The backlash to Crazy was fierce. Giants manager Frank Robinson had to be restrained by the grounds crew from attacking it

Solely for aesthetic reasons, one wishes that Frank had showed similar antipathy to Screech.

How come I had never heard of this? The Giants' mascot would insult fans, destroy players' lockers and run the team down on LA radio? That's ####### AWESOME. Andy Kaufmanesque. I wish a team had the balls to try a stunt like that these days.

Many thanks for bringing this one to my attention, Repoz. Man, the mid-1980s were a weird era. Cocaine is a hell of a drug.

This kind of mascot strikes me as one that would be funny if it represented a team other than your own. If the mascot did represent the team you root for, I imagine the act would get annoying rather quickly.

Not if the team you rooted for was the Nationals, Ryan.

Mike Krukow told a funny Crazy Crab story on the radio yesterday about Jeffrey Leonard and a scrub named Steve Nicosia. Krukow said that Leonard was very onery in the locker room before games and wouldn't let anyone within 10 feet of his locker. Also, Leonard was an equipment hoarder who never threw anything away. As a result, his locker was stuffed with hundreds of pairs of socks, shoes, old unis, etc. The other players on the team were all afraid of him. They didn't talk to him and wouldn't go near him. But Steve Nicosia wanted to break the tension. So he snuck into the closet where the Crazy Crab costume was stored, put it on, and made his way back into the locker room, just when all the Giants were getting ready for a game. Nicosia's first move was to go over to Duane Kuiper, knowing that Kuipe had a sense of humor, and rub his perfectly coifed hair into a complete mess. He then danced around the locker room, got everyone laughing, and made his way up to Leonard. The Hackman was not smiling. Nicosia then got right up to Leonard's locker and grabbed a pair of socks, showed everyone, and then tossed them across the room. Krukow said he was worried Leonard was going to beat the #### out of Nicosia at that moment. But Leonard was just too stunned. So getting away with the first act, Nicosia proceded to grab every item in Leonard's locker and toss them across the locker room, until the locker was empty. Leonard busted up laughing and from then on the tension in the Giants locker room was broken.

Anybody know if Wayne Doda is any kin to Carol Doda?

I thought it read Wayne Doba...and if Carol Doda tried to fit into that crab suit, well, let's just say Silicone Valley might get a bit too tight.

The Crazy Crab was the greatest mascot in baseball history. Part of what made it so great was that they weren't all the upfront about whether Giants management intended for everyone to hate him, or whether it just turned out that way. Maybe it was more obvious in San Francisco, but not from where I was sitting.

This kind of mascot strikes me as one that would be funny if it represented a team other than your own. If the mascot did represent the team you root for, I imagine the act would get annoying rather quickly.

Crazy Crab pales in annoyance to the benign, "kid-friendly," androgynous, Lou Seal and it's disturbing predilection for pants-less pelvic thrusting.

I remember the White Sox in the early '80s had "Ribbie" and "Rhubarb" as mascots. They were pretty much hated as well, but it was not for comedic purposes -- they were genuinely reviled.

It didn't reflect well on the Reinsdorf/Einhorn ownership either, as it was one of the first changes they made, along with moving games to "On TV" (Sportsvision -- at a time when most folks didn't have cable TV yet). They also exiled Harry Caray and Jimmy Piersall.

You're right TerpNats. I just wanted those those two, uh, SF performance artists to be related and share holiday dinners together, and regale each other with stories about their jobs and such.

And here I thought they were having some sort of Johnnie LeMaster promotion . .

So getting away with the first act, Nicosia proceded to grab every item in Leonard's locker and toss them across the locker room, until the locker was empty. Leonard busted up laughing and from then on the tension in the Giants locker room was broken

Ahh yes, the advantages of breaking up the tension in a clubhouse.

Giants record in 1984, when this happened: 66-96, the worst in baseball.

Crazy Crab pales in annoyance to the benign, "kid-friendly," androgynous, Lou Seal and it's disturbing predilection for pants-less pelvic thrusting.

Why would a seal wear pants?

Uniform rules, it wears a jersey.

The Crazy Crab thing confused the hell out of me when I was a kid. I had no idea how I was supposed to respond. Like Greg Minton, I ended up feeling sorry for the damn thing.

Uniform rules, it wears a jersey.

I put it to you that that is the problem.