The N.Y. TIMES profiles Dave Raymond, the man who "practically invented the modern sports mascot" and who has "built a career on helping pro teams bring them to life." For the first 17 years of his career, Raymond worked for the Phillies, where he "taught the Phanatic what became his signature moves." His work was "such a revelation that it not only established the industry standard, it basically established the industry." Raymond then "reverse-engineered the Phanatic’s success and distilled it into a four-step process for developing mascots from scratch." He has "since used this process to help create more than 130 characters" in pro leagues and companies across the country.
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