https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariner_Moose

Quite an interesting read.

In 1990, a contest for children 14 and under was held to select a mascot for the team under then-owner Jeff Smulyan, who had purchased the team from George Argyros the previous year. Out of 2,500 entries received, the club chose the "Mariner Moose," originally submitted by Ammon Spiller of Bellingham, Washington, then a fifth-grader at Central Elementary School in nearby Ferndale; he and his school were each rewarded with a $1,000 check. The runner-up was "Seaward the Sea Monster," proposed by Grant Weaver of Ben Franklin Elementary in Redmond; he received a $500 check as a consolation prize. Spiller and Weaver, along with their families, also received tickets for a Mariners game, as did three other finalists and their families.

Child labor is a pretty :cringe: but they did pay two of them fairly well.

The Moose made his debut during the Mariners' home opener on April 13, 1990, dancing on the field in front of a sell-out crowd at the Kingdome to the tune of "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades" by Timbuk 3. However, his introduction was not warmly received; Mariners fans repeatedly chanted, "Kill the Moose," during the game. The reception remained very negative throughout the first two months of the season; not even a world record attempt on May 6 for the longest indoor flight could improve the Moose's reputation. As a result, the team reportedly sent him to Philadelphia to take lessons from the Phillie Phanatic.

Not a great start, but studying with master Phanatic is invaluable.

Rollerblading behind an ATV was commonplace for the Moose during his tenure at the Kingdome, though this performance on the stadium's AstroTurf resulted in a notorious incident in 1995.

Not exactly role model behavior, more like a scene from Jackass.

During the 1995 American League Division Series between the Mariners and the New York Yankees, the Moose gained national attention when, in the middle of the fifth inning in Game 4, he crashed into the outfield wall at the Kingdome while being towed on inline skates behind an ATV in the outfield. The person portraying the Moose, Brett Rhinehardt, suffered a compound fracture of his right ankle as well as a dislocated fibula.

Hope they included health insurance for the performer.

In light of the 1996 United States presidential election, Nike developed a television ad campaign that year entitled "Griffey in '96" wherein Mariners outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. was running for President, with the Mariner Moose as his running mate.

Political ambitions seem a bit sus for a moose.

Since [moving to a new stadium with natural grass], the Moose has become quite adept at driving his own ATV around T-Mobile Park's warning track while performing various tricks, such as performing backflips off his ATV or having water coolers emptied on him by bullpen pitchers.

During a Mariners home game at then-Safeco Field versus the Boston Red Sox on August 5, 2007, the Mariner Moose was riding his ATV in the middle of the fifth inning when he collided with Coco Crisp [not a mascot], who did not notice him as he was leaving the Red Sox dugout. Crisp was clipped on the knee by the ATV and stumbled briefly, but was not angered by the incident despite the ire of some of his teammates; he even played along by feigning retaliation with a fake throw of his glove at the Moose.

So this moose is pretty extreme and accident prone. It seems to originate from a past trauma of being bullied by the fans, constantly trying to do some cool new extreme stunt to gain acceptance and approval. I feel like the vision of the child designer probably did not include driving ATVs / rollerblades or runningfor VP. Classic boring guy tactic to make your personality more interesting by doing stunts and such.