While sports headlines tend to focus on athletes, those talented performers and their amazing feats, it’s easy to forget that the professional sporting industry also relies on an army of unsung heroes. Ticket takers. Security guards. Concession vendors. Clean-up crews. The men and women who do the thankless work which enables our favorite teams to shine in the spotlight.
But every so often, one of these faceless minions actually manages to break out of the drudgery and capture a rare moment of glory for themselves. Among this “cast of millions,” one man in particular stands apart. Of course, I’m talking about the Greatest Of All Time Mascot:
The Chicken.
The San Diego Chicken.
The Famous Chicken.
The KGB Chicken.
No matter what you call him, there’s no denying that Ted Giannoulas has cemented his legacy in professional sports. Back in 1974, when Ted was just one more anonymous journalism student at San Diego State University, he responded to a newspaper classified ad that would change the course of his life. Local radio station KGB was looking to fill a part-time gig, a job that seemed perfect for a broke college student– wearing a chicken suit and handing out Easter eggs at the San Diego Zoo. Once the work was complete, Ted began wondering how else he might be able to leverage such an outlandish costume, and sure enough, he was able to talk his way into free admission at a Padres game! The management allowed him to wander through the stands entertaining the fans, even taking his act down onto the field, and the rest, as they say, is history.
The San Diego Chicken was an immediate hit, and at one point Ted set a remarkable streak of appearing in 520 consecutive Padres games! He even landed a recurring role on that Saturday morning staple, The Baseball Bunch, co-starring alongside Johnny Bench. A clutch performer, The Chicken could always be counted on to provide comic relief, epic pranks, and horrible base running.
Giannoulis went on to enjoy a longer and more storied career than most professional athletes. He’s appeared in well over 5,000 games in nearly 1000 different stadiums, visiting all 50 states and 8 foreign countries in the process! The Chicken even managed to score his own baseball card on a few occasions, although it’s still not clear why he kept getting passed over for Most Valuable Player. But perhaps most impressively, The Famous Chicken is one of only two mascots ever to be inducted into Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame!
And I say this with no disrespect meant towards The Philly Fanatic, but when it comes to professional sports mascots, there can only be one GOAT….