This season, the Mets surely can trace some of their success to “The Grimace” and the “OMG” phrase. They both ignited their fan base, and helped turn around their season when they both began to surface in late June.

Over the years, gimmicks and mascots have played a huge role in sports’ teams. Along with serving as inspirations, they also have strengthened teams’ bonds with their fans.

In this week’s edition of my Yesterday column – reminiscing about sports and pop culture from the 1960s, 70s, 80s and sometimes before and beyond – I’ll take a look at some gimmicks and mascots that have made their presence felt in the sports world.

Finally, who was the first baseball mascot? Do you remember Mayor McCheese? What team began the gimmick of towel waving? What ex-Phillie hosted “The Lighter Side of Sports?” and what wrestler heard the calls of “Crazy Luke?”

A Monster and A Song: In 1971, McDonald’s introduced the Grimace as part of a campaign for kids with “The Hamburglar,” Captain Crook,” “Mayor McCheese,” “Officer Big Mac,” “Birdie, the Early Bird,” and “The Long Jogger.”

Grimace was originally introduced as “The Evil Grimace” with four arms, but it was reduced a year later to two arms because it frightened children. It made a comeback last year, and still is gaining steam.

Mets infielder Jose Iglesias, who also is the musical artist Candelita, recorded the song “OMG” (Oh My God), and it became a hit. When they have had success this season, the Mets have waved around an “OMG” sign in orange lettering with a blue background.

The Fans’ Best Friend: in 1978, the Phillies unveiled the Phillie Phanatic, which has become the most recognized mascot in all sports. Hailing from the Galapagos Islands, the Phanatic always is a must-watch at any Phillies game for his antics and battles with visiting players and managers, noting his classic wars with former Dodgers’ skipper Tommy Lasorda.

Some of the my favorites who are a must-see are “Jaxon De Ville,” the Jaguars’ one who enters the stadium from the top descending downward on a single wire; the “Gorilla” in Phoenix, who always is entertaining; the “Presidents,” whose races from dugout to dugout in Washington are a national treasure; the “Sausages” in Milwaukee, who also provide memorable races; “Mr. Red Leg” in Cincinnati, who creates an interesting picture; and “Mr. Met,” who has been a long-standing tradition.

I also have to throw in the Vikings’ “Ragnar the Viking” into the mix. It’s something to see a live Viking riding a motorcycle.

Mascots began with the legendary San Diego Chicken, which appeared at a Padres’ game in 1974. The Chicken still makes his rounds today, and he also was recognized for his appearances on the 1981 Saturday children’s show, “The Baseball Bunch” that starred Lasorda and Johnny Bench. It lasted for five seasons in which the Chicken would be a perfect complement to the often-serious Bench.

Wave Them Around: In 1975, Steelers’ play-by-play announcer Myron Cope began the tradition of towel waving when he asked listeners to bring a yellow dish cloth to their playoff game against the Baltimore Colts. Soon after, the “Terrible Towel” was formed that led to an onslaught of different types.

At Shea Stadium from 1964 to 81, Karl Ehrhardt was known as the “Sign Man.” Ehrhardt created clever sayings that would describe various situations in games, and they were incredibly timely.

When the Mets’ Jose Cardinal struck out, Ehrhardt responded with “Jose, Can You See.”

Oldies, But Goodies: Before the Phanatic hit the scene, the Phillies had a young boy with a broad smile in a full Phillies uniform as an unofficial mascot. One of the more popular items associated with it was a blow-up doll version of it. Types of blow-up toys began a true gimmick of the 60s and 70s.

Prior to those decades, some of you may remember the Phillies Quaker mascot based on Billy Penn. If you happen to have the Phillies pennant that is shown above, hold on to it.

As a response to the Phanatic, the Sixers unveiled “Big Shot” in 1979, and it began to follow a similar script to its Phillies’ counterpart, mocking players from visiting teams. Big Shot lasted until 1996 before it was replaced by “Hip-Hop.”

The Eagles have had Swoop as their mascot, but they have the best “gimmick” in Philly with their “Fly Eagles Fly” fight song that dates back to the early 60s.

A group named “The Eagleaires” would perform the song in the Phillies’ dugout at the Vet in the early 70s before the song faded away. It was resurrected in 1997, and it easily is one of the leagues’ most recognized team songs.

What Was That Pitch?: Two of the more gimmick pitches have been the knuckleball and the screwball.

The knuckleball can be traced back to Eddie Cicotte in 1903. In the modern era in the 60s and 70s, some of the more hurlers who threw it were Jim Bouton, Joe and Phil Niekro, Wilbur Wood, Tom Candiotti, and R.A. Dickey.

Tug McGraw used his comic strip “Scroogie” to highlight the screwball. Its origin goes back to Carl Hubbell and Christy Mathewson. Other prominent pitchers who employed it were ex-Phillies Paul Bryd and Fernando Valenzuela along with Mike Marshall and Juan Marichal. Tom Browning broke his arm trying to throw it.

Beatle-Juiced: During their heyday in the 60s, the Beatles used a gimmick to further solidify their stance for their frenzied fans.

John Lennon introduced the harmonica for a different sound in the song, “Hey Baby,” which remains a lost Fab Four hit.

You probably remember the sound on the Beatles’ classic hit, “Love Me Do,” which is a sound that we can all hear in our heads.

However, other Beatles’ songs that included the harmonica were “Please Please Me,” “Chains,” “There’s a Place,” “From Me To You,” “Thank You Girl,” “I’ll Get You,” “I Should Have Known Better,” “I’m a Loser,” “All Together Now,” and “Rocky Raccoon.”

WWWF/WWE Wrap: Each week, I’ll look back at a familiar wrestler from our lifetime.

“Crazy Luke!” “Crazy Luke!”

Do you remember “Crazy” Lou Graham? He was a Georgia native and was born James Grady Johnson. One of Graham’s alter egos was “Wolfman Savage.” If you remember, the blond haired, bearded Graham was greeted by fans calls of “Crazy Luke,” as his gimmick would be acting crazy through his shakes, spins and overall erratic behavior as well as covering his ears when he heard the fans calls about him.

With the atomic drop of his signature move and a “foreign object,” Graham compiled an overall record of 524-879 with 177 draws. He held eight tag-team championships throughout the country with some notable ones being the WWWF title with Tarzan Tyler (I don’t remember him, do you?) in 1971, and he teamed with Gorilla Monsoon (a bad guy initially) in 1965-66.

Graham wrestled from 1961-87, and he died at age 66 in 2006.

Memory Lane: Each week, I’ll look back at a former player, coach, manager, or media personality from our yesterday.

Speaking of gimmicks, do you remember Phillies outfielder Jay Johnstone? He spent five years with the team from 1974-79 and hit .303 with 33 homers and 200 RBIs over the span. However, Johnstone was known for his gimmicks and pranks like lighting teammate’s spikes on fire and also nailing them to the floor, and locking players and managers in their rooms among many others.

Unknown to most, Johnstone spent 20 years in the majors, spending time with the Angels, Dodgers, Yankees, Cubs, White Sox, A’s and Padres.

If you recall, Johnstone also hosted the blooper TV show, “The Lighter Side of Sports” in the late 1980s. He worked as radio color commentator for Yankees and Phillies games.

He died at age of 74 from COVID complications in 2020.

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