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Crazy Crab – San Francisco GiantsThe San Francisco Giants introduced Crazy Crab to Major League Baseball in 1984, toward the end of the mascot craze in professional baseball. The “anti-mascot” was meant to parody other teams’ attempts to introduce mascots to their fans in the late ’70s and early ’80s. The Crab, played by actor Wayne Doba, harshly criticized the team in interviews, and fans were encouraged to dislike and boo the crab.
Fans obliged and went a few steps further. Sometimes they would throw beer bottles and batteries at Crazy Crab during his appearances on the field. With two games left in the Giants season, two players from the San Diego Padres went further still, attacking him on the field and injuring his back.
Crazy Crab – San Francisco GiantsThe San Francisco Giants introduced Crazy Crab to Major League Baseball in 1984, toward the end of the mascot craze in professional baseball. The “anti-mascot” was meant to
Photo: Eric Risberg, AP
The San Francisco Giants introduced Crazy Crab to Major League Baseball in 1984, toward the end of the mascot craze in professional baseball. The “anti-mascot” was meant to parody other teams’ attempts to introduce mascots to their fans in the late ’70s and early ’80s. The Crab, played by actor Wayne Doba, harshly criticized the team in interviews, and fans were encouraged to dislike and boo the crab.
Fans obliged and went a few steps further. Sometimes they would throw beer bottles and batteries at Crazy Crab during his appearances on the field. With two games left in the Giants season, two players from the San Diego Padres went further still, attacking him on the field and injuring his back.
The San Francisco Giants introduced Crazy Crab to Major League Baseball in 1984, toward the end of the mascot craze in professional baseball. The “anti-mascot” was meant to
Photo: Eric Risberg, AP
Click through the slideshow above to remember some of the Bay Area’s forgotten mascots.
It’s been 25 years since the debut of Crazy Crab, the San Francisco Giants’ mascot during one of the franchise’s worst seasons in its 136-year history. The character was an “anti-mascot,” conceived by the Giants organization to poke fun at the rash of MLB teams that debuted mascots during the 1970s and ’80s. Frank Robinson, the Giants manager at the time, appeared in a TV ad where he pretended to attack Crazy Crab.
The ploy worked — a little too well. Giants fans booed the mascot, who was played by actor Wayne Doba, and threw beer bottles and batteries at the anthropomorphic crab when he appeared on the field.
In the Giants’ final stretch of the 1984 season, Crazy Crab was attacked by two San Diego Padres, who at the time had current Giants manager Bruce Bochy on their roster. Doba suffered back injuries from the attack that kept him out of the last two games of the season and incapacitated him for a month. He sued the Padres and settled out of court with the team for $2,000 in 1985.
In the 25 years since Crazy Crab’s dreadful season, the Giants franchise and fan base have expressed nostalgia for the anti-mascot, with fans rallying for his return in 2005 and the team giving out Crazy Crab Bobbleheads in 2008, as well as scarves with the legendary mascot in 2018.
“It’s stupid,” Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner said in a promo ad for the scarf giveaway.
That’s the spirit, MadBum.
Crazy Crab isn’t the only mascot from a bygone era of Bay Area sports. In the gallery above, we recount the stories of 10 forgotten mascots of Bay Area sports teams.
Drew Costley is an SFGATE editorial assistant. Email: drew.costley@sfgate.com | Twitter: @drewcostley
This post was originally posted at https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/crazy-crab-berserker-charlie-san-francisco-giants-14103498.php.
