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We would give your weekly Giants report, but we've noticed that ever since we've flailingly tried to replace the Essefficist in doing this, the Giants have been doing nothing but suck the big suck. We could mention that they're showing signs of life and playing better, but we're afraid of jinxing it by mentioning it. And since we all know that it's only going to end up with us at the Dovre drinking J.D. while listening to Hank Williams, why start?
Instead, we here at Your San Francisco Giants would like to draw everyone to a cause, one near and dear to SFist's hearts. A cause so righteous, so true, so full of Sweetness and Light that we have to rally the flag. And that's this-- Bring Back Crazy Crab.
For those of you who are too young to remember, or were elsewhere during the dreary and windy '84 season, the Crab was the merely the Best. Mascot. Ever. He was the anti-mascot, the ironic mascot, the "mascot" in quotation marks. He was so hip, so ahead of the times that he was banished after the season, his costume buried somewhere never to be seen again. The idea behind the crab was simply that some guy would dress up like a crab (duh) and run around the bases, sideways of course, for the main purpose of getting booed. Not to mention jeered and cursed at and occasionally thrown at. SFist still gets the warm fuzzies remembering watching the Crab in action, circling the bases while dodging beer cans, all to the strains of the "Chariots of Fire" theme song. It was, in a word, awesome.
To help fight the good fight, some Giants fans have started a campaign to well, Rehab the Crab (check out the cool-ass t-shirts on the site too). And while we've oftentimes thought that there were too many protests in the city, we'd like to ask everyone to join the Crustacean Liberation Coalition for Crustacean Commotion 2005, a protest rally to be held before the July 9th Giants game to state our demands of freeing the crab. If rallying is too much for you, or at least you have other plans, check out the online petition. And remember folks, Giants Fans, United, Will Never Be Divided!
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Oh man, I loved--by which I mean I hated--Crazy Crab! I was always amazed at how QUICKLY the booing would start any time he'd take the field. There was no build-up, it was instantaneous. People would stop conversations, and interrupt their hot dog eating mid-bite to partake in some borderline-violent jeering. Crazy Crab truly brought the fans together.
Awesome. My previous nomination for worst mascot ever was "Hoops," the mascot of the former Washington Bullets (basketball head; rim and net body). But the idea of this guy going sideways around the bases is hilarious. Free the crab!
Yeah, they'd stop eating their hotdogs and throw them at the crab when the Giants were at Candlestick. I wonder what the dry cleaning costs were? And what about the mechanical baseball player who used to come out of the right field fence at SBC the first couple of seasons? I remember the first couple of times I saw him, beer cups and other projectiles would fly as soon as he came out. It's a wonder Luigi Francisco Seal has lasted so long.
This story maybe an urban legend more than the truth, but we've heard that towards the end of the season, when the crab had had his full off being booed, he basically resorted to running around the bases while giving everyone the finger. Sideways.
As we said, awesome.
I remember that catchy little jingle they used to run on the ads about "all those giants fans love that crazy crab" and they'd show the poor creature being rushed across the field.
Man, that was laying dormant in the mind for so long - thanks SFist for reviving that one.
Ah yes, the Crab, reflecting the strange dualities of San Francisco and funneling city spirit into the most ridiculous-looking of mascots. I was always amazed by the fact that it took a crab for San Francisco's closeted fury to come to the surface -- in other words, to make baseball truly become baseball.
My only concern would be that the seal would eat the crab. Though it could add an interesting dimension to the trip around the bases.