Quote:
Originally Posted by I Only Smoke 4 the Cards
I think it is quite ironic that segregated baseball teams had black mascots.
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In many cases, that was the point. I read Jerrold Casway's excellent book "Ed Delahanty in the Emerald Age of Baseball" a few months ago. In the book, Casway wrote that the Phillies of the 1890s had a series of African-American mascots that traveled with the team. Players on the team viewed it as the mascot's duty to perform various degrading tasks such as shining the players' shoes or carrying their bags. In return, the players would often give the mascot a few dollars or some leftover food.
Casway wrote that it was not unusual for the team to abandon their mascot during a losing streak and simply find another one in an effort to change the team's luck.