the rim.

April 2001
The New Jersey Nets' Sly the Silver Fox blows out a knee during a timeout after participating in a limbo contest.