| Charlie-O the Mule | |
|---|---|
| Team | Kansas City / Oakland A's |
| Description | Mule |
| Origin of name | Named after team ownerCharles O. Finley |
Charlie-O the Mule was themascot used by theMajor League Baseball teamsKansas City / Oakland A's from 1965 to 1976. Charlie-O the Mule was purchased from Harold Sloan, a small town farmer and muleskinner fromOsborn, Missouri. Themule was named afterCharles O. Finley, the team's owner at the time.
The team's original mascot was anelephant, dating fromthe early years of the franchise when it was located inPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania. The team’s first ownership group was headed by industrialistBenjamin Shibe. When asked to comment,John McGraw, manager of theNew York Giants of the rivalNational League said something to the effect that Shibe had bought himself a "white elephant." In response, A's manager (and future owner)Connie Mack selected the elephant as the team symbol and mascot, and from time to time, the elephant has appeared on the Athletics’ uniforms ever since.
When the A's moved toMissouri, where the official state animal is the mule,Warren Hearnes gave a mule to Finley for his barnyard menagerie atMunicipal Stadium, which also includedsheep andgoats that scampered up the hill behind right field.[1] The Municipal Stadium menagerie also includedWarpaint, thehorse mascot of theKansas City Chiefs. As questions swirled about whether Finley would be loyal to Missouri, he embraced the mule, removed the elephant from the A's logo, and changed the team’s colors from blue, red and white to green, gold, and white.
Finley took thesorrel 15 hands (60 inches, 152 cm) mule around the country, walking him into cocktail parties and hotel lobbies, and on one occasion even into the press room after a large feeding to annoy reporters. After an announcement that Finley intended to ride him around the bases atDodger Stadium, a reporter wrote:
In 1965, the A's briefly hadrelief pitchers ride the mule from thebullpen to thepitcher's mound when entering a game.
When the Athletics leftKansas City after the 1967 season, there was debate about whether Charlie-O should stay, but Finley declared he was a gift and took him with him to Oakland in 1968. The mule died in 1976 at age 20. When Finley sold the team toSan Francisco businessmanWalter A. Haas, Jr. in 1981, the use of a mule as team mascot was discontinued. Then, in 1988, the elephant was resurrected as team mascot, eventually personified byStomper.
Charlie-O appeared at two Oakland Athletics games in 2010, first in Oakland for aTurn Back the Clock game on June 26 and again in Kansas City for theKansas City Royals’ Turn Back the Clock game against the Athletics on July 17.